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What Story Are We Living In?
Last week, we talked about how good intentions aren’t enough—how we can actually harm people in poverty when we try to help.
It turns out that how well we walk into serving our neighbors actually depends on how we answer two key questions:
Why did Jesus come to earth?
What is the gospel?
Why Good Intentions Aren’t Enough
How we diagnose the problem of poverty directly impacts how we will seek to address it. If we treat only the symptoms or if we misdiagnose the underlying problem, we will not improve the situation—and we might actually make the lives of the materially poor worse in the long run.
Equipping Faithful Volunteers
If you’re involved in outreach or mercy ministry, you might wonder how to go about finding, equipping, encouraging and retaining volunteers to assist in this long term ministry.
Living As People of the Resurrection
The work of fighting poverty is a long and difficult road. For every joy and story of transformation, we can all think of sorrows and stories of loss and failure. Walking alongside people through the brokenness of the world is often a one-step-forward-three-steps-back process. It is easy for ministry practitioners and volunteers to grow weary and ministry participants to grow discouraged. Real hope for people and systems in a fallen world seems elusive, and anxiety is poor fuel for sustainable ministry.
Meet the Chalmers Ambassadors
Since 2022, Chalmers has been cultivating a network of Ambassadors—men & women who are deeply rooted practitioners of holistic, effective poverty alleviation ministry across North America and beyond. Each of them has been deeply trained by Chalmers to apply a biblical framework for understanding and addressing poverty to local ministry contexts and help others build toward healthy church and community ministry in ways that help without hurting.
A Tribute to Dr. John Perkins
My father gave me one of John Perkin’s books to read when I was a freshman in high school. Dad, the pastor of Presbyterian church in rural Wisconsin, had been trying to understand how Bible believing Christians should respond to America’s racial disparities.
One-Anothers for Today’s Church: Lessons from Savings Groups
At first glance, “love one another” seems a simple enough instruction to comprehend, if not a difficult one to follow. In the earliest days of Christianity, those who received that command walked closely with Jesus himself. When he decreed “love as I have loved,” specific memories and interactions almost certainly came to mind. But soon the gospel spread. First to 120 believers (Acts 1:15), then to more than 3,000 (Acts 2:41), “and the Lord added to their number daily” (Acts 2:47).
Partnering with Ministries Well…as Givers
Last month, Chalmers partnered with True Charity to share a framework for effective generosity in a joint webinar: Helping Without Hurting in Generosity: A Donor’s Guide to Effective Giving.
𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 & 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴: Supportive Communities of Change
A little change can add up over time.
This was true with the cans of pennies, nickels, and dimes my dad used to collect, and it is true for people in Faith & Finances classes.
𝘐𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 Equips Christians to Solve Local Challenges with Local Resources
In the far north of Uganda, for the first time in our team history, The Chalmers Center equipped refugees to be Innovate: Local facilitators. Working with Compassion International Uganda, Chalmers trained and certified 35 men and women in Adjumani, Uganda, just over an hour from the border with South Sudan.
God Is Restoring What’s Broken: Kellie’s Story
As we look back on 2025, one theme rises above all others: God is restoring what is broken—through His Church, through His people, and through partners like you. Kellie’s story is proof. Kellie arrived at Lighthouse Ministries in Lakeland, Florida with years of trauma, addiction, and loss weighing her down. But through Faith & Finances, one of Chalmers’ biblically-based poverty alleviation programs, everything changed.
Advent and Poverty Alleviation
The longing of Advent infuses our work at the Chalmers Center. Our mission is to help God’s people rethink poverty and respond with practical biblical principles so that all are restored to flourishing.
We Need a Better Story
We often build poverty alleviation initiatives that are designed to help poor people pursue the American Dream. But what if all of us—poor and non-poor alike—need a different story?
Giving Well at Year-End
As the holiday season approaches, opportunities for volunteering and drives for giving to local charitable organizations and church programs start to pop up regularly.
Remembering the Bigger Story
Editor’s Note: This week, we’ve invited one of our newest staff members, Elijah Tanner, Director of Strategic Partners, to reflect on some ways his on-the-job learning with us is helping him see how God is at work in our lives and the ways we serve others
𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 & 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 Snapshot: Data That Tells a Story of Grace
Financial education for low-income citizens is crucial, though they face particular challenges that often mean their ability to make gains is more modest. But through Faith & Finances, we have the privilege of providing money management classes that see and cheer on those small first steps.
God Is At Work—Even In Our Mistakes
The work of creating a benevolence ministry that provides material assistance to those in need without creating or perpetuating unhealthy dependencies is challenging. It’s important for churches and ministries pursuing this work to come from a position of humility. Approaching church benevolence with the right posture should drive us to the cross, as it creates the opportunity for us to see our own sin and our own inadequacy. We cannot independently generate change in systems, people, and communities, but that does not hinder the work of the Holy Spirit.
Chalmers Staff Grows in 2025
025 has been an exciting season of growth for Chalmers.,Last year we moved our offices to downtown Chattanooga — a more central and spacious location. Now, with that foundation in place, we’re stepping into the next phase of ministry with the addition of several key team members who bring rich experience and a shared passion for equipping the Church to walk alongside people experiencing poverty. We’re pleased to introduce the newest members of the Chalmers team!