Thursday, December 8, 2011

News from the edge: Evangelism Story #4

This is the fourth story in a series of stories about people who have bridged the gap between church and their neighborhood.  This story comes from Texas City.

We are planning a "Take back the Night with the Light" block party for our "parish" in the orginal sense of the word. This redefinition has helped us see our neighbors and neighborhood in a new light. With the prediction that in 5 years this will be one of the worst neighborhoods in Texas City, it seems we have the opportunity and obligation to rally the neighborhood to stand united in not allowing the prediction to come true. WE ARE THE LIGHT. We are planning to have an Epiphany Service with a block party with food to follow for our "parish" and give out Epiphany Home Blessing Kits. 


We are also doing advent conspiracy cross-generational events on Sunday mornings. Last week we made advent wreaths and iced sugar cookies to take to our neighbors and friends. This morning I heard from one member that she took her plate of cookies to a neighbor she had not yet met. As she told her about St. Georges, the woman became interested in knowing more. We now have saint cards with a quote, our service times and address for her to take back to her with a follow up."

I know your neighborhood and friends really appreciate being found by the church and discovering that you care for them. Keep up the good work Texas City!

If you want to hear the evangelism talks click here: Bishop of Texas Podcast Site or download them from ITunes (search Andrew Doyle).
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Quotes

  • "Christianity is not a theory or speculation, but a life; not a philosophy of life, but a life and a living process." Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  • "Most people are willing to take the Sermon on the Mount as a flag to sail under, but few will use it as a rudder by which to steer." Oliver Wendell Holmes
  • "Perfection, in a Christian sense, means becoming mature enough to give ourselves to others." Kathleen Norris
  • "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can." John Wesley
  • "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." G. K. Chesterton
  • "One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans." C. S. Lewis
  • "When we say, 'I love Jesus, but I hate the Church,' we end up losing not only the Church but Jesus too. The challenge is to forgive the Church. This challenge is especially great because the church seldom asks us for forgiveness." Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey
  • "Christians are hard to tolerate; I don't know how Jesus does it." Bono
  • "It's too easy to get caught in our little church subcultures, and the result is that the only younger people we might know are Christians who are already inside the church." Dan Kimball