Dating back to 1825, rescue missions have offered food, shelter and spiritual assistance to the homeless and needy. They typically offer a wide range of services such as emergency food and shelter, youth and family services, alcohol and drug rehabilitation programs, education and job-training programs and assistance to the elderly, poor and at-risk youth.

Their scope is quite impressive: The 277 primarily North American rescue missions that comprise the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions involve more than 9,000 full-time workers and 300,000 volunteers.

For many Christians, these missions evoke images of hearty volunteers working with grizzled, skid-row alcoholics. Yet nearly 70% of those served by rescue missions today are under 45 years old, 73% are local community residents, and 40% are women and children.

Just as rescue mission clientele has changed and rescue mission sophistication has grown, the relationship between churches and rescue missions has changed. Today, while some churches continue to send volunteers and monthly donations to a nearby rescue mission, others -- especially larger churches -- are developing a sense of shared mission at new, unprecedented levels.

Transforming Los Angeles One Block at a Time
The Dream Center in downtown Los Angeles, a ministry of Angelus Temple, is one example.

"In the 12 years we've been here, we've seen crime drop 17%," says Kelli Carter, the Dream Center's Director of Outreach, regarding the Rampart District of Los Angeles. Kelli runs the church's Adopt-a-Block Program -- a ministry that mobilizes up to 500 people weekly to serve the communities that surround the Dream Center.

As the church's members go out, according to Kelli, "we ask people what they need and then we do our best to fill those needs" whether it's providing diapers, cleaning up yards, taking . . .

Church Planting website Stadia, a national church-planting organization that has helped start more than 100 churches, was established by the Provision Ministry

Group to accelerate the pace of church planting in the United States. As a partner in the new national Christian Church Planting Network, Stadia serves as a funding partner and provides leadership, vision and resources for groups of churches that are forming Church Planting Networks nationwide.