Holland City Shapers Launches! January 20, 2022 We are thrilled to announce that our third City Shapers has officially launched! The catalyzing team in Holland, Michigan has begun to meet virtually and start the Assessment phase of their journey. These initial months are all about getting clarity on the current... Shawn Duncan
10 Lessons We’ve Learned in 10 Years of Toxic Charity December 8, 2021 Here are our top 10 insights in how to avoid Toxic Charity. We’ve learned these lessons in the 10 years since Toxic Charity first came out! FCS Founder Bob Lupton shined a light on the ways that traditional philanthropic models were failing to have a lasting... Shawn Duncan
Introducing Holland: Our Newest City Shapers! October 18, 2021 We have already launched 1 of our new City Shapers cohorts. Now, we’re getting ready to launch a cohort in another city, Holland, Michigan. Both of these new cohorts have been made possible by a $1 Million Thriving Congregations grant FCS received one year ago from... Shawn Duncan
Case Study: A 2-Day Client Event for Change September 20, 2021 The Lupton Center recently completed a 2-day event for a client who was ready to launch into a robust initiative focusing on place-based, deep-dive, holistic development. They started their journey with us through a virtual open house that included a mixture of our... Shawn Duncan
3 Signs to Help You Recognize a Flourishing Community June 1, 2021 Have you ever wondered how to recognize a flourishing community? In this journey of being a Change-Maker, sometimes it helps to see an example of what holistic success really looks like. Over the last forty years as a part of FCS, we’ve refined our vision of what it... Shawn Duncan
Good Samaritanization: The Bible, Poverty, and Community Development May 13, 2021 Every community of faith we have ever worked with knows, without a doubt, THAT the Bible calls us to respond to poverty, but very few of them have much clarity on what it says about HOW. Let me explain. The Good Samaritanization of Poverty Alleviation I never would... Shawn Duncan
Why Flourishing Matters in Community Development April 27, 2021 If you’ve been following our series on flourishing or explored Seeking Shalom, you know that flourishing is the meaning and measure to our approach to community development. Today, we want to dig a little deeper and talk about why flourishing matters so much in... Shawn Duncan
What is Flourishing in Place March 29, 2021 Flourishing in place is the end goal of all of our community development work. We want everyone to Flourish in Place. It’s why we exist at the Lupton Center – to equip change-makers to build neighborhoods that thrive. Any work we do in development or ministry or... Shawn Duncan
A Holistic Overview of Flourishing and Neighborhoods March 15, 2021 Impact is more important than intent. We live by that, and we emphasize it to every change-maker we work with. At the same time, it’s important to dream! Results are beautiful and important, but they are most inspiring when connected to a grander, captivating vision... Shawn Duncan
From Community Development to Neighborhood Development January 26, 2021 Community Development was an innovation. Now, we are innovating even further by implementing. Holistic Neighborhood Development. Over 40 years ago, Bob Lupton and his team at Focused Community Strategies questioned the standard nonprofit model. In particular, they... Shawn Duncan