July 18, 2024

Revitalization through Relationships

People’s Church of Dover is a tiny congregation (only 100 members with 30 people at worship) with a tiny budget (annual pledges of $80k). But in the last four years we have spent $500k in physical renovations, and another $250k in programs for neighborhood children, community health, food insecurity, and the homeless. This month, the NAACP recognized our Center for Neighbors in Need with its 2024 Community Impact Award, “in recognition of its impactful work and unwavering commitment to addressing food insecurity, homelessness, unemployment, addiction, access to basic health, and personal and community crisis.”

How does a tiny congregation have such an impact in a desperate community – sustainably and without exhausting its human or financial resources? The same way that God saves us all from irrelevance, exhaustion, separation, and despair: through relationships.

First, the congregation resisted the urge to respond to shrinking budgets and numbers by adopting a defensive posture and turning in on itself. We had a visioning weekend. We decided to take risks – plenty of risk, but carefully calculated. Instead of holding onto the past, the congregation was willing to become something different than it had been for the prior hundred years. It decided to convert two thirds of its building into the People’s Community Center.

Second, the we became deeply embedded in our neighborhood. The pastor bought a house nearby, so that he could easily participate in every community event (even minor ones). The church joined both the Black and the White clergy organizations, and began forming bridges. We joined the local homeowners group, held community health fairs on our lawn, and invited two new congregations to use our space. We negotiated agreements with the city, the state, and the school superintendent. We testified at the legislature, not hesitating to annoy office holders by demonstrating our allegiance to community well-being. In short, we became known, county-wide, as a place that matters. And people noticed!

Third, we hired a grant writer, formed a new Community Development Corporation, joined the statewide association for non-profit advancement, made ourselves know to the large campaign funders in the Delaware, and collected data to demonstrate that our programs were effective and sustainable. (These programs, by the way, are not a drain on our own resources, because they are run by community partners, who help set the agenda and provide expertise and volunteers.) This spring, we asked the deep pockets of Delaware for $4.5 million to renovate the building.

Throughout this process, we have learned that both personal and congregational renewal are inextricably intertwined with community engagement. We are not saved alone, but – as scripture amply testifies – through relationships across lines of difference, and through commitment to the wellbeing of strangers. Salvation comes to us, as communities, not to us as isolated individuals. We enter the Ark two-by-two. We work in partnership, and the partnerships save us. Amen!