David W. Crocker, Operation Inasmuch: Mobilizing Believers Beyond the Walls of the Church (TCP Leadership Series). Chalice Press, 2005.
Companion volume: Crocker, The Samaritan Way
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
This book is part of The Columbia Partnership (TCP) Leadership Series. Any book in this series is worth reading. There is also a sequel, The Samaritan Way. Dr. David Crocker presents Operation Inasmuch out of the experience of the Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayeteville. The effort takes its name from Jesus’ words from Matthew 25:40, “Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (KJV) The efforts were so successful that Crocker was encouraged to write a manual that would tell the story of his church and equip others to conduct similar efforts. Since then, Dr. George Bullard, who was then associated with Lake Hickory Learning Resources and now is now with TCP, helped Crocker spread the word about this program. At the time of publication, over 400 churches across the nation were using the Operation Inasmuch model.
In the opening chapter, Crocker details the model. Operation Inasmuch is a one-day mission blitz of church folk in their community. It is an intergenerational event (and in some cases interracial and interdenominational) mobilizing Christians to heal some of the hurts of a neighborhood or an entire community. He says, Operation Inasmuch is:
- A day devoted to helping people at their points of need
- Reaching out to strangers in Christian love and understanding
- Fostering racial harmony through working together
- A surge in spiritual growth
- Acknowledging the mission field in one’s own backyard
- Accepting the Great Commission
- Strengthening Christian fellowship
- Discovering how one’s gifts can be used in mission work
He gives examples:
- A city attorney delivering lunches for volunteers all over town
- A retired Army officer roofing the house of a family he has never met
- A school teacher cleaning a shut-in’s yard
- A secretary sewing lap robes for nursing home patients and blankets for homeless persons
- A couple – a businessman and a school counselor – visiting the people whose homes are being repaired, praying with them, and making sure they understand why strangers are working on their home
- Third grade children planting flowers
- A real estate developer and community college administrator building a wheel chair ramp for an elderly man who has not been out of his house for a year because he could not negotiate the steps
And the list goes on.
Throughout the book, Crocker describes the rationale and the outworking of this model. The appendices provide helpful samples of projects, sign-up sheets, master teams list, checklist for calls to church members, letters, etc.
Many churches will find this project-based approach to social ministry very workable for their congregations. It is a different philosophy than launching sustainable, long-term, lifestyle efforts, which is addressed in another volume by Crocker, The Samaritan Way: Lifestyle Compassion Ministry.
About the Author
David W. Crocker is founder of Operation Inasmuch, Inc.—a full-time ministry dedicated to community ministry.
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