The True Charity Network held its annual conference last week in Jacksonville, Florida. The conference demonstrated once again that this group is on the forefront of reforming the way the church does charity in the United States.
True Charity Network co-founder James Whitford at the True Charity Network event.
James Whitford and his wife Marsha are the co-founders of True Charity. I will not belabor their story, as we have told it before here at MinistryWatch. He earned his doctorate from the University of Kansas Medical Center before he and his wife, Marsha, founded Watered Gardens Ministries in 2000. Watered Gardens is a ministry to the poor in Joplin, Missouri. But they became dissatisfied with their own ministry model. They could tell donors people were being served, but few were being transformed. Its work was well-intentioned but had limited effectiveness. It was transactional, not transformational.
Whitford took Watered Gardens through a sometimes painful transformation, and now — through the True Charity Network — he is helping others do the same.
The True Charity Network now has more than 300 member organizations that serve more than a million people a year. The theme of this year’s conference, “By Design,” taught me that if the church is going to offer help to the world that is truly transformational and not merely transactional, we need a Biblical understanding of the human person.
In his opening address, Whitford reminded us of what is hiding in plain sight in Scripture, and that is that “we are made in the image of God, and we are designed for a purpose.” He said our work with the poor should not be merely to help them get a job (though that is important, too) but to help them develop a life of service to others. “Work is more than a way to make a living,” Whitford said. “It is a way to love our neighbors.”
Janell Rottier with ANEW Ministries / Photo via Facebook
One of the highlights of last week’s conference was the presentation of the Waypoint Awards. Waypoint Award winners are ministries that have embraced the True Charity model of providing care that is not merely transactional, but truly transformational. This year’s winners are:
ANEW Ministries. This Indiana ministry helps mothers during crisis but continues to work with them through the tough times to get them to a place of true flourishing. It says it “prioritizes being with rather than doing for.” It believes true transformation comes in the context of relationships. (That is a common theme of the True Charity Network.)
Skylark Clinic is a pregnancy resource center in southeast Georgia with three locations and a mobile facility. Skylark offers ultrasound, pregnancy testing, and STD testing. It also has programs for fathers and an “Earn While You Learn” program that allows participants to complete learning modules that earn them points that will pay for maternity/baby items from the organization’s Boutique. Skylark says its goal is not just to help young families through a crisis, but to ask these families, “What does a flourishing future look like for you?”
Joshua’s Place started in the basement of a small house in South Lebanon, Ohio, in 2008. Originally a Free Store Food Pantry with a relational approach, 10 volunteers, and serving just 15 families, the organization has grown to 500 volunteers serving in five school districts. Joshua’s Place offers after school programs and a monthly “Serve Saturday” that brings local churches into a relationship with the people the ministry serves.
Also honored with True Charity’s Excellence in Charity Award was a ministry from Brunswick, Georgia, called Saved by Grace, a residential work program for men.
One of the things that impresses me most about the True Charity Network is that it combines sophisticated thought leaders in the “Effective Compassion Movement” – people like Marvin Olasky, Bob Lupton, and Brian Fikkert — with “boots on the ground” practitioners such as the organizations who won this year’s Waypoint Awards.
Rachel Ferguson gave one of the keynote addresses at this year’s event. She is one of those thought leaders. Ferguson is the Director of the Free Enterprise Center at Concordia University Chicago, Assistant Dean of the College of Business, and Professor of Business Ethics. She is also an affiliate scholar of the Acton Institute. She encouraged the True Charity Network members to “go deep with a few, not broad with many.” She said her research suggests that large, top-down solutions from the government or large organizations are not as effective as grassroots efforts. She also warned, though, that “donors are impressed with flashy numbers” and it takes courage to play the “long game.”
Her bottom line: “start small, stay humble, and find leaders in your local community. Support them.”
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