Where I Started

One EFCA pastor’s journey in compassion ministry

by Adam Talbott, pastor, Cornerstone Community Church, Auburn, Calif.

I remember the day clearly, as a teenager at a private Christian school, when a visiting chapel speaker gave us a guilt trip for not helping the poor. I was moved by his clear Bible teaching, and I remember wishing that I could donate the sweater I was wearing. But the speaker didn’t offer any opportunities to give or serve.

After high school I worked full time for a homeless ministry. And when I came to Cornerstone in 2003, I wanted to expose our church to compassion ministry, but without the guilt trip. I wanted to make it easy for people of all ages to get involved.

Cornerstone was similar to the evangelicalism of my youth. Our only compassion ministry was an old wine barrel in the back of the church that was used for the collection of nonperishable food. One time I saw cobwebs in the barrel, and I thought about Matthew 25 where Jesus says, “I was naked and you did not clothe me.” I had just read Carl Henry’s classic The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism. I was uneasy about what God thought of our church.

It was late 2006. I remembered a suggestion that I had learned at TEDS — to create teams of lay people to research and solve problems. I gave an open invitation at church to join a “Compassion Team” designed to research the “hidden/hurting” people in our town. The open invitation made it possible for people with compassion gifts to join, some of whom I would not have considered. Roughly 10 people attended our first meeting, where I laid down the theological foundations (“Why does God care about the poor?”) and established some guidelines for creating a strategic focus. At this time we had no idea what kind of ministry to pursue, and we didn’t know if we would partner with other organizations or start our own ministry.

Each group member was assigned research in specific areas of need, including poverty, parents of disabled children, after-school programs, isolated elderly, single parents, the local jail, etc. We needed to know who was hurting and who was helping in our town. We interviewed local people from other churches, organizations (like The Salvation Army) and county agencies.

The guidelines we followed to develop a strategic focus helped us discern God’s blessing on our direction, and they protected us from any one group member (including myself) strong-arming the process. The guidelines required overlapping conditions: 1) the visionary passion of key leaders, 2) the congregation’s spiritual gifts and unique position in the community, and 3) our available resources (money, people, facilities, etc.).

Our research and brainstorming lasted about nine months. Each month our knowledge grew and a few ideas burbled to the surface as obvious next steps.

First, we wanted to get involved with Mark Lewis (EFCA TouchGlobal Crisis Response director)—not only to join him in recovery work in New Orleans, but also to learn how to take his lessons home to small-town California. So we sent a team.

Second, two homeless organizations in our area sounded, well, fun! So we signed-up. In one case, we volunteered our church to serve as part of a “nomadic shelter” (where homeless people sleep in different churches each night). We provide the food and a brief Bible lesson while the organization provides the liability protection, staffing and overnight security. This ministry made it easy for our people to serve, and it gave us regular exposure to homeless people. This grew into a comfort level with homeless ministry that has generated many dreams of new ministry.

Since our strategic focus leaned toward poverty and displaced people, and since evangelicals usually stink at homeless ministry, we found ourselves working alongside mainline church people and Catholics who were already getting it done here in Auburn. At first they were nervous about us “proselytizing” and we were nervous about their nervousness, but the relationships soon prevailed over these concerns. I frequently explain the gospel with unpopular words such as Jesus’ blood, eternal conscious punishment in hell, cross, atonement, repentance, but I combine gospel clarity with a huge smile and credible friendship.

Occasional references from the pulpit to serving the poor, combined with team-based research, combined with easy and frequent opportunities to serve have produced startlingly high enthusiasm and lasting support from our church members.

Our compassionate approach is something we call “triangulation” (a word I stole from Gary Hunter, associate executive director of EFCA ReachGlobal). Triangulation means that we minister not only to the homeless, but also to other non-Christians, mainline churches and Catholics who want to work alongside us in ministry. We see these complex relationships as opportunities to share the gospel with all kinds of people. As a result, our church has developed a reputation as one of the dependable places where the homeless are warmly welcomed. We’ve explored the theology behind hospitality, which has been life-changing.

I’m glad our church has moved beyond the cobwebs in the wine barrel. I still worry about church enthusiasm and whether or not we can sustain and grow these ministries long-term. As a small church, if I lose one or two key people, I don’t know what I would do. But so far God has blessed us with everything we need. These ministries have given our church new opportunities for fellowship (an unexpected result), so that we consider our compassion ministry as the best way to foster relationships among church members. The Compassion Team no longer exists, but the hopes and dreams of its founders have been shouldered by our church body, where God is doing exciting things.