What if being the church influenced how we live in our communities and not just where we go on Sundays?

Today, I'd like to call your attention to a recent report released by The Barna Group. This research is the result of posing the following question to 1,021 adults:

Many churches and faith leaders want to contribute positively to the common good of their community. What does your community need, if anything, that you feel churches could provide?

The number one answer (as provided by 29% of respondents)? Ahead of all other responses, such as cultivating biblical values (14%), serving youth/families elderly (13%), assisting in recovery (10%), addressing workplace/financial/educations issues (7%),  serving the community (5%), and engaging politically (1%)?

 

In case you're wondering, the arrow to the left (29%) represents all adults, to the top (31%) represents the response of churched adults, and the bottom (25%) represents the response of unchurched adults (defined as those who have not attended church in at least six months, not counting weddings or funerals).

Interesting points here:

• Both those who are churched and those who are unchurched seem to agree here. The church can/should be engaging with our communities on poverty-related issues. A phrase used a lot around my church this year is "engage the church. engage the city." We're not just about one or the other; both matter.
• Disability is only mentioned in the poverty category in this report. While it is true that factors like the financial hardships of special needs and the limited educational/vocational options for some individuals with disabilities can contribute to higher rates of poverty among this demographic, this doesn't capture all people with disabilities, and it only focuses on practical and not spiritual needs. (Don't get me wrong. We need to start with the practical needs. We just don't need to stop there!) We oversimplify the need if we toss "disability" into the "poverty" box and fail to acknowledge that it can be present in any box of ministry.
• There is certainly room to grow. Consider the graphic below. These are the folks who responded that they weren't sure what the church could do to meet needs in the community or who didn't think the church could do anything. I noticed first that a third of unchurched adults responded in this way. But then the churched number caught my eye. Sure, it's only 9%, but what is being preached in our churches if nearly one out of ten of those attending don't know what we could do to reach out to the community or think that we can't/shouldn't do anything? 
  
  
• One conclusion in the report was that those who were unchurched weren't typically hostile toward the church. They were just indifferent. Hostility can be harder to influence, but indifference? Imagine what could happen there if Christians were known more for being the church than simply going to church. If those 33% unchurched adults who answered "don't know" or "nothing" saw the church demonstrating the love of Christ as we serve those in our communities, what difference would that make in their indifference? And not only their indifference to the church but perhaps their indifferent to the head of the church, Christ?
• And, finally, in the words of the report: "Churches are not thought of as contributing to civic enhancement, beyond poverty assistance. Most people do not connect the role of faith communities to civic affairs, particularly local efforts like assisting city government, serving public education, doing community clean-up, or engaging in foster care and adoption, and so on. There are opportunities for faith leaders to provide more intentional, tangible, and much-needed efforts to assist local government, particularly as many services have been diminished by the economy."

From the report itself (which I recommend you check out) or the thoughts I've shared about it, what do you think? How would you answer the question The Barna Group posed: Many churches and faith leaders want to contribute positively to the common good of their community. What does your community need, if anything, that you feel churches could provide?

recent thoughts...

No organization here, just some things I've been thinking about lately (plus some hints at other posts coming in the next couple weeks)...

1) Today I'm ranting about injustice on The Works of God Displayed. It's written more in the style of this blog than that one, so if you're read this one, you'll probably want to check it out.

2) Robbie began throwing up on the way home from church on Sunday evening. And then pitifully looked down at himself and looked up at me and said, "It a lot of yuck, Mommy. A lot of yuck," in a distressed tone. Thankfully, he is running and jumping and bouncing today after 36 hours of tummy bug and fever.

3) We've re-prioritized house projects so that we have everything downstairs in order before we even consider expanding to add two bedroom to the third floor. And, while I posted a few weeks ago about our plans to stay in this house indefinitely, part of the reason for the re-focus is that we're toying with the idea of moving to a larger home closer to Lee's office and our church instead of making more room in our current home. (A new house would also ideally have a first floor master so that I can avoid stairs when my joints are flaring badly.) Finishing projects downstairs will make it so our house is ready to sell if we decide to go that route.

