During this six-week series of workshops, participants will become more familiar with how the faith community can help prevent homelessness by working in partnership with faith-based and community organizations.  In addition, participants will discover their unique call and the assets within their own communities that can help to address some of the unmet needs in our city.

Through careful study, experienced facilitators, guidance from formerly homeless individuals, and opportunities to develop transformational new friendships, participants will discover that unity really does work.

Come learn more during our free orientation.
April 15, 2010, 6:00-8:00pm

Workshops:  Every Thursday from April 22nd – May 27th, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

All sessions will be held at the Embrace Richmond offices located at 1125 E. Commerce Road, Richmond 23224.

To register for the upcoming Unity Works session, please contact Sara Addcock at sara@embracerichmond.org or via phone at 343-5008 x403.

Have you personally experienced the truth of Perkins claim that “the love of God is most fully expressed where there is pain and suffering” ?” (p. 60)

How comfortable are you allowing God to teach you, encourage you, and reveal his love to you anew through the people you want to serve?  (p. 63)

Perkins says “But because of God’s special concern for the poor and oppressed, our closeness to them is a reliable test of our authenticity.” (p64)  What do you think of this statement?  Is this idea of a “Preferential Option for the Poor”, an idea that is new to you?  If so, read “Preferential Option for the Poor” on this site and let us know what you think of this idea.

Perkins writes “The prosperity movement is heavily accepted among the poor but has done very little in terms of real community development at the grass roots level.  It takes people’s attention away from the problem, and if those people succeed it encourages them to remove themselves from the very people they ought to be identifying with and working among.” (p 71)  Are you familiar with the “Prosperity Gospel”?  What do you think of this teaching?  What impact do you think this theology has on impoverished communities?

Perkins writes “The key is in developing people – leaders.  I believe that developing creative leaders is both the most essential and the most difficult part of Christian community development.  It was the heart of Jesus’ strategy.  It must be the center of our strategy, too.” (p 75)  What do you think is the most effective means of developing leaders in an urban setting?  How did Jesus develop leaders?  What gifts, calling, or experience do you have related to developing urban leaders?

 In addition to our readings in Perkins for the week, I have emailed Charles story and his insights into addiction.  Please leave your comments related to this story on this post.

Review the list page 22, which of these stats alarmed you?  Which ones most convicted you?  Which ones broke your heart?  (If none of these stats broke your heart, you need to keep praying our Fransician prayer!)

On page 23 Perkins says “Sometimes our giving is motivated by guilt.  When this is the case we are giving for selfish reasons – to make ourselves feel better.”  What did you think of that comment.  Can you give an example of a time when you responded out of guilt?

What do you think Perkins meant by his comment on page 24 “If the past thirty years have taught us anything about the poverty mentality it is that undisciplined giving can be just as distructive as the poverty it is meant to allieviate.”

 Have you ever experienced the “wild card of race” Perkins mentions on page 25?  Give an example

On page 29, Perkins asks “What should Christian Community look like in an hour such as this?”  How would you answer this question.

Perkins says “A significant bond of trust develops when a leader is dependant on the people and the people see themselves as part of the leaders survival.”  Have you ever been dependant on those you serve for your survival?  What might that look like?

On page 35 Perkins summarizes the most significant human needs.  Which of these needs have you personally experienced and how was your need met?  How might you or your congregation help meet one or more of these needs?

How would you explain Perkins “Theology of Reconciliation” to a friend?

What do you think are the most important marks of the church?

Do you agree with Perkins that today’s church has ignored God’s call to be a blessing to the nations? (p 48)  What might that look like in Richmond?

Street Saints; Renewing America’s Cities by Barbara J. Elliott is one of my all time favorite books.  Elliott has captured stories from across the country that demonstrate the power of the ordinary person who seek to be a blessing to their community.  My favorite chapter is the chapter titled the “Nehemiah Strategy” through which Elliott shows us the power of organizing the efforts of grassroots agencies using the analogy of the story of Nehemiah.  Below are some of my favorite quotes.

