[TonyB06]

I agree with some of the tenor of Bro. Cushite and AKA_Monet's comments, but perhaps am less hesitant to lay dominant responsibility at the base of the church house doors. Let's be real, there are a grip of folks out there that ain't looking to darken anybody's churchhouse door. some because they may see it as "irrelevant" and some because they may not want to deal with the truth they hear spoken there. So who reaches these folks?

Yes, there are church institutions that are lacking in their mission of spiritually feeding the mind, body and soul. But some, particularly when you look at AfAm church attendance rates, are indeed on point. My church's motto is "Saving Souls and Salvaging lives"--recognizing that Christians have heaven "made" already. The hardest part is successfully living here, and drawing others to the same eternal gift we've accepted. My church has a K-4 grade school, an elder care, and has run a business incubator for minority start-ups. And a range of services/programming for different strata within the congregation. (but all services/programming are open to anyone in the community.)

So, I think good church doors will always be open and aggressive in attacking these issues. But what else, concretely, should our community be doing from a social-service perspective, for a whole group of folks who aren't looking for church intervention? (also, I wonder if anyone is aware of what percentage of the "inner city" population, even considers themselves "churchgoing?")


...this is an interesting discussion.