1. Equipping

Both Ministry and Community Development are involved in the tasks of equipping people and empowering them for life in community.

In the fourth Chapter of Paul's letter to the Ephesians, he outlines his view of ministry which is very definitely oriented to their role in "equipping the saints for the work of ministry". Paul sees the task of ministry as one of being like a ground crew for an airforce rather than an airforce of one person, with a host of onlookers. Unfortunately, in actual practice, church life for pastors in local congregations can often seem like a solo and solitary job in which there is little interest by congregant in being prepared for active engagement with their world.

Even if the "enrichment view" of ministry is taken, there is a strong element of empowerment and equipping in the mentoring system at its base.

Community development philosophy is very much empowerment oriented, especially if it uses a bottom-up approach. The current literature expresses a great deal of concern for the development and maintenance of "social capital" and the empowerment of people. "Faith Based" approaches to local economic development are one instance of the two areas of ministry and community development merging for the enrichment of community members through the agency of the local church.

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