Community organizing has long been recognized as an effective way to improve lives and bring justice to places where it is lacking.

Congregation-based community organizing (CBCO) is community organizing rooted in faith bodies that come together in answer to God’s call to love our neighbors, stand with the marginalized, and work with God for a more just society.  

Numerous UCC congregations around the country are members of local CBCO efforts. These ecumenical or interfaith networks of congregations work to address the needs and injustices present in their communities. Pastors report that participation in CBCO can be a transforming experience for congregations, individuals, and communities. Congregations gain new vitality and, often, new members.

More specifically, participation in CBCO:

• equips church leaders to more powerfully engage with their congregations and communities for the sake of justice and on behalf of all that God is creating;

• strengthens participants’ leadership skills in ways that benefit both their congregations and communities;

• teaches organizing skills and ways to use these to build strong congregations and religious organizations;

• sparks renewed vitality both within congregations and the larger community; and

• provides a way to work together ecumenically and across faiths to transform our communities, states, and nation to more closely reflect God’s vision for God’s people.

CBCO is a natural fit for UCC congregations given our strong commitment to justice as well as to ecumenism and interfaith work. While many UCC congregations are already engaged in CBCO, countless others would benefit from participation in this method of developing leaders and building congregations while simultaneously increasing the presence and power of our values in the public square.

CBCO Networks  

There are four larger CBCO networks and two smaller ones that support local interfaith or ecumenical coalitions across the country. The networks provide training opportunities for congregations and organizers, and facilitate work among the local coalitions. There are many valuable resources on their web pages.

Direct Action and Research Training Center (DART) : 20 organizations in six states, primarily in the Midwest and FL, based in Miami.

Gamaliel Foundation : 60 affiliates in 21 states, based in Chicago, IL. (Barack Obama worked as a community organizer with this group)

Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF): 57 affiliates in 21 states, based in Chicago.

People Improving Communities Through Organizing (PICO) : 50 Federations in 17 states based in Oakland, CA. Also works in rural areas.

Regional Congregations and Neighborhood Organizations (RCNO) -- 12 faith and community-based agencies in five states (Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois and Pennsylvania) in urban and low-income African American communities.

Intervalley Project : 7 affiliates in New England, based in Newton, Mass.

Other Resources on CBCO

Community organizing: a quiet revolution (May 2004) from ReligionLink.com, written by journalists, for journalists.  Many good links to other resources.

In Praise of Faith-Based Community Organizing by Heidi J. Swarts in Shelterforce, Fall 2008, the journal of the National Housing Institute (“The journal of affordable housing and community building”)        

Saul Alinsky goes to Church, March/April 2000, Sojourners Magazine 

Getting Organized by Stephen Hart, Christian Century, November 7, 2001.

Results of research on the effects of CBCO on congregations by InterFaith Funders.   Other publications on cbco from Interfaith Funders  

CBCO website of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (Lutherans) with many good resources  

Barack Obama’s 1990 article on community organizing