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 raising up urban leaders through educational opportunities
The need
Churches and Christian organizations have been instrumental in having a positive impact in the lives of urban students and their families. However, these churches and organizations often face the following challenges:
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working in isolation from other Christian organizations
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lacking the capacity to fully support their staff with professional development
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lacking the know-how or connections to access resources
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funding instability and frequent staff turnover
To be effective, these churches and Christian organizations need:
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a current understanding of urban education and the ways they can engage in the process of empowering urban students through education
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support around resources, curriculum, and training
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mental and physical space to evaluate and reflect on their programs
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opportunities to network with other churches and Christian nonprofits that also have educational programs
The response
 Building upon educational research and needs assessments, the BEC supports urban churches and organizations in strengthening their existing programs, starting new initiatives, evaluating the short- and long-term impact of their programs, coordinating learning groups, and organizing trainings.
The ways we assess the needs of churches include:
Research: conducting church surveys, writing case studies of different models of church engagement in education, and conducting focus groups
Listening: meeting one-on-one with individuals, visiting churches, and learning from what is shared through the learning communities
The ways we serve churches and organizations include:
Learning Communities: fostering reflection and learning among churches through quarterly reflection and learning sessions as well as topic-specific learning groups (such as volunteer management)
Professional Development: providing trainings and workshops for program staff (such as youth development training)
Capacity Building: working with individual sites on staff and/or program development
Program Initiatives. Starting new programs that fit the needs of the community and leverage the assets of the churches or programs
The impact
Since its founding, the BEC has helped make an impact on church-based programs in Greater Boston that help urban residents reach educational goals.
1999: helped launch church-based Higher Education Resource Centers. Three continue to serve college-bound, urban students in the South End, Dorchester, and Worcester.
2003: created the New City Scholars Program through a partnership with Gordon College. This successful program, which is now called the Clarendon Scholars Program, is run by Gordon, and is in its 7th year.
2007: helped Greater Boston Vineyard start an ongoing, two-year, college readiness program.
2009 and 2010: developed learning relationships with leaders from over 50 churches and ministries to understand how they are already serving their students and to assess the needs for further support.
2009-2011: convened and supported a growing network of Christian leaders for reflection, learning, prayer, peer support, and coordinated action. Over 40 individuals representing more than 25 churches and organizations participated in BEC learning community events and trainings.
2009-2011: helped the Episcopal Quincy Chinese Center with program and staff development. We helped to launch a college preparation program for immigrant Chinese high school students.
2011: took a leadership role to support the Boston Public Schools (BPS) Circle of Promise Initiative's efforts to foster partnerships between schools and faith-based institutions. We helped to plan, prepare, and facilitate a May event that gathered more than 150 school principals, staff, faith leaders, and congregants to hear about different models for partnerships and for dialogue. We are continuing work with the BPS to complete follow-up work for this event and to help with partnership matches.
How to help
The BEC is looking for:
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new church partners who are interested in engaging pressing issues in urban education, through participating in reflection and learning communities, in research, and/or in emerging initiatives
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interns and volunteers to help with research and administration
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volunteers to partner with churches in mentoring, tutoring, ESL teaching, financial sponsorship of student savings, and entrepreneurship
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and prayer and financial support from individuals and churches.
To get involved, contact Ruth Wong, director.
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