JULY 18, 2003

CULTURE
Urban-suburban congregations' new teamwork

In a faltering economy and an increasingly multicultural nation, partnerships between urban and suburban congregations are the focus of increasing emphasis and hope. President George W. Bush urged suburban churches this year to form lasting partnerships with urban churches to combat poverty, crime and joblessness.

Such partnerships have been well-documented for 40 years, but their methods and goals are changing. Generally, they have involved the transfer of time, volunteers and money, but usually in one direction - from large, usually white Protestant congregations in the suburbs to smaller, predominantly minority, inner-city ones. That has led some critics - many within the churches themselves - to class urban-suburban partnerships as a form of noblesse oblige.

Now, suburban congregations are bringing a new attitude toward these partnerships, experts say. They are more respectful of their urban counterparts, more interested in what they can learn from them and more willing to be equal - instead of dominant - players in the relationship. Another change is that church partnerships now often involve another player - a nonprofit or a government entity, observers say. That follows Bush's push for stronger relationships between government and faith-based groups and can give churches more money, resources or expertise to address community problems.

Still, such partnerships pose challenges. Though suburbs are becoming more diverse ethnically and economically, people in suburban congregations still are more likely to be sheltered from the problems that plague city dwellers, and thus may feel less connected to or responsible for them. There are also stereotypes to overcome and racial and economic barriers to be crossed respectfully. The director of one Arkansas urban-suburban partnership said it is often easier to get a suburban church to raise thousands of dollars to send Bibles to Russia than it is to get the congregants to drive downtown and work in an inner-city church. "It has been like pulling teeth to begin to get them mobilized," he said.

Questions for Reporters
• What kinds of urban-suburban partnerships exist in your area, and what problems do they target?
• What do people in each congregation see as the goals, benefits and obstacles to their work?
• How do they say working together has changed their attitudes toward each other?
• Are partnerships ongoing or based on a single, short project? How have they changed the way they operate over time?

Why It Matters
Crime, poverty and other social ills are most severe in the nation's cities. As the economy stumbles and federal funds dry up, the Bush administration says it will look increasingly to faith-based institutions to pick up the slack.

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National sources

• Claire Kashuck is executive director of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries Inc., a Boston-area nonprofit that works to pair suburban and urban congregations in a variety of projects. Currently, the program includes 14 partnerships among churches, synagogues and a mosque. Despite the willingness of many congregations to work together, Kashuck says putting plans in action "is always a stretch." CMM is working to create a curriculum to help congregations in other cities work together. Contact 617-244-3650, coopmet@aol.com.
• Arthur Farnsley is research director of the Religion and Urban Culture project at the Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis'cq Polis Center and the author of Rising Expectations: Urban Congregations, Welfare Reform and Civic Life (Indiana University Press, 2003). He can discuss the different models of urban-suburban partnerships as well as their relative successes and weaknesses. He says there is now an emphasis on "asset-based thinking" - focusing less on the suburban churches' power and money and more on fostering the existing strengths of the inner-city church. Contact 812-376-8049, afarnsley@ameritech.net.
• Nancy Ammerman is a professor of the sociology of religion at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research in Hartford, Conn. She has done research on relationships and differences between urban and suburban congregations. Contact 860-509-9545, nta@hartsem.edu.
• The Christian Community Development Corporation, based in Chicago, is a national organization that supports and encourages Christian community development. Many of its affiliates work with partner churches, nonprofits and government grants. Contact 773-762-0994.
• The Rev. Eugene F. Rivers 3rd and Jacqueline Rivers head the National Ten Point Leadership Foundation, an organization based in Boston, Mass., that promotes partnerships between churches and law enforcement in several cities nationwide. Point 5 of the Ten Point Plan is "establish links between suburban and downtown churches and ministries to provide spiritual and material support." Contact 617-373-7273.
• The Rev. Loyde Hartley is a specialist in urban ministry at Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, Pa. He warns against suburban churches' seeing the inner city as a "mission field" instead of as a place to form lasting relationships. Contact 717-290-8717, lhartley@lancasterseminary.edu.
• James Towey is head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which promotes government funding of religious groups' social service programs, especially in urban areas. Contact 202-456-6708.
• Carol Childress is Leadership Community Director for Leadership Network and can talk about trends in church partnerships. Contact 800-765-5323, 214-969-5950 or carol.childress@leadnet.org.

Background

• Read a report from the Polis Center on partnership churches in Indianapolis.
• Read a report from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, under the direction of Nancy Ammerman, about congregations and service organizations working together.
• Read a Beacon magazine article about the partnership between two Ohio churches.
• Read the Ten Point Plan to Mobilize the Churches from the National Ten Point Plan Foundation.
• Read a spring 2003 article by Brett Lawrence in Leadership Journal about an inner-city Minnesota church that reached out to suburban churches.