Holistic Developmental Ministry

Walking, Loving, Doing - Leading a church in holistic developmental ministry.

Piloting Walking, Loving, Doing

Walking, Loving, Doing - Leading a Church in Holistic, Developmental [HD] Ministry.

The three main goals are:

(1) to have churches see diaconal ministry as an essential part of their ministry
(2) to equip churches to coordinate ministry of word and deed (holistic)
(3) to help move some of our diaconal ministry from relief (giving someone a fish) to development (teaching someone how to fish). 

It has been our experience that our evangelistic outreach often does not connect with our diaconal efforts and vice versa. We hope this booklet helps us to more fully take advantage of the synergy that can occur when ministries of word and deed are integrated.

It has also been our experience that much of our diaconal ministry has been relief oriented, meeting an immediate need and moving to empowerment of the individuals, families, and neighborhoods we serve. This has sometimes resulted in a church pouring thousands of dollars into a family with no evidence that the family is dealing with the root causes of their need and no increased capacity to take care of themselves.

Walking, Loving, Doing has six chapters which move from theology to mission to practical implementation.

The chapters are:

  1. Walking, Loving, Doing - God’s Desire for How We Are to Live.

  2. Biblical, Theological, and Missional Grounding.

  3. Integrating Word and Deed.

  4. Moving from Relief to Development.

  5. Ministry With Neighbors.

  6. Tracking Our Progress.


We are looking for a church which would test run this material.

Dave would work with staff and the deacons to interact with people developmentally in at least some cases (that is chapters 4-6 of the booklet).

Our hope would be that this becomes a permanent part of Church ministry and would be owned by the whole congregation.    

Get Involved!

If you have an interest in pursuing Holistic Developmental Ministry in your church, or have any questions related to the program, you can reach Dave Kool at (616) 283-0553 or dave@walkinglovingdoing.org.