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Summer_Reading

It's been a good summer for reading with traveling, vacation, and long bus rides to PT appointments providing plenty of space to plow through my stack of books. Here are some of the highlights (in chronological order)...

Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me A beautiful memoir, gracefully told. Heartbreaking and hopeful Cron tells a story of family brokenness and healing. There are a lot of "evangelical" memoirs out there right now, and I have to think this is one of the best (if not the best).

The Great Emergence I have read a lot of books about the "emerging church." WAY too many. Most of them go like this: hey-there's-something-going-on-in-our-culture-and-I-think-we-should-maybe-think-of-some-ways-to-respond-to-it-so-here-are-some-ideas:story-candles-Jesus-mission-ancient-future-post-turn-down-the-lights-blah-blah-blah. Tickle stays far away from mechanics and offers one of the most interesting and compelling looks at historical trends that have shaped our current moment, not just recently but throughout the whole history of the church. Fascinating stuff.

The War of Art Pressfield's work has been around for a while now, but what a breath of fresh air this was! Not what I expected at all, it's unlike most books I read in several ways. Definitely a "this book found me at the right time" read. I especially enjoyed his section on the professional vs. the amateur. Very challenging and something I needed to hear this summer.

The Millennium Trilogy Summer is a great time to read some fiction, and though I am super late to this party, these three books about the Girl who did a bunch of crazy stuff were perfect (especially on those bus rides).

The Homiletical Plot Super helpful book on sermon prep, sermon writing, and approach to the teaching process. But also, a lot of good stuff on how story works, why we respond to it so powerfully, and how tension and arch are essential to great teaching (whether it is from the pulpit or not).

The Faith of Leap I had extremely high expectations for this book, so, honestly, I was actually a little disappointed in it. That said, I love what the authors are doing here and agree completely with their basic premise: risk and adventure are inherent in the gospel (and in mission) and should be a center holding our theology together, rather than an outlier experience we only have from time to time.

(Other summer reads: Why the Mystics Matter, How (Not) to Speak of God, Quitter, The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership, A Hidden Wholeness, For the City, My Losing Season, Falling Upward)

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Putting_It_Together

Last week I did a three post series on Why_We_Do: Campus, Church, and Community. Today I want to tie it all together with two addendum's.

Addendum 1: Campus, Church, and Community are a convenient way of organizing and talking about what we do as an organization, but it is helpful to think of these categories using a good-old Venn Diagram. Each one speaks to the others, informs the others, and, ideally, bleed into each other. These are not siloed values. In fact, a lot of times students can hide in one of these environments and that can be detrimental to their growth and health. For example, a student with an activist bent might be drawn to our "community" programs and avoid church. Or another student might "hide" in church to avoid engaging the scary campus. We try hold all three in tension, or in conversation, allowing each environment to inform how we approach and engage the others.

Addendum 2: This is what we do as an organization, but it is not who we are. This reality is especially important when dealing with students individually. Sojourn exists to help students on their journey back to God, to call them to tell a better story with their lives. A better story is defined and shaped by Jesus, by growing into his likeness. Yes, it is important to be engaged with the church, on campus, and in the community, but busyness and activities are not how we measure growth and maturity. 

I find these disclaimers, or addendum's, to be helpful reminders that we are not (organizationally and individually) defined by what we do. Church, community, and campus help us organize and know what to say "yes" to, but they are not the ends to which we aspire. 

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Why_We_Do:_Community

Social justice, justice, compassion, and mercy ministries  have become a focus, and even a buzzy phenomenon, among Christians in the last 10 years. Many (if not most or all) college students want to serve tangibly in some way, want to make a difference in the world, and are incredibly aware of the imbalances and inequalities in our country and around the world.

But where do you start? When there is so much to do, and so many issues to get involved with, how do you know which one to give yourself to?

For us that began with paying attention to local needs, partnering with local organizations and churches, and learning about the neighborhood dynamics of our city. There are many stories and stats to share, but I think one line sums up the approach we have dedicated ourselves to. 

John Perkins, in the book Welcoming Justice, says that "if you care about a place, you'll care about the kids in that place." And so we have chosen to involve ourselves deeply in neighborhoods and the kids in those neighborhoods.

Most of our partnerships are youth related, and more specifically focused on education. Our Quincy Street community, our partnerships with Episcopal City Tutoring, Adoption and Foster Care Mentoring, and several other youth based organizations and causes are examples of ways that we are living out that commitment to love the kids "in this place."

