There are five levels of networking that Word and Deed Network seeks to develop:

• Geographically-based: bringing congregations, NGO's, and para-church organizations located in a given area to contribute to local community transformation.
• Denominationally-based: taking advantage of already formed networks of churches, i.e., denominations, to introduce and/or develop and/or enrich holistic ministry efforts.
• Urban-Suburban Partnerships: facilitating suburban churches to partner with urban churches to work together toward transformation in a given neighborhood.
• Global partnerships: learning from and enriching one another’s holistic ministry efforts across national lines. Churches across the globe, particularly in the Two-Thirds World, can teach churches in North America a thing or two about holistic ministry, as well as provide contexts in which international church-to-church partnerships can work together for personal and social transformation.
• Organizational Partnerships: bringing together the wisdom and resources of Christian organizations worldwide to help local churches engage their communities holistically.

If you think Word and Deed Network can help your church, denomination or organization, please contact us.

Current Highlights & Features

Check out the Holistic Ministry Materials in our resource center.

For churches that have heard the call to engage their communities holistically, consider our ESA/Word & Deed Network Holistic Ministry Starter Kit.  It includes: (1) Churches That Make a Difference: Reaching Your Community with Good News and Good Works by Ronald J. Sider, Philip N. Olson & Heidi Rolland Unruh; (2) the CD-ROM noted above; (3) What is Holistic Ministry? DVD; (4) a practical manual entitled Becoming a Church That Makes a Difference: A Guide for the Holistic Ministry Journey; and (5) a list of other selected holistic ministry resources.  Order this resource.

New book by Al Tizon: Transformation after Lausanne: Radical Evangelical Mission in Global-Local Perspective
Lausanne '74 inspired evangelicals around the world to take seriously the full implications of the Gospel for mission.  This missiology integrated evangelism and social concern like no other.  This book documents the definitive gatherings, theological tensions, and social forces within and without evangelicalism that led up to Mission as Transformation.

See the current list of "Classic Holistic" articles in our Ministry Resource Center.

Word & Deed Network Organizational Partners and Recommended Weblinks

True to its name, Word & Deed Network is a network; in fact, it is made up of different kinds of networks. The following list is a network of partners, each of which provides specific expertise and services. Please contact any of these organizations in accord with your holistic ministry needs:

• Center for Renewal
  • “Your Roadmap to Renewing Communities”
    
• Chalmers Center for Economic Development
  • "to help the church to help the poor to help themselves"
    
• Christian Churches Together in the USA
  • “Enabling Churches and national Christian organizations to grow closer together in Christ in order to strengthen our Christian witness in the world”
    
• Christian Community Development Association
  • “Wholistically restored communities with Christians fully engaged in the process of transformation”
    
• Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
  • “Living Justice, Loving Mercy”
    
• Evangelicals for Human Rights
  • "Seeks to reaffirm the centrality of human rights as an unshakable biblical obligation fundamental to an evangelical Christian social and moral vision"
• Faith and Justice Churches
  • “Connecting and equipping leaders for prophetic advocacy”
    
• Faith and Service Technical Education Network (FASTEN)
  • “Sharing Knowledge, Strengthening Connections, Improving Outcomes for Community Transformation”
    
• ForMinistry
  • “Equip Your Ministry Online”
    
• Healthy Churches Initiative
  • “Empowering and Mobilizing God’s People”
    
• Health Centers
  • “Other resources for health ministry centers”
    
• Leadership Network
  • “Connecting Innovators to Multiply”
    
• Life in Christ Cathedral of Faith (Chester, PA)
• Media Presbyterian Church (Media, PA)
  • “Serving God and the Community”
    
• Micah Network
  • "International Network of Holistic Ministry Organizations"
    
• Nazarene Compassionate Ministries
  • “Compassion as a Lifestyle”
    
• NewFocus National
  • “Learning Stewardship by Living Stewardship with People in Need”
    
• North American Association of Christian Social Workers
  • “A Vital Christian Presence in Social Work”
    
• Virginia Round Table
  • “Mobilizing Virginia’s Church Community”
    
• Wayne Presbyterian Church (Wayne, PA)
• World Hope International
  • “Opportunity. Dignity. Hope.”
    
• World Relief  
  
  • “The Story of the Church at Work”