As CTC reflects on its work over the past 20 years and marks this milestone, we have been slowly refining who we are and how we implement community organising methodology. Through prayer and theological reflection tied to action, we have developed an approach that enables Christian communities to bring their full selves to the faithful work of justice, human dignity, and the creation of the world as it should be. We call this approach Faith-Filled Community Organising.
Below is a summary of what faith-filled organising is, reflecting what we have learnt through two decades of work with congregations from a wide range of denominations and traditions, including Catholic, Pentecostal, Baptist and Anglican churches. The many stories on our blog and in our reports give a taste of what this looks like in practice.
Community organising enables people of faith to put “roots down” even more deeply in their own faith while taking “walls down” to grow in solidarity, trust, and knowledge of people of other religions and beliefs. In recent years, we have been exploring how our work can learn from and bless that of sisters and brothers in other faith communities within Citizens UK, and how it can help other institutions involved in broad-based organising engage with members whose social action is inspired by faith.
Faith-filled organising: a summary
Faith-filled community organising is an approach which helps churches to live out the Gospel in a holistic and tangible way, enabling us to more fully follow Jesus Christ. CTC was established by Christians involved in Citizens UK, and our approach is rooted in this tradition of community organising, which is about working with people rather than for them, ensuring dignity and agency are at the heart of change.
It is a methodology for change which brings people together across difference to act on issues of common concern, developing leaders (often on the margins of the dominant culture) that build relational power to make the changes that will ensure everyone can flourish.
Churches that embed faith-filled community organising within their congregations find that it helps them to live out their belief that:
- The relationship is at the heart of who God is
- The Gospel involves both personal and social transformation
- God goes before us, so before we act, we should first listen to see where the Spirit is at work
- In Christ, God works most powerfully through those the world overlooks and oppresses
- faithful engagement with the world inevitably involves tension and struggle
Seven key practices of organising
Community organising involves seven key practices:
1. Beginning with relationships – Face-to-face meeting and intentional listening and sharing come before action. The specific outcomes are not pre-judged but are shaped by the congregations and communities themselves.
2. Realism – Community organising is inspired by a vision of the “world as it should be,” but believes that meaning well is not enough. We need to understand the “world as it is,” so our action has a genuine impact. That is also why, in building relationships, we identify the actual interests and passions of our neighbours – and work on the issues where these interests and passions are shared.
3. Positive about power – We seek to build relational power – the ability of citizens to act with others to change their neighbourhoods for the better. Power can be abused, but Christians involved in organising understand it to be a God-given capacity which we should develop and use together.
4. Committed to developing leaders –A true “leader” is someone who listens to, works with, and develops the potential of others. Leaders are identified through face-to-face meetings and developed through training and action. Faith-filled community organising is based on the conviction that the activities of a church will be most successful and sustainable if they originate in, and are developed and ‘owned’ by lay as well as ordained leaders.
5. Beginning with what unites us – Community organising seeks to build relational power in the most deprived and diverse communities, by encouraging neighbours to focus on their common concerns and aspirations. This means that when people of different faiths and cultures face disagreements, we do so as friends, not strangers.
6. Willing to generate tension – change usually involves a struggle. We are willing to generate tension in order to achieve social justice, but that tension is always deployed to achieve a deeper and more lasting harmony; the true peace (shalom) that can only come when there is justice.
7. Teaching through experience and action – Community organising cultivates a habit of creative, intentional action, so that new relationships are constantly being built, and local leaders are constantly developing their capacities. While a high value is placed on reflection and research, these are always engaged in to improve the quality and focus of action, not as a substitute for it.
Faith-filled community organising seeks to root this approach in prayer and theological reflection, harnessing its potential to equip congregations, train leaders, and transform communities through a cycle of listening, discernment, action, evaluation, and renewal. To find out more, click here.
CTC is celebrating 20 years of faith-filled organising! To find out more and how you can give click here.
