Christian Leadership Alliance

Board Governance

Price: $12.50
Member Price: $10.00

See more …


In which Season does your ministry raise the most financial resources each year?

Take the poll

Giving Back

Community Building

For this pastor, partnerships are priority.
Chuck Warnock | Outcomes, Aug/Sep 2008

Coming to your church isn't as bad as I thought it would be," said Mary, a local schoolteacher. Both of us laughed because a short time before, Mary would not come to Chatham Baptist Church for worship. But on that day she was helping launch the Chatham Arts Community Music School, a partnership involving our church, a neighboring university, and local artists and educators. Today more than 30 students take violin, piano, cello, guitar, and voice lessons each week at our church because Mary and others like her partnered with us.

But music isn't all we've partnered with others to accomplish in our small town of 1,300. Our church provides a home to the local Boys and Girls Club, which started as a partnership with the Danville Boys and Girls Club and local businesses. Each weekday, 40 to 60 children pile into our church for four hours of mentoring, homework help, and experiences in art, competitive sports, video games, and life-skills classes. These kids had no place to go after school before we opened our church to them. Our efforts inspired the local volunteer fire department to help, too. Last Christmas they threw a gigantic party for more than 85 children, providing gifts for each child.

Our church also collaborates on a monthly teen open-mic night, our version of American Idol without the sarcastic critics. High-schoolers sing, read original poetry, perform dramatic skits, and entertain each other for two hours. This program is well received, and the Virginia Arts Commission awarded "Soundcheck" a small grant in 2007. Soundcheck wasn't our idea; a local artist approached us because of our growing reputation for working with others in the community. Two years later, Soundcheck draws 40 to 80 unchurched teens to our basement each month.

But the really big news is the 16,000-square-foot community center that opened in May this year. Our church took the lead in bringing 18 pastors together to dream of a place for kids and adults in our community. By working together with other churches and civic groups, we got the attention of a large charitable foundation. In July 2006, Chatham Cares, Inc., the nonprofit charity we formed, was awarded a $3 million grant to design, build, and operate a new community center in our town.

We believe partnering with others works. Our philosophy of community building through partnerships involves four steps:

We talk with others. Mary came to our church as a direct result of being brought into a conversation about a new music school. In the past, our church has been guilty of talking to others rather than talking with others.