Gary Harke and Bonnee Voss led us in a workshop that looked at how we can have an impact on social needs and concerns in our own lives.We made a list of these issues.
 

Bonnee and Gary then introduced us to a method for finding ways of dealing with social issues and concerns from a number of different perspectives.  It's called The Social Ministry Grid and helps us determine different types of social ministry and action.
 

There are four dimensions to social ministry Education Inform people about an issue  Direct Ministry Providing help to people in need. Witness Makes public the convictions of a person or group. Advocacy for Change Working toward systemic change. Using people's different talents, gifts, insights, and interests, it is possible to come up with a wide range of actions that can help make our world a better place in which to live.     Note: The Social Ministry Grid is adapted by Bonnee Voss and Gary Harke from Ronald Johnson and Russell Long, Social Ministry: A Congregational Manual (Philadelphia: Parish Life Press, 1983); and Maxine McKinney,  Justice Ministries in the Local Church: Case Studies (Washington, D.C.: General Board of Church and Society, n.d.) p. 23

We then took the method and applied it to some of the issues we thought were important.

Here are some of the ideas that we came up with to deal with some specific issues.

The Issue	The Idea or activity	The Dimension of Social Ministry
Violence	Persuade news media to run good news	Advocacy
Drug Abuse	Education for parents of elementary students	Education
Church Role in Community	Hold worship services outdoors (such as in parking lot) for more visibility	Witness
Homelessness	Buy copies of Street News newspaper	Direct ministry
Violence	Write to Senators/Representatives on gun control legislation	Advocacy
Violence	Lobby government to use non-violent methods to solve issues	Advocacy
Violence	Just learn to be nice to each other	Witness
Diversity	Hold forums for discussion among students in schools	Education
Domestic Violence	Organize and hold candlelight vigils for victims of abuse	Witness
Poverty	Support Jubilee 2000	Advocacy
Poverty	Work at Food Pantries or meal sites	Direct Ministry

This is but a beginning of our working with these issues.  As Ron Sider reminded us many times, there are issues that our society and world face that are just as important to confront as personal sins.  Jesus calls us to be his people, his body alive in the world.