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...
We are thrilled to announce that we have 2 new City Shapers Cohorts starting this fall! Over the next couple of weeks, we will introduce these cities and the incredible people working to transform them. Today, we’re extending a warm welcome and shout-out to the...
Hey Change-Maker! You’ve come to this page because you love your neighbor and you want to make an impact. We want to affirm that. And we know that you want to avoid causing harm to your neighbors and your neighborhoods. That means avoiding Toxic Charity. If you’ve...
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...
Our founder Bob Lupton published Toxic Charity ten years ago. After years of working alongside neighbors in Atlanta, he realized the ways that well-meaning people who wanted to help ended up causing harm to the very people they wanted to serve. His passion to help...
In October 2011, a transformative book hit the scene. Bob Lupton had penned Toxic Charity: How the Churches and Charities Hurts Those They Help and How to Reverse It. The book shined a light on the ways traditional charity models typically failed to alleviate poverty,...
We talk about how innovation undergirds all of our initiatives here at FCS. We stay innovative by doggedly pursuing a mission greater than the needs of our organization: the flourishing of South Atlanta. From experience, we know that by choosing a mission greater than...
“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.” ~ Desmond Tutu When I first ran into this quote, I laughed out loud. I didn’t laugh because the quote is funny, but rather...
“Program is our native tongue,” the missions pastor told me. Her words caused the gears in my brain to realign and click together. After meeting with countless groups who deeply desire to love and serve their neighbors, but struggle in many ways to do so, the metaphor...
Charity is often the result of, well, charitable feelings prompting someone to act on behalf of someone else. It seems obvious: Someone needs something. I have that something. I give them that something, and they now have what they need. Problem solved. What we are...