How can we serve your Church?
At Water Street Ministries, we believe that God is glorified by the unity demonstrated when the church fulfills its role as God’s ordained agency for accomplishing His plans and purposes on this earth. With over 100 years of experience in serving individuals in poverty, we humbly desire to serve you, the Church, as you fulfill God’s call to reach the poor.
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Speaking & Teaching
Vision-driven Ministry
Jesus ministered as One who obeyed His Father rather than one driven by the ‘press of the crowd!’ If you find yourself or your staff breathless at the end of day, you might be allowing the overwhelming need to drive what you do. This presentation will offer principles about how we can minister well from vision rather than from reaction.
Lecture. 1 hour. Great for church staff.
God’s heart on poverty
It’s often difficult to know how to minister with those in material poverty. Yet the Bible has much to say to us about the need to ‘remember the poor’ even as Jesus does! This presentation will illuminate God’s concern for those in material poverty and suggest principles for how the helping person might come alongside these in a redemptive way.
Sermon. 20-60 minutes.
Ministry update
Hear first-hand how your church has been helping to change lives through Water Street Ministries.
10-60 minutes. Great for sermons, Sunday school, etc.
When Helping Hurts
Churches and individual Christians typically have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty, resulting in the use of strategies that do considerable harm to poor people and themselves. ‘When Helping Hurts’ distinguishes between relief, rehabilitation and development when alleviating material poverty and suggests how to minister effectively when helping someone. The text ‘When Helping Hurts’ by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett is the reference for this series.
Guided discussion. 1-4 weeks. Great for church staff, adult Sunday school classes, etc.
The Church and Cultural Engagement
This presentation will provide perspective on how Christians could represent Christ in today’s culture without fear, exploring how to be ‘faithfully present’ as salt and light in our communities.
Guided discussion. 1-4 weeks. Great for church staff, adult Sunday school classes, etc.
Principles for Helping People
This interactive session will examine several passages of Scripture to discover practical principles that will help guide how we help those who hurt in a way that is actually helpful.
Guided discussion. 1 hour. Great for church staff, adult Sunday school classes, etc.
The Church as a Healing Environment
The Church should be a place where broken people experience the love of Christ as it is lived out through authentic relationships with each other. This presentation will highlight what a healing environment looks like and propose some principles that promote such an atmosphere in the Church.
Guided discussion. 1 hour. Great for church staff, adult Sunday school classes, etc.
Recommended Reading
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- Good News for the Chemically Dependent, Jeff Van Vonderen, Bethany House, 1991.
- Great insight relative to addiction, etc.
- Discussion on ‘helping in a way that is actually helpful’ – is helpful! pp. 122-142.
- The Genesis Process: Books 1 & 2, Michael Dye, self-published, 2006.
- Provides tools for those who are willing to change from addiction.
- Blends biblical principles with addiction concepts.
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- The Externally Focused Church, Rick Rusaw, Eric Swanson, Group Publishing, 2004.
- Distinguishes between externally and internally focused churches.
- Walks through the process of becoming community-focused and including vision, etc.
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- Christianity Confronts Culture, Marvin Mayers, Zondervan, 1974, pp. 32-33.
- “The prior question to all of this (in cross cultural communication) is the question of trust. ‘Is what I am doing, thinking, or saying building trust or is it undermining trust?’”
- “Is what I am doing, thinking or saying potential for building trust or potential for undermining trust?” pp. 32.
- Cross-Cultural Servanthood, Duane Elmer, IVP, 2006
- Explains the concept of servanthood particularly in a cross-cultural setting
- Discusses the process of and the challenges of servanthood
- Ministering Cross-Culturally, Sherwood Lingenfelter and Marvin Mayers, Baker, 1986.
- The Basic Value Questionnaire reveals our cultural orientations and assumptions.
- Develops an ‘incarnational model for personal relationships’
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- Control Theory, William Glasser, Harper and Row, 1984 (out-of-print)
- (From a non-biblical perspective), details the idea that behavior comes from within us rather than prompted from without
- Emphasizes the impact of the consequences of our choices
- Introduction to Psychology and Counseling, Paul D. Meier, Frank B. Minirth, Frank B. Wichern, Donald E. Ratcliff, Baker, 1991.
- Provides an overview of psychology and the major counseling theories
- Provides a Christian perspective relative to application of counseling principles
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- Changes that Heal, Henry Cloud, Zondervan, 1990.
- The first two chapters on the grace-truth-time paradigm are extremely helpful.
- Helpful information on relational boundaries.
- Generous Justice, Timothy Keller, Dutton, 2010
- Presents the Bible as the source of promoting justice and compassion for those in need.
- Connects justice with the experience of biblical grace.
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- The Shaping of Things to Come, Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, Hendrickson Publishers, 2003.
- Develops missional thought toward living the gospel within its cultural context.
- Encourages the contextualization of the message.
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- Leading Cross-Culturally, Sherwood G. Lingenfelter, Baker, 2008.
- Explains vision and value in leadership from a kingdom-perspective.
- Emphasizes building trust and empowerment in leadership in the context of community.
- Leading Across Cultures, James E. Plueddemann, IVP, 2009
- Contextualizes leadership considering culture and theology
- Develops a theory of leadership
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- TrueFaced, Bill Thrall, Bruce McNichol, and John Lynch, NavPress, 2004.
- Makes a great case for the need for authenticity.
- Illuminating on the ‘people pleasing vs. trust in God’ tension.
- The Soul of Ministry, Ray S. Anderson, Westminster, John Knox Press, 1997, pp. 69-86.
- ‘The inner logic of Jesus’ ministry is grounded in His obedience to the Father (rather than slavish submission to human need – ‘an unforgivable and insatiable slave master.’) pp. 80-81.
- Jesus’ wasn’t driven by the ‘press of the crowd.’
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- The Hole in our Gospel, Richard Stearns, Nelson, 2009.
- Describes Mr. Stearns’ path from corporate America to head of World Vision
- Highlights the need to remember the poor with intentionality of word, thought, and deed
- The New Friars, Scott Bessenecker, IVP, 2006
- Speaks insightfully about intractable and tractable poverty, pp.29-30.
- Discusses the ‘worthy’ and ‘unworthy’ poor, p. 89.
- The Poor Will be Glad, Peter Greer and Phil Smith, Zondervan, 2009.
- Highlights employment-based solutions to poverty
- Illuminates the concept of a Savings and Credit Association for community group saving and lending
- Walking with the Poor, Bryant Myers, Orbis, 1999.
- Defines the nature of poverty as fundamentally a ‘deficit of relationship’ in all facets, p. 87.
- Proposes poverty as a lack in all its complex dimensions: isolation, physical weakness, material poverty, vulnerability, powerlessness
- When Helping Hurts, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkertt, Moody, 2009.
- Distinguishes relief, rehabilitation and development activities in poverty alleviation
- Illuminates community development principles
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- Teaching Cross-Culturally, Judith E. Lingenfelter, Sherwood G. Lingenfelter, Baker, 2003.
- Reviews teaching and learning styles
- Offers a rationale on ‘teaching for change’
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- Good To Great, Jim Collins, HarperBusiness, 2001
- Speaks of the corporate culture – from a secular perspective
- Encourages hiring toward vision