CRM - Empowering Leaders

What Is InnerCHANGE?

InnerCHANGE is a Christian order composed of communities of missionaries living and ministering incarnationally among the poor.  We seek to follow the Lord God's injunction to do "justice, love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God" (Micah 6:8).

InnerCHANGE is a division of Church Resource Ministries and subscribes to CRM's overall vision and sense of purpose. As CRM’s apostolic order among the poor, InnerCHANGE operates with singularity of focus unique to ministering among the poor.  This introduces a complimentary set of values as well as a common practice of community critical to life and service in a poor neighborhood.

InnerCHANGE aims to catalyze authentic movements of God's kingdom among the poor, models holistic ministry for the mainstream Church, and recalls the broader body of Christ to God's tender heart for the marginalized. Our staff seek to exemplify a style of community life befitting an order, placing the well-being of people and the quality of their relationships before programs and purposefully providing for the lifelong formation of those called to share themselves with the needy.

The early history of InnerCHANGE can be traced to God's work in the background of each of our staff. As a missional community, InnerChange was birthed in idea form  in South Central, Los Angeles, in 1983 when John Hayes waved good-bye to a vanload of volunteers from a mainstream suburban church. John was living and ministering in South Central at the time, designing programs and points of contact to match volunteers with families in need. As John watched the van pull away, he experienced a moment of frustrating clarity and conviction. He saw that good-hearted Christians doing "commuter" ministry were conveying little impact, that driving down and driving into people's lives were two very different propositions.

In the summer of 1984, John relocated to Orange County to begin a ministry that based its people in the inner city to minister from the inside-out, not just flirt with the edges. InnerCHANGE began by sharing Good News in word and works through personal relationships and by drawing a sharp distinction between serving and providing services. In July 1985, InnerCHANGE became a part of CRM in order to gain the company of like-minded brothers and sisters and enjoy a larger, more fleshed-out learning environment.

From its beginnings in Santa Ana, California, InnerCHANGE has grown to more than sixty staff serving in a number of cities nationally: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis, as well as internationally: Cambodia, Romania, Venezuela, and England.

InnerCHANGE ministry flows within our three defining currents:  missionary, prophetic, and contemplative. These three currents correspond to the instructions of Micah 6:8. The pursuits of justice, mercy, and humility do not encompass all that the prophetic, missionary, and contemplative circles contain. But they do solidly point the way towards the desires of God named in Micah 6:8.