By Carl Stagner

Two-and-a-half decades ago, Church on the Street came on the scene in Atlanta, Georgia, ushering in a radically different paradigm for ministry to the overlooked, the under-resourced, and the underserved among us. Church on the Street didn’t wait for people to come inside the church building, but instead took church to them. Challenging traditional churchgoers to enter into proximity with, and invest in the lives of, persons in living poverty, the grassroots-level ministry within the Church of God movement quickly became a training ground for churches open to learning and growing in how we relate across social divides. Under the visionary leadership of Andy Odle, who’s served as executive director in 2008, the partner during the Movement-wide Trafficklight emphasis formally became known as Remerge in 2016. A check-in with the ministry today reveals a bigger and better operation emerging as an increasingly crucial resource for change agents and community impact.

One development that stands out is the partnership Remerge now enjoys with Anderson University. Andy Odle talks about what’s behind the new hands-on learning experience known as “Designing Community Solutions.”

Presentation at Remerge about food deserts.

“Remerge is built around a theology of reconciliation that is activated by a specifically formulated human-centered-design strategy,” Andy explains. “For the past fifteen years, we have been honing our strategy in the fire of real experience. We built an Institute to complement our mission by training others in theologically informed community engagement and transformation. In conversations with Dr. Nathan Willowby, we realized that what Remerge had to offer would be a great complement to the work of Anderson University. We decided to initiate this partnership with an intensive, experiential course that is held in Atlanta during the summer called ‘Designing Community Solutions.’ We have run the course twice and are now planning on expanding our partnership and offerings.”

The new course offering essentially expands the reach of what Remerge has been about from the beginning. It further magnifies the impact of what God has already been doing.

“For years our Studio has been creating innovative solutions to the challenges of poverty and social exclusion,” Andy continues, “but we are limited in our impact simply by the number of team members we can hire and the number of initiatives we can fund. By offering our training and educational opportunities more broadly to students, pastors, and nonprofit leaders, we can immediately expand the impact that we would otherwise have.”

Andy Odle teaching at Remerge.

In scope, approach, and influence on society and church, Remerge has certainly grown under God’s clear anointing. Though it’s been several years since the Trafficklight spotlight shone on Remerge, Church of God leaders and congregations have observed the perennial need for a tested resource and ally like the Atlanta-based organization. With a variety of new aspects to Remerge—like the Flourishing Hub, a series of interrelated programs strategically aligned to help the most vulnerable among us move “from instability to flourishing”—the strategic and proven potency for measurable impact is tremendous. “The Hub programs are relationally designed to walk with community members on their path to reclaim their God-given dignity,” Andy explains, “experience a sense of stability for themselves and their family, and to become their own solution through entrepreneurship.” Incredibly, Andy reveals that, in the past year alone, they were able to “impact the lives of over 10,000 individuals through these efforts.”

The new Social Entrepreneur-in-Residence program also recruits innovative leaders to “clarify systemic challenges, create new business models, and develop new initiatives.” Andy details that through this program, they are “currently attempting to build an end-to-end development ecosystem (pre-development through post-development activities) aligned with wealth-building initiatives that can tangibly and quantifiably reduce the wealth gap.” Talk about tested, tangible transformation!

So, what would Andy Odle say to someone who genuinely wants to make a practical and loving difference in the community for the long haul, no matter what it takes? What would he say to someone who is on the fence about whether or not to take a course like “Designing Community Solutions”?

“We have a saying at Remerge, ‘If we don’t do it, we don’t teach it,’ Andy responds. “Everything that you will learn and experience in this course, or any other offering, has been put through a crucible of real-world experience. These are the same mindsets, strategies, and tools that we use every day to address challenges at both grassroots and systemic levels. If you want to learn how to integrate sound theology with practices that will help your church or organization to make real, lasting, and faithful change, then this is the course for you.”

Learn much more about what Remerge is up to, and how you can get involved, at www.remerge.org. Learn more about the Church of God movement at www.JesusIsTheSubject.org.