Integral part of the community
The church, by its very nature, is an integral part of the local community. It is made up of people from that community and is well equipped to understand and contribute to the welfare of the community.
In this respect, also, it usually differs from the secular agency, although there are, of [...]
Continue reading about Development from a Christian perspective - Pt 6: Church characteristics pt 2
Having looked at some of the characteristics that relate to the secular agencies we will now look at some of the distinctives of the church in its development work. However, I must stress that this is inevitably a somewhat simplistic overview and there is often significant overlap between the practice of the church and the [...]
Continue reading about Development from a Christian perspective – Pt 5 Church characteristics pt 1
In the last blog I looked at the first three of five characteristics which I consider to be particularly applicable to a secular agency namely:
1. Expertise
2. Resources
3. Size
4. Quick fix
5. Staff mobility
We will now look at the fourth and fifth characteristics.
Quick fix
An aid agency may be particularly good at providing a ‘quick fix’ solution to a problem. However, sustainability and [...]
News
First, the International eNews of Newfrontiers has just been published. Do you receive it? It is a newsletter which ‘visits’ four nations each month to bring updates of what is going on in and through Newfrontiers churches. To view it or receive this regularly click here.
Now, lets return to the series on Christian Development.
Having briefly [...]
Having explored some of the definitions of ‘Development’ and ‘the Poor’ in the last blog we will now look at some of the differences between the world’s and church-based models. First, I would like to look at a variant of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of need.
Maslow’s pyramid of need
Maslow was a psychologist who developed a theory [...]
Recently I gathered the students from my church, Church of Christ the King in Brighton, UK, who were taking degrees or modules in Development Studies from the local universities. I had become aware that these courses, being secular in nature, tend to discourage our students by having little place for the spiritual dimension of mankind. [...]
Continue reading about Development Studies - Christian cf Secular pt 1
