Ministry Matters™

Ministry with the Poor (Nov/Dec/Jan 2009-10)

The second in Circuit Rider's year-long series on the United Methodist Church's Four Areas of Focus. God calls us to care for the poor, the widow, the stranger, the orphan, but how do we do that in today's context? This issue covers key issues contributing to poverty (global and local), and ways we as a church can respond.

In This Issue

Ministry WITH the Poor: Doing For; Doing With; Being With

Ministry WITH the Poor: Doing For; Doing With; Being With

By Paul Slentz
A conversation about ministry “with” the poor should start with one important reminder: the poor are indeed in ministry. I didn't always know that this was the case… read more
Lord, Send Us the People Nobody Else Wants or Sees!: Developing a Heart for the Poor and Broken

Lord, Send Us the People Nobody Else Wants or Sees!: Developing a Heart for the Poor and Broken

By Jorge Acevedo
When I was in my last year at Asbury Theological Seminary, I needed one more class to graduate. I was serving as a children's and youth pastor at a local United Methodist church… read more
Minimize Brick, Maximize Mission: Budgeting for Missional Mobility

Minimize Brick, Maximize Mission: Budgeting for Missional Mobility

By Mike Slaughter
Growing churches inevitably face space constraints. With growth comes the dilemma to build or not to build, where to build, and what to build. This is when we must honestly… read more
Prophetic Preaching in the Real Pulpit

Prophetic Preaching in the Real Pulpit

By Matthew L. Kelley
I went to a large preaching conference a few years back, where one day was specially designated as a “celebration of prophetic preaching.” Some very big names were the … read more
Relieving Poverty Through Micro–Investing

Relieving Poverty Through Micro–Investing

By Roy I. Sano
We have all learned the ancient Chinese adage: give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime. God showed Abraham and Sarah this truth … read more
Charity is Not Enough

Charity is Not Enough

By Clayton Childers
I know what poverty looks like, at least to some degree. As a youth, I remember seeing the face of poverty in the children our church delivered Christmas presents to. The… read more
Immigrants in America: What Every Pastor Needs to Know

Immigrants in America: What Every Pastor Needs to Know

By Panravee Vongjaroenrat
Maria is from a remote village in Guatemala. She took her children, ages nine and sixteen, on a long trek through Mexico and into the United States to escape her cruel husband. He … read more
Breaking The Cycle Of Poverty

Breaking The Cycle Of Poverty

By Don Mosley
“There they are, in those two old cars over there!” My wife pointed to the far corner of the parking lot, just a few feet from the busiest street in Athens, Ga. Two… read more
In Babylon: Holy Living Amidst Empire

In Babylon: Holy Living Amidst Empire

By Walter Brueggemann
Our capacity to let the Bible be contemporary among us depends on spotting imaginative analogies between our time and ancient time. One such analogue is the notion that Christians … read more
Youth in Mission: Serving the Poor, Growing in Faith

Youth in Mission: Serving the Poor, Growing in Faith

By Samantha Tashman
In the summer of 1974, several youth from Blakemore United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn. spent a week serving together at the Hinton Rural Life Center in North Carolina… read more
Lessons in Humility

Lessons in Humility

By Becca Stevens
The day of the funeral, I was not sure what to wear. The stranger for whom I had agreed to conduct the funeral had lived in Nashville but had come from the hills of Tennessee, so… read more