“I know people do a lot to help me, but I just want someone to be my friend.” So said a single mother in my congregation. At the root of much poverty is marginalization and exclusion. When we think of serving the poor our first thought is often of projects. We assume the thing to do is run a welfare program. But perhaps our first response to poverty as the church is to offer inclusion, to offer welcome, to offer community. In our book Total Church we argue that two principles should shape church life: gospel and community. When it comes to the poor, too often conservatives do gospel without community, while liberals do community without gospel. We need to both love the poor and call them to repentance. They are often victims, but they are also always sinners in need of the atoning work of the cross.