About Us

WHAT WE OFFER COMMUNITIES

The Transformational Communities Network (TCN) is a faith-rooted initiative dedicated to equipping churches and community leaders to pursue holistic, justice-oriented change in their neighborhoods. Grounded in a theology of Shalom—God’s vision of wholeness, peace, and flourishing—the network nurtures local congregations as agents of transformation. TCN fosters collaborative learning spaces, practical training, and spiritual reflection, emboldening participants to move beyond charity and into sustainable, systemic change. The work is deeply relational, emphasizing listening, asset-based community development, and the importance of being rooted in place.

Through a series of guided peer-to-peer cohorts, workshops, and mentoring relationships, TCN helps communities understand and apply principles of biblical justice, economic equity, and community development. Tools like the “5% Shift” and the “Fishpond Metaphor” provide accessible ways for churches to reimagine their ministries as pathways to justice. Ultimately, TCN’s mission is to raise up Shalom-makers—people who not only meet needs but also challenge broken systems, build new structures of care, and embody God’s dream of a beloved community in tangible, transformative ways.

MISSION & HISTORY

The Mission: To build a network of transformational communities by equipping locally embedded leaders with training and ongoing support for the work of shalom.

Transformational Communities Network is composed of churches and neighborhood partners engaged in the work of community development.

TCN began as an initiative of the Rio Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church in 2017 with support from Methodist Healthcare Ministries.

Through this network, new models for applying community development principles and processes are emerging. Communities that have engaged the TCN processes are becoming reference points and/or teaching centers of spiritual transformation within the church and community.

OUR TEAM has decades of experience

Abel Vega

Director of Connectional Ministries & Mission, Service, and Justice Ministries

avega@riotexas.org

Abel Vega serves as Director of Connectional Ministries and Mission, Service, Justice Ministries for the Rio Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church with work emphasis on community development, immigration / migration response, and general outreach and mission ministry resourcing and support for local churches and communities. His learning in outreach ministries began in 1995 through the development of programming for children and youth that eventually became a non-profit entity serving families on the west side of San Antonio. Vega is a 1983 graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington, B.S. Architecture and former U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer, Philippines 1985.

Rev. Robert Clark II

Project Director / Transformational Coach & Community Facilitator

bclark@riotx.org

Bob Clark brings a unique blend of theological depth, community-rooted wisdom, and strategic vision to his work with the Transformational Communities Network. Grounded in Wesleyan theology and animated by the biblical vision of Shalom — a world where nothing is broken and nothing is missing — Bob helps churches and community leaders to move from charity to transformation.
With years of experience in facilitation, curriculum design, and place-based ministry, Bob specializes in helping congregations see their neighborhoods with new eyes, uncover hidden assets, and engage in the long work of systemic change. Whether he’s walking alongside immigrant communities in San Antonio or leading a workshop on community listening, Bob creates spaces of healing, clarity, and holy disruption.