Love is Possible

It’s Friday at the Crispus Attuks PAL Center and arts and crafts are wrapping up.  As kids scream, bounce, flip, and run around the room during “clean up time,” one unlikely child picks up a broom and begins to sweep the floor.  Slowly, one by one, the other children notice this act of love and begin to follow his lead. 

Last Friday The Garden Community had the privilege of attending the “Pow Wow” at the PAL Center in our neighborhood (in the back of Eutaw Marshburn Elementary) where we work.  We hung out with the kids we’ve grown to love, met neighborhood advocates, and ate delicious spaghetti.  We also had the opportunity to share about the “Love is Possible Art Show” and the fact that love is indeed possible.  We see acts of love all around us (like the boy with the broom) and believe that they are something to celebrate.

Painting, Gardening, Serving

Painting, weeding, mulching, and putting together bags for neighborhood children to start the school year…Unleashing 25 volunteers into the neighborhood is simply a fun thing to do. 

Gardening at Mt. Royal Intermediate School

Bags for Children at the PAL Center

Neighborhood Headstart building before painting

A Church in the Community, A Church for the Community

I had the privilege of speaking with an elderly gentleman on Bolton St. a few months ago.  When he asked what I do for a living I, again, had the joy of trying to explain what we as a community do. 

“We are starting a new expression of church,” I responded, “A new church.”

Eyes squinted and brows furrowed, he boldly questioned, “Another church?  We have a gazillion churches here.  Why do we need another?” 

“Do you attend a church?” I asked

“No way!  I have managed to stay away and I don’t plan on falling into that now.  I’ve never been fond of church.” 

______________________

For all of us who “don’t like church,” or as an author I know would say “we like Jesus but not the church,” and for all of us who love the church so much that we must see new expressions, we begin The Garden Community.

Yes, Baltimore has a church on every corner.  Do we need anymore institutions which meet on Sunday and call it quits?  No, we do not.  We need new expressions of hope and life.  We need communities of Jesus followers to come alongside others in the city, other churches as well as organizations, and join in the work which God is doing in our communities.

We do not to attempt to be the “best church in the community.”  There are some great places of worship in Baltimore.  What we want to be is the “best church for the community.” 

Reading the letter which the apostle Paul wrote to the church in ancient Ephesus you will find this writing,

“In him you to are being built together to be a body in which the spirit of God lives.”

Paul believed so much in the gathering of Jesus followers that he knew there was something much bigger happening than just a meeting on Sunday or a pot-luck dinner.  There is this ancient belief that when followers of Jesus come together that we mysteriously become the “hands and feet” of Jesus in our community.  And Jesus was always about making things better, and not only was he making them better but he was transforming broken pieces into a piece of art which no one ever had the guts to imagine.  The Garden Community is here for the community and we look forward to the transformation in which God will allow us to participate and experience.

I encourage you to dream big and join the movement which God has already begun.

-Joel

A Heart for the City

Mount Hermon, small rural church in the farmland of southern Ohio, felt the burden of inner city Baltimore.  As 32 kids entered the church building for VBS they were challenged with the thought of Baltimore and The Garden Community.  Throughout the week the children raised over $1000 dollars to go to inner city Baltimore ministry.  “Doves of Hope for The Garden” were released on the last day of VBS week!

Art and Artscape

Chalk, paint, pastels, crayons, paper, easels, and kids.  What more could you ask for?  O yes…also legos.

As a community last weekend we volunteered at Artscape, a huge art festival in our neighborhood.  It was hot, humid, and packed with thousands of people – and a lot of fun.  We spent the day Saturday in the “family art park” making art with kids (I think we made just as much art as did the kids).

There is something about art which speaks to the soul.  It brings people together and creates community.  It uplifts and encourages.  It challenges.  As a community we embrace the arts because we believe that there is something deep within them.  There is something about the creation of creators which connect us with the Creator…and it’s beautiful.  It really is.

A Worshipping Community

“Church” is such a touchy subject these days.

A lot of people automatically see it as some big, cold building full of people that will judge you without truly knowing you. But on this past cold Tuesday night, in the “feared city” of Baltimore, was a warm little church meeting in a warm little rowhouse (actually a medium-sized apartment in a large rowhouse). Not your traditional thought of church, just our little community worshipping together.

We went around the room and confessed current struggles which we are dealing with right now. For me that part was really tough but I knew that I could say whatever in our ‘church’ without feeling judged. So, after we got all of that out, we talked about the blessings in our lives. I didn’t personally speak but I knew in my heart that I was surrounded by my blessing.

It’s so great that we, only a few people in the room that night, could sing and worship like we did. I feel so blessed to be a part of this community. I think that it is something I really realized while sitting there this past Tuesday night. Each one in our community brings something totally awesome and unique to the table. I didn’t say it out loud that night but that is what I silently thanked God for as the room was full of warmth and music.

-Amanda