The Chalmers Center

03/13/2026

The Chalmers Center joins our Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) family in honoring the life of Dr. John Perkins. Dr. Perkins went home to be with Jesus today after 95 years of selfless service as a prophet, agent of reconciliation, and promoter of shalom. John Perkins was a Civil Rights icon and faithful practitioner of justice, mercy, and community development. As a mentor of several generations, he lived out the gospel in word and deed all across the United States. The life and writings of Dr. Perkins shaped Chalmers’ founders and profoundly impacted a number of our staff members. We are indebted to his influence and legacy.

“There is no reconciliation until you recognize the dignity of the other...” - John Perkins

There are not enough words to express our appreciation for Dr. John M. Perkins and the ways he helped birth, shape, encourage, fight for, and love the CCDA community.

He meant so much to our association, and we are deeply grateful for the legacy that continues to live on through the John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation, CCDA, and so many of our members across the nation.

May we always remember that "love is the final fight."

Please join us in grieving and lamenting the loss of one of our extraordinary founders.

Rest in peace and power, Dr. Perkins.


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The man I’ve called Daddy, died. Dr. John M. Perkins died this morning, March 13, 2026, surrounded at home by his wife and family.

To the world, he was Dr. John M. Perkins, a voice for justice, reconciliation, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. He received 19 honorary doctorate degrees, but most importantly, he was the devoted husband of his bride, Vera Mae Perkins, for 74 years, and together they were blessed with 8 children.

But to me, he was Daddy.

My heart is broken, yet full of gratitude for the gift of being his daughter. His life was marked by courage, humility, faith, and love. He poured himself out for God, for people, and for the work of reconciliation.

Please keep our family in your prayers as we grieve, honor, and celebrate his extraordinary life and legacy.

Daddy, thank you. We love you, and we will carry your legacy forward. V. Elizabeth Perkins

09/25/2025

Chalmers Center is at CAFO Summit next week!!
Let's meet up or catch one of our sessions:

Tabitha Kapic | Oct 2 | Thursday | 8:30 am
Innovating for Ministry Effectiveness

Justin Lonas | Oct 2 | Thursday | 3:45 pm
Helping without Hurting: Key Principles for Walking Well Across Socioeconomic Lines

If you care about orphaned and vulnerable children, these are your people, and this is your place. CAFO2025.org

06/20/2025

Across the globe, churches and ministries are stepping into hard places—walking with families facing poverty, isolation, and loss of dignity. The Chalmers Center exists to equip God’s people to respond in a way that’s rooted in biblical truth and practical love. By God’s grace, from local churches and ministries to global NGOs, Chalmers has helped shape a movement of Christian economic development that restores relationships and fosters lasting change.

04/09/2025

🌟 What an incredible day at the True Charity Summit! 🌟

The Chalmers team was honored to host a pre-conference intensive with nearly 100 passionate leaders joining us to Rethink Poverty: Pursuing Flourishing Together.

From breaking stereotypes in relationships to creating sticky adult learning experiences, we dug deep into a biblical framework for poverty alleviation and practiced real-life application—all with a heart for mutuality, connection, and transformation.

👏 Huge thanks to everyone who joined us—your engagement, vulnerability, and energy made this day so rich.

02/25/2025

In 2019, Living Water International began to shift their work from a solely well-centered approach to more sustainable, community-driven solutions. As they embraced a new model, they also reimagined their short-term mission trips.

They integrated Chalmers' principles as part of their training, helping trip participants realized their role wasn’t to fix, but to listen, learn, encourage, and grow.

"We used to ask communities 'How can we help?' Now, influenced by the Chalmers Center's insights, we enter with a different question: 'What can we learn?' That shift has been profound, allowing us to engage in ways that honor the dignity, strengths, and leadership of the communities we serve."
Jonathan Wiles, Chief Operating Officer, Living Water International

https://chalmers.org/blog/what-can-we-learn-living-water-internationals-new-approach-to-short-term-missions/

02/19/2025

At Chalmers, we lament the recent loss of several assistance programs that have been paused or closed, leaving many of our ministry partners struggling to continue their vital work.

We believe this is an opportunity for Christians to step up—to give generously, to pray fervently, and to stand in the gap for those in need.

We serve a Lord who demonstrated His compassion in His sacrificial generosity to us, who, “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).

Christ’s example is not just something we point to, but something we all are called to live into as His followers. We honor God when we live with open hands toward those He has entrusted to our care.

It is a consistent theme of Scripture that those blessed with power and wealth have a special responsibility to administer...

01/18/2025

On our blog, we have a series that reviews the Ministry Design Principles established by A Field Guide to Becoming Whole. The final post in this series focuses on addressing brokenness.

Creating and stewarding God’s Kingdom Community means that we need to actively care about our stories, practices, systems, people, and spirits, which these twenty principles seek to address.

Together, these principles help us steer our ministries toward a whole, flourishing community in Christ.

https://chalmers.org/blog/addressing-brokenness-through-ministry-design-principles/

01/11/2025

Many people read When Helping Hurts or Becoming Whole and discover their church or nonprofit needs to shift their approach to poverty alleviation.

Often, they realize they need some fresh tools and experience to connect the concepts in the book to ministry in their own communities.

At The Chalmers Center, we get a lot of questions from those who want to be more involved in walking alongside their neighbors in material poverty but feel uncertain and overwhelmed trying to figure out the “right way” to do that.

🔹They want to help without hurting but aren’t sure how.🔹

During the past 25 years, in addition to publishing books about poverty alleviation, Chalmers has been creating training for use in both the U.S. and the Majority World (Africa, Asia, and Latin America).

These field-tested programs are built on God’s story of change and community development best practices to help you put a biblical framework for addressing poverty into practice.

In this post, we’ll share how you can get trained to implement our U.S. programs in your church or community.

➡️ https://chalmers.org/blog/training-to-help-your-ministry-help-without-hurting/

01/05/2025

The new year is upon us.

Though it can be rather an arbitrary transition—the turning from December 31 to January 1 leaves us in the same season, with little visibly changing about the world from one day to the next—most of us mark a new year with a new plan or set of goals.

At the Chalmers Center, we always notice an uptick in people reaching out to us for training and resources around the beginning of the year.

Perhaps you and your church or ministry are thinking of how to improve your work and witness in the coming year. You might want to do more and do better, or you might want to do less and be more intentional in what you pursue.

Often, people start their planning process by asking us “What should I do to serve people in material poverty in my community?”

They are sometimes perplexed when we respond with invitations to an online training to help them develop relationships across socioeconomic lines or recommend a book about the shortcomings of the American dream or a Bible study about the kingdom of God.

“No, you don’t understand. I just want some practical tips to help people.”

The reality is that over the many years we have been helping churches, nonprofits, and individuals to walk alongside people in material poverty, we have learned two key things...

Keep reading --> https://chalmers.org/blog/doing-all-things-well-this-year/

12/31/2024

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF GOD'S FAITHFULNESS

Together, we're helping God's people rethink poverty, love our neighbors, and foster thriving communities that walk alongside those in poverty.

As we step into this new year, generous donors (like you!) are leading the way with a $150,000 match!

There's still time to partner with Chalmers through a year-end gift. chalmers.org/donate