What is the
Chalmers Center?
The Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College helps churches to help the poor to help themselves. The methods we use center on the person of Jesus Christ. We believe that He is the only One who can give poor people the dignity, hope, and power they need to restore them to being what God created them to be: workers who can sustain themselves and bring glory to God in the process.
We offer training for churches to minister to poor communities in the Majority World — Africa, Asia, and Latin America — as well as the US/Canadian context. This training is available through web-deployed distance learning courses, self-study courses, and week-long training institutes held throughout the world in partnership with churches and ministries.
The training is designed for: a) local pastors and church members, b) missionaries and international ministry staff, and c) US/Canadian churches which minister abroad. It is appropriate for individuals as well as for a ministry team.
Helping the Church Help the Poor
We are not a missions organization, a non-government organization (NGO), or a community development ministry. Instead, we are a training organization that uses best practice research to equip the local church to be the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus Christ by addressing the spiritual, economic, and social needs of low-income individuals. To reiterate, our goal is to "help the church to help the poor to help themselves."
By God’s grace alone, the Chalmers Center has equipped God’s people in over 100 countries and across the U.S./Canada to use church-centered economic development strategies to minister to poor people.
Training Topics
The ministry strategies and programs:
- Are church-centered and community based.
- Communicate the gospel of the kingdom of God in both word and deed.
- Have been tried and tested in various locations around the world and reflect the best practice research.
With our training, you will 1) gain an understanding of the harm that can come from an improper understanding of the nature of poverty and its alleviation, 2) identify the basic principles and tools needed to develop relationships with low-income individuals in your community, and 3) be able to implement biblically-based economic development ministry programs.
For ministry among the very poor in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the training prepares you to create a ministry strategy based on microfinance and microenterprise development. For ministry in the US/Canada, the training prepares you to create a ministry program centered around savings and asset accumulation, financial literacy, and job training.
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