There is a movement that is taking shape that has, at its heart, the vision of impacting the welfare of the entire city. The past year affirmed that the faith networks taking shape over the years in the area are solid, responsive, growing and powerful in creating momentum for the movement of meeting the needs of Austin.

ABBA continues to pursue its vision of building strategic alliances across Central Texas to drive positive change and empower prosperity throughout our community. The objective is to see mobilized and engaged individuals, churches, businesses, ministries and nonprofits finding ways to collaborate and leverage their talents and resources in order to make a larger difference for Austin.

A specific program that demonstrates the power of collaboration to drive improvement for Austin is the effort to help meet the educational needs of at-risk students through rallying the faith community across Austin to become a mentor (or tutor). This is a vision for long-term collaboration among businesses, faith communities and individuals in serving Austin.

ABBA saw a renewed commitment by church leaders, business leaders and individuals to the educational outreach goals to impact the lives of those young people less fortunate or economically disadvantaged by identifying 206 elementary schools from Georgetown to San Marcos that could serve as potential partners for local churches as part of our 3rd grade reading initiative.

If a child has not mastered reading by the 3rd grade, he or she cannot keep up, let alone succeed in school, increasing the possibility of dropping out of high school. Illiteracy and dropout rates are demonstrably higher in low-income neighborhoods.

Partner churches collaborate with local schools to identify ways in which they can support school efforts to improve literacy. Partnerships range from facilities assistance, to reading tutoring and mentoring. ABBA is also working with a few churches to pilot a program to help sustain a mentor’s dedication to a long-term commitment in preparation for recruiting 3,000 mentors over the next several years.

The long-term goal is securing measurable improvements in academic success across our community as well as forging connections to advance our community holistically and positively. Read more about how churches are partnering with area schools.

Several key initiatives that exemplified growth in collaborative relationships were:

• Pray Forty— 40 days of prayer activities taking place at locations throughout the city, led by pastors, worship leaders, lay leaders and ministry leaders.
• Encounter— A day where different types of prayer and different approaches to prayer were taught by leaders from different expressions of the Christian faith.
• Business Leadership Council— A gathering of key Christian business leaders to begin discussions of how business leaders can strategically work together to make a difference in our city.
• Pastors in Covenant—A network of about 120 pastors that meet in groups of 8 -10 from various denominational backgrounds and church sizes for the sole purpose of getting to know one another and pray for each other.
• Austin Charity Tracker Network—A benevolence tracking software that helps connect the compassion ministries and church benevolence programs in the community in order to better provide for individuals in need of help.

All of these and more brought people together to identify and create opportunities to work together as a united resource for the city—to be "In the City For the City."

The collaborative relationships mentioned in this article have already made a significant impact throughout the city and we expect more things like this will continue to add momentum to the movement into the new year. But, for a community to be the best it can be, it takes everyone doing their part. As ABBA looks forward to 2012 and beyond, there is an expectation that many will be captivated by the vision of impacting the city. Whether it is through becoming a mentor, taking an interest in the lives of the people around you—at work or at home, or, as a leader, beginning to consider how your organization can collaborate with others for greater impact, we each have the opportunity to make a difference. We invite you, the reader, to consider that you are not here in this city by accident, but for the purpose of making a difference. And because we believe that, we ask you: "What’s your part in being 'In the City For the City'?"