SERVING
ALL SCHOOLS
A Key to Community
Transformation
By Melvin Adams - President
& COO of Renewanation
I
RECENTLY ATTENDED a conference for pastors
and ministry leaders where the focus was transfor-
mational ministry. One of the sessions was led by
the pastor of a “significant” church who spoke about
transforming communities through ministry in local
schools. I was captured by his thesis that every challenge
and opportunity of a community could be found in the
local schools. I had to agree. So I was eager to hear what
his church was doing to transform young lives through
their ministry in schools.
His presentation centered on a local public high school
that his church had adopted. He shared about enthusi-
astic turnout for workdays to paint and repair. He told
about improving sports facilities, providing clothing and
meals for students, and helping with after-school tutor-
ing to help kids learn how to read. The church was clearly
engaged with the school, and I wasn’t surprised when
he stated how happy the superintendent was with their
church-school partnership. Everyone was impressed!
Then the Q & A session started. Pastors and leaders
18
peppered him with questions, eager to know how they
could apply this transformational ministry model to
their own communities.
Q:
How did you motivate your people to become so
engaged?
A: I guess I was able to lay out a clear vision for how we
could transform our community by engaging with our
school.
Q: So how did you overcome the challenges of sharing
faith in a publicly funded school?
A: We went with no agenda—only to serve. We were very
careful not to have any materials that mentioned Jesus
or had scripture. We were just there to let them know
we cared and wanted to
make our community a
better place.