“The walls that once kept destruction away have crumbled, and the ruins of broken families, crippling loneliness, and the ravages of drugs and violence are evident everywhere.  There is human wreckage throughout the city, rich and poor, white, black and brown.  Nehemiah asked the kind for permission to go to the city and rebuild the walls.  Instead of hiring construction workers, Nehemiah called on the locals to do the work, who took responsibilities for themselves.  Renewal strategy was a voluntary public-private partnership, mobilizing diverse participants.  He assessed the needs; then they worked together to fill the gaps.  Most of the necessary resources were already in the city, but the people had not pooled what they had because they were demoralized and in disunity.”

Elliott then profiles a number of organizations who have taken a Nehemiah approach to the city.  Robert Woodson “created the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise to identify and empower leaders of grassroots organizations.  He systematically sought out promising people who are already doing grassroots renewal, are rooted in the community, know its problems, and are working toward their solutions.” Community leaders according to Woodson “were doing the work before there was money for it, make a lifetime commitment to the people they serve, live in the same zip code as the people they serve, believe in the total restoration of people, require something in return for giving.”

I firmly agree with Elliot that the success of the Nehemiah strategy will require that “all these players lay down their logos and their egos and embrace the city together.  If we continue to work in isolation from each other, we will continue to be impotent.  What emerges out of unity is clarity of purpose.  What unites very different kinds of leaders is a passion to unite the church across denominational lines, serve the poor, reconcile the races, and take the whole Gospel to the whole city.”

As I read these words, I pray for a Nehemiah to emerge in Richmond who can help unite God’s very broken family to live out our original call “to be a blessing to the nations” starting in our city.

In his book “The Hole in our Gospel”, Richard Stearns is the president of World Vision U.S., crafts one of the most compelling arguments for the centrality of mission to the Christian Tradition that I have ever read.  Below are a few insights gleaned from this wonderful work.

We have shrunk Jesus to the size where He can save our soul but

now don’t believe He can change the world. - Anonymous

Stearns writes “If your personal faith in Christ has no positive outward expression, then your faith – and mine – has a hole in it.”  He then goes on to describe the gaping hole in the American understanding of the gospel reminding us that “Jesus heart was continually moved to compassion as He encountered the lame, the sick, the widow, and the orphan.” 

The Kingdom for Christ was “not intended to be a far-off and distant kingdom to be experienced only in the afterlife; no, Christ’s proclamation of the “kingdom of heaven” was a call for the redeemed world order populated by redeemed people – now.”  Stearns warns of the dangers of viewing the Kingdom as “focused almost exclusively on the afterlife reduces the importance of what God expects of us in this life.  The kingdom o f God, which Christ said is “within you” (Luke 17:21), was intended to change and challenge everything in our fallen world in the here and now.”  Stearns reminds us of Christ’s words “in the Lords prayer “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” were and are a clarion call of Jesus’ followers not just to proclaim the good news but to be the good news, here and now. (Matt. 6:10)  This gospel – the whole gospel – means much more than the personal salvation of individuals.  It means a social revolution.”

Stearns reminds us of the simplicity of the gospel taken from Matt. 22:34-40 “Love God.  Love your neighbor.  That’s the “Bible for Dummies.”  How much simpler this must have been to the common folk who were being manipulated by the complexity coming from their teachers and leaders.”  Stearns tells the story of a world vision leader who was asked “Why are you here?” by those they were serving.  His answer was simple “We are followers of Jesus Christ, and we are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves.  We are here to show you that God loves you.”  That is the gospel, the good news. 

Stearns issues all of us a challenge when he states “It’s not what you believe that counts, it’s what you believe enough to do.” 

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them,

but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity. – George Bernard Shaw

Stearns recognizes one of the key issues we discovered when working with the poor “The greatest mistake commonly made by those who strive to help the oor is the failure to see the assets and strengths that are always present in people and their communities no matter how poor they are.  Seeing their glasses as half full rather than half empty can completely change our approach to helping….They have hopes and dreams, tragedies and triumphs in their lives.  They need us to love them first and then listen to them.  They need us to see their assets and their God-given abilities.  When we see them as God sees them, we will glimpse His image in their faces – Christ in His most distressing disguise.”

