Kingdom Service Day 2: Act Locally

Building relationships and community with our partner church, Harvest Vineyard, is important!  Here are two weekend opportunities to do just that:  

Freedom Cafe, Saturday, October 5, 7:30 p.m., Harvest Vineyard (715 E. 4th St., Waterloo)-

Open Mic from 7:30-8:30!  Come bring a song, poem, piece of art or writing, or dance to share from the front... or just come to listen to others...that's what I'm doing!  

Planned Music 8:30-9:30  There will be a guest musician during the second hour of Freedom Cafe.

Come enjoy fellowship, good eats, the talents of others.  Come and go when you'd like.  

There will be a freewill donation bucket....all money collected will go to Rapha House to help rescue young people out of human trafficking.  

Picnic in the Park, Sunday, October 6, 10:45-1:30 p.m., at Harvest Vineyard,  715 E. 4th St.

Our last Picnic of the season!  We're inviting Orchard friends, Harvest friends, and the downtown community to join us outside of Harvest Vineyard for lunch and a short worship.  Also joining us this day will be a community group bringing awareness about domestic/sexual abuse.  This group will be providing children's activities and passing out information on local resources available for victims of abuse.  

We could use more volunteers this Sunday at 10:45 a.m. at Harvest.  Email Laura Hoy if you'd like to serve!

Kingdom Service

This October, Orchard Hill Church is focusing on Kingdom Service, one of four themes we will focus on in  upcoming years as we seek to be fully devoted followers of Jesus (the other themes are passionate faith, impacting families, and transforming friendships).

One of the ways we live out the mission of becoming fully devoted followers is to follow Jesus into service with His compassion for ALL people.  In Scripture, you can see Jesus modeling service in a way that we want to learn and practice.

He was....

Christ-centered.  When Jesus encountered people, He shared who He was and invited people into new life through His life, death, and resurrection.

Relational.  Relationship is the ballgame.  Jesus came to reconcile people back to God and to one another through an intimate, love relationship with our Savior and Lord.  He was and is ALL about relationships.

Wholistic.  Jesus not only cared about a person's soul after they died, He cared about the whole person.  He fed the hungry, opened the eyes of the blind, and healed the sick.  The Good News is good news for our whole lives.

Developmental.  Jesus can see us as we were created to be.  He knows the gifts He's given us for Kingdom participation.  In relationship with Christ, He convicts and grows us in Christlike character.

Join me daily on this blog through October as I explore these four principles of service and also offer ways to listen, learn, and act together in Kingdom Service!

Quotable Monday

"How can I order my life to consider justice and not "just-us"?"

Just a question that crossed my mind today.

CCDA New Orleans Day 3

Dr. Michelle Alexander presented a compelling case that charges mass incarceration in America as the new Jim Crow of our time.  

St. Roch Community Church was a church plant in the Ninth Ward post-Katrina.  I spent the afternoon there on Friday learning about their church and their Christian Community Development corporation that launched alongside of the church.  You can read more about St. Roch by clicking here.

St. Roch CDC has a 9 month artist residency that was fascinating to learn about.  An art professor at Tulane (far left) leads this program, and the four seated at the table are all past or present artists in residence.  

Chassidi is in the CCDA Leadership Cohort #4 which was introduced on stage Friday evening.  

CCDA 2014 Day 2

CCDA Immersion alumni met for breakfast today. This is a few from our great crew that spent a week together in Chicago in April 2011.  

Coach Wayne Gordon and John Perkins are tag teaming on the morning Bible studies this week.  Talking to us about being Christ's Church as we look at the churches addressed in Revelation.

Barbara Williams-Skinner facilitated a panel of practitioners in a discussion about indigenous leadership development.  Important and challenging conversation.  

I went on this "Go and See" field trip to a new mixed-income development modeled after East Lake in Atlanta.  

 Columbia Parc is 53 acres, 685 units of housing...1/3 public housing, 1/3 low income, and 1/3 market rate rentals.  

This development at Columbia Parc was very well thought out in the planning!  A great story of redemption in Post-Katrina New Orleans!  

Merrsadiz is our group's youngest participant.  When Leroy Barber spoke a challenge of commitment last night for young people to go back into their communities as servant leaders, he called people to come up front if they wished to commit.  Merrsadiz rose to the challenge!  Yay!  

Pizza at Roloco's around the corner from the hotel.  

CCDA 2014 New Orleans

Nine of us from the Cedar Valley have traveled to NOLA for the 25th annual national conference of the Christian Community Development Association.  This is my seventh conference, and I'm so grateful for the family of CCDA and the Kingdom charge embodied by my brothers and sisters in Christ here.

Arrived Tuesday night and embarked on a 20 minute walk from our hotel to the  French Quarter.  Lots of great art in this city!

Also a lot of great food with great friends in the Quarter!

Cutie-Patootie Violet made her first flight and is with us in New Orleans this week.

Chassidi and I sat for a spell in the Stage II Exhibit Hall at the CCDA info table welcoming people and posing as well-informed volunteers who could answer questions people might have.

Listened to some wonderful soft jazz in Stage II after the opening evening plenary session.  Our own George Marshall joined Dave Clark and the band for some tremendous tranquil tunes.  

Quotable Monday

"I'm going to have to be paid the same as the white help, or I'll be moving on." -Cecil Gaines in Lee Daniels'movie, The Butler.

I went to see this movie today and recommend that everyone see it.  If you care to read a review, click here.