4) Today, though, I'm feeling more like we'd be better off staying put. Our neighbors are wonderful, and Jocelyn is hanging out with one of them and "helping" her with her chores so that Robbie and I can rest. So right now I'm feeling like we can only move if there are two houses available on a new street so that our neighbors can move with us (and then, of course, we'll need to convince them of that...).

5) I have a handful of book reviews, ranging for a quick evangelism book for adults to a young adult novel set in southern France during WWII to a kids' picture book, coming this week. And then next week's posts will be brought to you by Jocelyn's photography skills.

6) Overheard in our car a couple weeks ago: 
Lee: "So who's the dead person this time?" (referring to my Kindle, which has screensavers that frequently consist of pictures of authors...dead authors, that is)
Me: "Virgina Woolf."
Jocelyn: "Why's she not alive anymore?"
Robbie: "Because she's dead."

7) I love this post and how it relates to parenting. Yes, it is from the Onion News Network, but satire is one of my love languages: Very Lenient Umpire Tells Base Runner Next Time He Gets Tagged He's Out

8) And thank goodness I'm not applying to college right now. A tweet as an essay? I had trouble keeping college essays under the word limit; 140 characters would not have been enough for my word-loving soul.

9) I am really, really excited about our church's new Sunday school curriculum for little ones through high school.

10) I am very, very, very much looking forward to my IV on Thursday. My joints need meds. And I'm nearly at peace with the idea of moving my IV cycle from every eight weeks to every seven and adding a second drug (well, replacing the current second drug with a different, stronger one). Nearly at peace, so please pray, y'all. And I'm very, very, very thankful for insurance, because my meds would put us back $45,000/year if we didn't have insurance.

11) I like Google+, but I'm not sure I can handle another social media option. Either it needs to dominate something else quickly, or it's not going to stay on my radar.

a rant on injustice

This is a different sort of blog post. It's not refined. It's not planned or calculated or all that intentional.

And it's not exactly the kind of post I usually write, so feel free to ignore this and come back tomorrow.

I started this as a link included in yesterday's round-up. But when the explanation became multiple paragraphs, I knew I couldn't just leave it there.

Here's an article about the Las Lomas colonia just outside of Rio Grande City in Texas. It has nothing and everything to do with this blog. Nothing, because it's about the realities of (usually illegal) immigrant families from Mexico. Everything, because I taught students from this colonia for two years.

A binder from one student still sits on my shelf, his name on the spine so I can see it every day. No one in his life cared about him, and I couldn't care enough to make up for all the neglect and pain in his life. I know he dropped out; I've heard he's serving time. I pray for him daily, and I couldn't make it through this paragraph without tears.

I do what I do - in writing this blog and in serving in special needs ministry at my church - in part because of the memory of the boy whose name is on that binder I see every day and because of the other boys and girls who captured my heart in South Texas. I write because so many other teachers didn't care enough about them to teach them before they showed up in my middle school class, woefully unprepared because previous special education classes were more focused on babysitting than actually teaching and because teachers like me were asked to switch to general education "because you're wasted on these kids and we want you to be teaching kids who deserve you." (Yes, those words were said to me by an administrator. No, I did not switch, and I even managed to hold my tongue to avoid telling that administrator exactly what I thought he deserved.)

I care enough to spend hours and energy and tears and sweat over special needs ministry because I don't want to see people with disabilities cast aside like so many of my students were, and I especially don't want to see that in the church. The colonias you can read about in this article changed me. It changed me to visit kids in homes with dirt floors and a hole in the corner for a toilet. It changed me to be given homework pages that had been soaked during rains because Las Lomas flooded badly. It changed me to have to fight so hard for each of my kids, against so much apathy and so many other obstacles.

And now that I have kids? To consider all of that from the perspective of a mother? I am undone by that.