 My favorite segment of the book was titled “The Hole in the Church” in which Stearns states “We can pray, give, volunteer, and become effective personal ambassadors for the gospel.  However, our greatest power to change the world is released when we come together in collective action to organize and focus the resources of the whole body of Christ.”  That is the vision behind Unity-Works; unleashing the power by bringing people together around a common mission. 

“Faith and works were never meant to be in dichotomy.”, Stearns points out, “We are saved for a purpose: to do the good works God actually prepared beforehand for us to carry out.  Simply put, we are:  saved by faith ,saved for works….Faith is the fuel that powers the light that shines in darkness.”

Stearns reminds us “Our world, like Nehemiah’s, also lies in ruins, and we, too, need a fresh vision.  Nehemiah’s vision was to rebuild the broken places and to lift up God’s righteousness to a scoffing world.  Our vision should be the same.  If we can capture the vision, then we, too, can accomplish the impossible – one stone at a time.”

I encourage you all to read this book and share your insights here.

Through careful study, experienced facilitators, guidance from formerly homeless individuals, and opportunities to develop transformational new friendships, participants will discover that unity really does work.

Evening-

Date:  Thursday’s, September 24th – November 12th
Time:  6:30-8:30 PM
Location: The Brandermill Church
Cost: $75 (book, binder, printed materials & t-shirt) scholarships are available

For location, The Brandermill Church
4500 Millridge Parkway
Midlothian, VA 23112
804-744-3661

Daytime-    
Date:  Tuedays, September 15th – November 3rd
Time:  10:00am-12:00 pm
Location: Embrace Richmond
Cost: $75 (book, binder, printed materials & t-shirt), scholarships are available

For location, Embrace Richmond
1125 East Commerce Road
Richmond, VA 23224
804-343-5008

Here are a few quotes from the book we suggested reading to start a conversation this summer. We pulled a few of our favorites, and we invite you to comment with your favorites as well, or discuss the ones we have put forth here. And if you haven’t purchased the book yet,  click on the photo of the book below to go to Amazon where you may purchase it.

Pioneer educational psychologist G. Stanley Hall wrote of the powerful idealism of adolescence, and William James proposed harnessing this spirit of service to society as “their moral equivalent of war.” …This potential [is] still untapped as young people [are] crying, screaming to be used in some demanding task. P. 17

Anthropologist Ruth Benedict criticized our culture for excluding youth from responsibility only to blame them for their irresponsibility. P. 25

“Millions of children are not safe physically, educationally, economically, or spiritually….The poor black youths who shoot up drugs on street corners and the rich white youths who do the same thing in their mansions share a common disconnectedness from any hope or purpose.” Marian Wright Edelman, Children’s Defense Fund p. 34

Deprived of opportunities for genuine productivity, lured into consumptive roles, young people come to believe that their lives make little difference to the world. P. 39

Research suggests that successful programs involve parents as partners with professionals. But unequal partnerships are seldom effective’ this means that staff must approach parents with some goal other than controlling them or treating them as patients in need of treatment. P.89

Volunteer youth service programs are specifically designed to help young people overcome the narcissism of self-absorption. As they find they can make a difference in the lives of others, they validate their own self-worth. P.125

We will begin our conversation with “Reclaiming Youth at Risk”

 

Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life: Rethinking Ministry to the Poor 

by Robert Lupton

Street Saints: Renewing America’s Cities by Barbara J. Elliott (Paperback – Sep 1, 2006)

Books about the church and the christian call to care for the poor

The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne 

Linda Geho

Bentley Heese

Susan Hicklin

Beverly Kee

Carolyn Longmire

Tom Mitchell

Lori Plumley

Ann Pryor

Kathy Spotts

Jane Vaughn

Sandra White

Where do you go from here:

“To a permanent commitment (and a commitment from my church) to work within the inner city of Richmond. I want to see relationships developed that God will smile on.”

“ I am attending the encouraging class and I am hoping that will bring me closer to being more involved.”

“ Toward Jesus, wherever He is, past fear and uncertainty which is lurking at the borders. I dream of living with and among (relocation) those who need and can teach me (like Charles teaches me every week).

For homeowrk, please finish reading the final chapters of the book. We will see you on Thursday for our final session!