| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monday, May 27, 2013
Erich Richter is still waiting for you to join Twitter...
Monday, May 13, 2013
Erich Richter is still waiting for you to join Twitter...
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monday, May 6, 2013
Erich Richter is still waiting for you to join Twitter...
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Erich Richter sent you an invitation
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monday, June 1, 2009
community
what is community? i'm sure that there are at least 6.5 billion current variations on the idea. a friend, m. fortson, painted an abstract scene that portrays a group of human figures, some touching each other, moving in different directions, some seeming to ascend, that bears the title "community." my wife likes it because she feels it expresses an "anglican" sense of community. it graced the wall of the fellowship at elias for a while, and now its over the fireplace in our kitchen.
the idea of community was pretty important in the beginning of elias, despite the fact that it undoubtedly has meant something different to each person along the way. after all, that's why it's part of the name.
the original conception was somewhere between the "communitas" concept of crm, the christian study center in gainesville, fl, and the art house of charlie peacock. anyone familiar with those organizations will probably be more confused by that description than helped. perhaps it will help to explain that in prayer about whether to embark on this journey i felt rather specifically led that i was not to impose my plan on this endeavor, but that "i will bring those i intend, and that will define the vision"
where there is no vision, the people perish. the clear vision for elias that took root, particularly with the billy's arrival, that elias was a community devoted to the fort hawkins neighborhood, whatever community meant. community was something to be explored. this is certainly broad.
in most churches, within the current "church growth model" we see a deliberate exploitation of homogeneity. we segment out a 'target audience' or a culture, or a demographic and focus on developing a comfort zone. this is a marketing scheme, and is successful, but i don't think it qualifies as community. i'm struggling with whether it qualifies as church or not. if it is jesus body and composed of very different parts, shouldn't we be celebrating and capitalizing on the difficult differences?
the idea of community was pretty important in the beginning of elias, despite the fact that it undoubtedly has meant something different to each person along the way. after all, that's why it's part of the name.
the original conception was somewhere between the "communitas" concept of crm, the christian study center in gainesville, fl, and the art house of charlie peacock. anyone familiar with those organizations will probably be more confused by that description than helped. perhaps it will help to explain that in prayer about whether to embark on this journey i felt rather specifically led that i was not to impose my plan on this endeavor, but that "i will bring those i intend, and that will define the vision"
where there is no vision, the people perish. the clear vision for elias that took root, particularly with the billy's arrival, that elias was a community devoted to the fort hawkins neighborhood, whatever community meant. community was something to be explored. this is certainly broad.
in most churches, within the current "church growth model" we see a deliberate exploitation of homogeneity. we segment out a 'target audience' or a culture, or a demographic and focus on developing a comfort zone. this is a marketing scheme, and is successful, but i don't think it qualifies as community. i'm struggling with whether it qualifies as church or not. if it is jesus body and composed of very different parts, shouldn't we be celebrating and capitalizing on the difficult differences?
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
We're looking forward to a great summer here at Elias Community Church in Macon, Georgia. As a multi-focused, incarnational non-profit organization with the mission to serve the people of the surrounding community, our broad mission statement has given us the freedom in Christ to be whatever He calls us to be at any given time. Nevertheless, our main outreach has been directed toward the young people within the neighborhood. One of the most recent privelages we've had concerning youth ministry was the opportunity to host the After-School Elias Program that lasted from January through May of this year. It's great to know that kids look forward to this program again during the upcoming 2009-10 school year.
This summer, we will have a few of the ASE (After-School Elias) kids meet here a few times per week to improve their reading skills. Also, from July 13-17th, we will host the Vacation Bible School that will be under the direction of Joy Dunnam and the members of Covenant Church of Milledgville, Georgia.
This summer, we will have a few of the ASE (After-School Elias) kids meet here a few times per week to improve their reading skills. Also, from July 13-17th, we will host the Vacation Bible School that will be under the direction of Joy Dunnam and the members of Covenant Church of Milledgville, Georgia.
Monday, May 4, 2009
new pictures coming soon!
despite the long incubation, we will soon post a series of photographs of the children that Elias ministers to. keep watching!
Monday, December 22, 2008
The Church for Fort Hawkins
The Elias Community Church is tied to the Fort Hawkins community, just east of the Ocumulgee River in Macon, Georgia. It's named after a fort, the remnants of which still stand, that was built to keep the native americans out of the area so the american settlers could move in.
It was a very prosperous area, but as in so many urban stories, the "flight" of the monied to the outskirts of town, construction projects, and other demographic shifts lead to a typical impoverished american urban setting. Only a few blocks away are macon's subsidized housing "projects." Church street is aptly named, but one of the three churches is abandoned and falling down, another is still vibrant but draws mainly successful parishoners from atlanta with it's radio broadcasts, rather than targetting those immediately around it, and the third, a methodist church that seemed to have a predominantly white congregation in a nearly exclusively black neighborhood, closed it's doors about 5 years ago. A fourth church, around the corner, is also closed.
It is into this context that a few people felt called of God to move into the former Methodist Church and reopen it's doors as Elias Community Church. Orriginally without denominational ties, it has been adopted and supported by the Southern Baptist Mission Board as a missionary church. For the past three years, it has been ministering in this neighborhood, particularly to the children.
When we say it is the church for Fort Hawkins, we certainly don't mean that it is just there for that little piece of the world. We mean that Christ cares about fort hawkins, and every child there, and that his bride does too. Elias Community is about many things, and one is that we are "for" each other and the people of Fort Hawkins, Georgia.
It was a very prosperous area, but as in so many urban stories, the "flight" of the monied to the outskirts of town, construction projects, and other demographic shifts lead to a typical impoverished american urban setting. Only a few blocks away are macon's subsidized housing "projects." Church street is aptly named, but one of the three churches is abandoned and falling down, another is still vibrant but draws mainly successful parishoners from atlanta with it's radio broadcasts, rather than targetting those immediately around it, and the third, a methodist church that seemed to have a predominantly white congregation in a nearly exclusively black neighborhood, closed it's doors about 5 years ago. A fourth church, around the corner, is also closed.
It is into this context that a few people felt called of God to move into the former Methodist Church and reopen it's doors as Elias Community Church. Orriginally without denominational ties, it has been adopted and supported by the Southern Baptist Mission Board as a missionary church. For the past three years, it has been ministering in this neighborhood, particularly to the children.
When we say it is the church for Fort Hawkins, we certainly don't mean that it is just there for that little piece of the world. We mean that Christ cares about fort hawkins, and every child there, and that his bride does too. Elias Community is about many things, and one is that we are "for" each other and the people of Fort Hawkins, Georgia.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)