I could write a dissertation on why this is such a core value and why we have chosen to invest in youth, but I think this image is more powerful. A few blocks from Northeastern University is a K-8 school called Orchard Gardens. I have some experience with the school from my days with Bird Street Community Center. Three years ago it was one of the worst run schools in the city and nearly closed down. However, the city chose instead to revamp the leadership and faculty. Then they closed down a school in the Dudley St/Quincy St neighborhood and decided to bus all those students to the Orchard. The school has many issues but with a majority of the students speaking another language first, literacy is a huge challenge. Many kids will graduate and go to high school not to being able to read at grade level. And it lies in the shadow of a fantastic university. This story can be repeated all over the city.**

One of the great inequalities that exists in Boston lies in the enormous amount of resources that lie in the universities while at the same time the city's public school system is closing down schools and failing its kids. As my friend Nathan says, "brothers this should not be so!"

So our community involvement fights against this inequality while at the same time it provides an avenue for our students to see God's Kingdom play out in a tangible and real way, and it helps fire their holy imaginations for God's justice and mercy, and to experience how they can use their time, talents, and resources to further God's purposes in the world.

Again, there are a million causes to be involved in, but there is where we have committed ourselves, and this is why we do community.  


**From Nathan: 55,000 students in BPS and 300,000 college students in the metro area (ration of ~6:1) and the 2010 graduation rate for BPS students to finish highschool in 4 years was about 62%.

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Why_We_Do:_Church

Parachurch ministries, by definition, have an interesting relationship with the "church." Are we helping, supporting, and challenging, or rebelling, isolating, and criticizing? Campus ministry in particular has a historic propensity to build alternative realities disconnected from local churches.

This was driven home (for me) this spring when some of our team had the opportunity to meet with several other campus ministry leaders, many of whom have been in the city for a long time. The gathering was highly encouraging as we were able to hear about God's work all over the city, to learn from one another, and to share the ups and downs of ministering to students in an environment like Boston.

One thing stood out though as being far outside of our experience. To a person the other staffers voiced frustration in their relationship to the local church. They shared experiences of losing leaders and expressed difficulty in figuring out how to navigate any semblance of partnership.

Which are struggles we have not had due to our relationship with Reunion (and the ones we are growing with North and SouthPointe in Providence). We gain a lot from our partnership with Reunion, for sure, but ultimately the beauty of partnership is that students grow in discipleship in the context of a multi-generational, multi-ethnic, vibrant, missional-minded church environment. When(if) they leave they do so knowing how to function in a church, valuing church involvement and service within a body, and with the skills to help lead the church in significant ways. They leave knowing the church is a place for them!

I believe we are helping to grow future church leaders, and that, among many other reasons, is why we do church.

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Why_We_Do...

I had the opportunity last week to speak with one of our supporting churches about Sojourn's progress and growth over the last couple of years. We've spent a lot of time working through our language, process, and simplifying how we talk about our work in Boston. I felt it would be helpful to share some of thoughts in this space. Over the next three days I'll explain the why behind campus, church, and community.

Why_we_do: Campus...

Over the course of the next four weeks the student population in Boston will swell to over 250,000 (some put this number much closer to 300,000 now). I don't know if this is true or not, but I do not believe that there is such a concentration of students anywhere else in the world (close to 300,000 in a 15 mile radius).

There are over 35 different campuses in the immediate Boston area (more if you go out farther). This includes Harvard, Tufts, and MIT, routinely listed in the top Universities in the country.

20% of these students are international, and the majority of them will return to their home country after their studies are completed.

25% of the major world leaders have spent time studying in Boston (including our current president).

100% of these students will spend money, go to class, read books and articles, engage in academic thought and process, and spend significant time with class mates and professors.

Most, if not all, will use social media, watch tv, date, discover passions and gifts and talents, make and lose friends, use public transportation, move several times, and make major decisions about who they will be, what they will do, and who they will do it with.

At best, 2% of them will have any significant involvement in church or a campus ministry.*

And that keeps us awake at night and energizes us when we wake up in the morning. It doesn't matter what group of people you are talking about, 5,000 of 250,000 should be incredibly unsettling and seen as a major missional opportunity. (With our expansion to Providence, where the percentages are very similar, we are able to reach another 80,000 students, and 10 more campuses including Brown University).

That need, coupled with the tremendous potential for influence represented by the type of student Boston attracts, is why we care about Campus.


*stats are pooled from various campus ministry reports.

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some_things


- flowers i bought for amy.


- medal won for finishing the providence half-marathon.


- trip to rockingham, nh to talk with a supporting church about sojourn's work in boston (and now providence).

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new_week_new_month


august is upon us which means we are a month away from the madness of a new school year! there is still a ton to do in the meantime...here's what august looks like:

• half-marathon in providence next sunday (check out the progress in the running journal)
• amy starts a new schedule at work which gives her more time in the middle of the week (and more time for students)
• fundraising/networking: lots of phone calls and letter writing
• staff disc retreat, should be super interesting
• reading as many books as possible

Good things but I can't wait for September!