The Reconciling Mission podcast returned with an episode exploring asset-based community development (ABCD). Host Mina Munns was joined by Revd Al Barrett and Paul Wright, facilitators on the Reconciling Mission residentials at the outset of the programme.
From deficits to gifts
Traditional church grant applications often start by asking: what’s wrong? Paul explained how this can make communities sound broken and in need of fixing. ABCD flips the question: what’s good here, and how can we build on it?
Al said: “There’s an abundance in our neighbourhoods. It’s our role to go out with open eyes and open hearts, to discover that abundance, to point to it, to receive it as gift.”
Unearthing treasures
Paul shared a story that captured this approach and way of thinking. A volunteer named Penny struck up a conversation with a man who had stumbled upon a community event they were hosting. It turned out he had stage management experience. Penny then introduced him to a local theatre group leader, and soon he was backstage managing the group’s pantomime.
“He only came out for some shopping,” Paul laughed. “But because he was welcomed, Penny asked good questions, and connected, his gifts became part of the community story.”
Redefining success
Both Paul and Al stressed that this approach is slow, patient work. It’s not about quickly filling pews but about long-term flourishing. Success isn’t measured in numbers, they said, but in connections made and transformation that emerges.
“Change isn’t just one way,” Al reflected. “It changes us too. It changes the church when we encounter God through our neighbours.”
Advice for churches
When asked for advice to churches trying this approach, Paul suggested:
- Focus on gifts: Look for the gifts in people. The gifts of our community and gifts that the church brings.
Al added:
- By patiently engaging with our neighbours over time, seeking to build community in the local neighbourhood, not as a technique, not as a strategy, but as a way of approaching our neighbours and neighbourhoods as sacred.
To find out more about the Reconciling Mission programme, visit this web page.