The Chalmers Center

About the Chalmers Center
The Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College helps churches to help the poor to help themselves. The methods we use center on the person of Jesus Christ. We believe that He is the only One who can give poor people the dignity, hope, and power they need to restore them to being what God created them to be: workers who can sustain themselves and bring glory to God in the process.

The Chalmers Center offers training for both a majority world context — Africa, Asia, and Latin America — as well as for a US/Canada context. This training is available through web-deployed distance learning courses, self-study courses, and week-long training institutes held throughout the world in partnership with churches and ministries.

The Chalmers Center is a part of Covenant College — a Christian college emphasizing a liberal arts education — and operates in association with the college's Department of Economics and Community Development.

Dear Friend of the Chalmers Center,

We would like to invite you to join us for a series of live, one-hour webinars (web-based seminars) that address topics in the new book, “When Helping Hurts:  How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself.” These webinars are led by the book's co-authors — Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development.

These webinars are offered at no charge.

About "When Helping Hurts"
"When Helping Hurts" argues that churches and individual Christians typically have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty, and these assumptions lead to strategies that do considerable harm to poor people as well as to themselves. The book provides foundational concepts and clear principles for helping without hurting the poor. It also presents proven interventions and relevant applications for churches to use when ministering to the poor both at home and abroad, including advice about short-term missions programs. Many of the principles in the book are from the Chalmers Center's highly regarded "Foundations and Principles of Holistic Ministry" distance learning course. Learn more about the book at www.whenhelpinghurts.org.

What is a Webinar?
A webinar is a web-based seminar. You connect to the webinar from your home or office via the Internet and/or by phone.  The presenter’s slides are displayed on your computer in an Internet window.  You hear the audio either through your computer over the Internet or by telephone. Learn more about "When Helping Hurts" webinars.

Intended Audience
Like the book, the webinars are intended for those who minister to the poor or who are interested in ministry to the poor, whether in the US/Canada or outside of North America. This includes pastors, deacon boards, mercy ministry teams, home and foreign missions committees, missionaries, and donors.

The Upcoming Webinar
The first webinar session is entitled "The Church and the Concept of Poverty." It explores the concepts and principles presented in the introduction and chapters 1 through 3 of the book. In preparation, we ask that you read these chapters prior to the webinar session. If you do not already have a copy, you can purchase the book online.

This webinar is scheduled for September 23rd from 12pm to 1pm US Eastern Daylight Time (GMT-4).

Registration
There is no charge for the webinars. However, to participate in a webinar, you must register. Register Now »

We hope you can join us for this ministry training opportunity.

In Christ,
Bernie Alimonti

P.S. Please feel free to share information about the book and about the webinars with members of your ministry team and with others in your broader ministry network who could benefit from this training.