I didn't mean to make this into its own post, but I'm beyond frustrated that so many people can become indignant over the injustice of one court case while remaining apathetic about the many injustices we encounter - and ignore - every day. (Nevermind that it seemed like more people were outraged by the outcome of said trial than by the death that preceded it.)

It hurts to feel. It can be exhausting to face injustice. It is painful to let our hearts be broken by the things that break God's heart.

But what about the alternatives? Not caring. Ignoring injustice. Living a self-absorbed life. Saying "well, my kid doesn't have special needs..." or "I was born in a country with opportunities..." as an excuse to throw away knowledge of those whose lives are different from our own.

Care. And not just about some kids on the Mexican border or the little girl whose mother was found not guilty. Care about the people in your neighborhood and in your city and at your church.

Don't just talk about injustice; care about it.

Don't turn away. Spend yourself for the Repairer of Broken Walls.

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
   and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
   and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
   and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
   and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
   and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
   and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
   you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. 

   “If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
   with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
   and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
   and your night will become like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you always;
   he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
   and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
   like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
   and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
   Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. 

{Isaiah 58:6-12}

Weekly round-up! {7/11/11}

Happy Monday! Today we are exactly two months away from the new Sunday school year (and in need of at least seven more volunteers each Sunday morning) and about three months away from our first respite care event. I would appreciate it if you could take a moment to pray for our plans for each, that God may be glorified and his love made known.

(And, while you're at it, a stomach bug is running through my house right now, so prayers for health would be appreciated - particularly for mine, because I'm due for an IV treatment for rheumatoid arthritis on Thursday, and I'll have to postpone it if I'm sick. I'm already struggling with daily activities because my last IV is wearing off, so a delay would not be ideal.)

And now to the links...

Welcoming Special Needs Families: Both Jason and I commented on a blog post a few weeks ago at Ministry Matters, and he was asked to follow up with an article. I am so glad they asked him to do that, because this article is worth reading (and thanks, Jason, for emailing me to let me know about the article)!

And to continue my trend of highlighting new pieces about churches who are engaging in special needs ministry, here's one about a church's VBS program including individuals with special needs and another about a church's plans to go to a summer camp for kids with disabilities in Georgia. And here's one about a woman in London who is passionate about including people with autism in churches.

In less positive news, though, here's a piece from England in which the title shares the tragedy: Thousands of being are being aborted over 'disability' My nephew - the handsome fellow on the right - was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate; while the surgeries he needed in the first year of life were not easy, it blows my mind to know that abortions are being performed just to avoid that. Here's an encouraging blog post on a related topic by John Knight: Let us tell our stories and ask God to change things

Which leads me to my next set of links, which are all posts from John's blog this week:
-Sometimes Jesus healed by touching people
-Sometimes Jesus healed them all. Sometimes he didn't.
-And two posts about the sadness and joy of his son's 16th birthday: I am sad. But only for a vapors breath. and She opens her mouth with wisdom...

I'm not sure if they re-did it recently, but Lifeway's Special Needs page seems more user-friendly and helpful than it used to be. Even if I'm just imagining things, you should still visit it if you haven't stopped by before! They have great resources.

Family Relationships with a Complicated Diagnosis: Pamela Wilson does a great job once again.

I regularly enjoy 22 words, but I don't usually link over to it. I'm making an exception for 5 pieces of art by children with autism.

I've been a fan of Missy's blog for a long time now, and I love this post about designer babies and a Designer God.

Finally, here's my friend Katie's recent post about different models of special needs ministry. Please read it, and then heed her request at the end: "What approach has worked for you and your church? Leave a comment here, so that others can learn from your experiences!"

And come on back tomorrow for an atypical rant from me that began with a link I was going to include in today's post ... that is, until my commentary on it turned into something long enough to warrant a whole post of its own.

Living sacrifices {Romans 12:1-2}

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, 

to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, 

holy and acceptable to God, 

which is your spiritual worship.  

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, 

that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2 {ESV}