Having Nothing, Possessing Everything, by Michael Mather

Michael Mather is pastor of a church in inner city Indianapolis.  But forget whatever stereotypical image comes to mind when you read that.  In Having Nothing, Possessing Everything: Finding Abundant Communities in Unexpected Places, Mather writes of the changes he went through to re-imagine what it means to be a pastor in a poor community.  When he started out in ministry, he "began by seeing scarcity, seeing only the need and the things that seemed to be missing in the neighborhoods in which I pastored.  What I learned . . . was how to see abundance--I learned to see the love and power that was overflowing in even the most economically challenged neighborhoods."

Over time, Mather has developed practices that enrich and empower his neighbors, building up the community in which the church is placed.  Rather than looking upon the people in this poor neighborhood as needy people needing assistance, "We were practicing the theology of abundance by looking for and naming the gifts of people who are thought of as poor and needy."  When someone came to the church, or when the met someone in the neighborhood, Mather asked what they have to offer.  What gifts do they have?  What gives their life meaning?  Is there some skill they have that they can teach someone else to do?  They began to focus on people's capacities rather than their needs.

They discovered talented chefs, whom the church would pay to cater events.  They discovered skilled bicycle repairmen, who the church assisted with setting up a repair shop.  Photographers, tutors, artists, mechanics, health care workers, gardeners all had something to offer, to teach, to contribute the community.  The church shifted from a mentality of helping people with material needs to helping people by recognizing their gifts and finding places where they are valued.

Mather resists "the paternalism that comes from controlling the purse strings" and rejects long-practiced "anti-poverty efforts" that "offer solutions that have been proven not to work."  The church focuses on the neighbors, their interests and needs and gifts, rather than programming from above.  "Doing things for people and involving neighbors in what 'we' (as institutions) do hasn't been effective.  At our church, we experiment with ways to invest in the good things our neighbors are doing before we ask them to be involved in what we're doing."

None of this should be a radical idea, but, unfortunately, it is.  I love the use of staff and interns whose tasks consist of walking around the neighborhood listening to people.  They build bridges of relationships across common interests, bringing people together in such a way that their gifts are used, shared, and passed on.  I love the model of ministry and community Mather presents.  I wish he would have said more about tying it all in to the gospel.  He talks about not forgetting Jesus, and he talks about community, but he says little about bringing neighbors into communion and relationship with Jesus.  After all, the church is not a community center, a social club, an educational resource, or a supper club, but the body of Christ, Jesus' witness to the world.

Mather's model is not a template to be replicated, but the questions he and others in the church ask can be asked anywhere.  The time spent discovering people's gifts is valuable time in any church and community setting.  Having Nothing, Possessing Everything got me thinking a lot about discovering and empowering the gifts of people in my church and neighborhood.



Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!