Media Presbyterian Church: Holistic Ministry in the Suburbs Media Prezbiterijanac Crkve: Holistic Ministarstva u predgrađima

Media Presbyterian Church: Holistic Ministry in the Suburbs Media Prezbiterijanac Crkve: Holistic Ministarstva u predgrađima

Can a church be holistic if it is not in the inner city? Mogu li crkve biti holistički ako nije u unutrašnjem gradu? Media Presbyterian, nestled neatly in the heart of a comfortable Philadelphia suburb, demonstrates that it is not only possible, but that the rewards to church and community are just as great when the social needs are not as obvious or close at hand. Media Prezbiterijanac, nestled govedo u srcu udoban Philadelphia predgrađu, pokazuje da je ne samo moguće, ali da su nagrade na crkve i zajednice kao što su velika kad se socijalne potrebe nisu očiti ili nadohvat ruke.

Rev. Bill Borror's vivid, Christ-centered preaching lays a strong foundation for holistic ministry. Rev Bill Borror je živ, Krist usmjeren propovijedanje postavlja jak temelj za holistički ministarstva. He consistently reminds the congregation, "The purpose of the church is to be an instrument for redemption." On je stalno podsjeća na zajednicu, "Svrha crkve je da bude instrument za otkupljenje." This means emphasizing the mission of the church in outreach to needy neighbors, whether that means a neighboring family struggling with divorce or the neighboring impoverished community of Chester. To znači da je posevno usmjeren na poslanje Crkve u outreach u nevolji susjeda, da li to znači da je jedan susjedne obitelji bori s razvodom ili susjedne osiromašuje zajednicu Chester.

"Holistic ministry is incarnational ministry ... It's God's people fleshing out the truth of the gospel," says Rev. Borror. "Holistic Ministarstvo je ministarstvo incarnational ... To je Božji narod fleshing out istina evanđelja", govori vlč Borror. This means making a personal commitment to service, not simply donating money from a distance (though the church does this as well-fully a third of its budget goes to mission work far and near!). To znači stvaranje osobnih predanost usluzi, jednostavno ne daruju novac iz daljine (ali u crkvi se kao dobro u potpunosti trećinu svojih proračuna odlazi na misiju rad daleko i blizu!). The Faith In Action committee was formed with the goal of involving at least half the congregation in some form of hands-on ministry. Vjeru u akciji odbor je formirana s ciljem da se uključuju najmanje polovina zajednicu u nekom obliku Hands-on ministarstva. Church members are recruited for an array of service projects: running summer day camps for kids in inner city neighborhoods; wielding a hammer in the Carpenter's Club to help elderly and low-income homeowners; covering books and reading to children in the library of a Christian elementary school; visiting "throw-away parents" in nursing homes; linking professionals in the church (including many retirees) with non-profits needing skilled consultation. Crkva članovi su regrutovani za niz usluga projekata: trčanje dan ljeta kampovi za djecu u unutrašnjem gradu susjedstvu; wielding malju u Carpenter's Club pomoći starijim osobama i low-income kuće; pokrivaju knjige i čitanja za djecu u knjižnici od kršćanske osnovne škole; posjetom "baciti daleko-roditelji" u domovina; povezivanja profesionalaca u crkvi (uključujući i mnoge umirovljenike) s non-profit siromaštvo obučena konzultacija.

The value of these ministries lies not only in helping people outside the church, but in enriching the spiritual life of church members and expanding their relationships outside their cultural comfort zone. Vrijednost tih ministarstava leži ne samo u pomaganju ljudima izvan Crkve, ali u obogaćujući duhovni život crkve i širenja članova njihovih odnosa izvan njihove kulturne zone udobnosti. "I hope that at the end of the year, everybody that participates in urban ministry knows somebody on a first name basis," said the Faith in Action committee chair. "Nadam se da će na kraju godine, svima koji sudjeluje u urbanim Ministarstvo zna neko ime na osnovi", rekao je vjeru u Akcijski odbor stolica. Rev. Borror has modeled this in his friendship with Bishop Dickie Robbins, the pastor of Life in Christ Cathedral of Faith in neighboring Chester, PA. Rev Borror je ovo uzoru na njegovo prijateljstvo s biskupom Dickie Robbins, župnik života u Kristu katedrala vjeru u susjednim Chester, PA. In the world's eyes, the two men and their churches have little in common. U svijetu u oči, dva čovjeka i njihove crkve imaju malo zajedničkog. But "United in Christ, Laboring in Love," as a banner heralds their joint work on a housing rehab project, the congregations witness to the community about their oneness in Christ. Ali "Ujedinjeni u Kristu, Laboring u ljubavi," kao banner heralds njihove zajednički rad na stambeno rehab projekta, župe svjedok zajednice o svojim jedinstvo u Kristu.

A major focus of the church's outreach is an annual Habitat for Humanity "blitz build" project in rural North Carolina. Glavni fokus crkve's outreach je jednom godišnje Habitat for Humanity "Blitz izgraditi" projekta u ruralnim North Carolina. In 1999, 150 members and friends of the church spent their summer vacation sweating and sawing together to give a poor family a home. In 1999, 150 članova i prijatelja od crkve provodili svoje ljetovanje znojenje odrezivanje i piljenje zajedno dati siromasima obiteljski dom. They completed the whole house from the foundation up, as well as several smaller rehab projects. Oni su popunili cijelu kuću iz temelja, kao i nekoliko manjih projekata rehab. Merle (not his real name) the owner of a trailer home where Media Presbyterian folks built a handicap ramp for his wife, was skeptical at first. Merle (ne njegovo pravo ime) vlasnik jedne kuće gdje prikolica Media Prezbiterijanac narod gradi hendikep izlaz za svoju ženu, bio je to prvi skeptical. He couldn't believe there were people out there who were willing to help him regardless of who he was or what he had done. On nije mogao vjerovati da su ljudi vani koji su spremni pomoći mu, bez obzira na koji je bio ili što je učinio. "Why would you want to do this?" "Zašto bi da to želite učiniti?" he would ask. on će pitati. "Well, because Christ directs us to," came the answer. "Well, jer Krist nas usmjerava da," došao je odgovor. "Oh, it's that simple?" "Oh, to je tako jednostavno?" Over the course of the week, volunteers at his site watched him soften. Tijekom tjedna, volontera i njegov položaj gledao ga omekšati. He allowed the volunteers to pray with him, and even prayed himself. On je dozvoljeno volonteri moliti s njim, pa čak i pomoli se. "I never really knew what or who Christians were before," Merle said, "but now I do." "Ja nikad zaista niste znali što ili koji su bili prije kršćani," Merle, rekao je, "ali sada mi je činiti." Though Merle did not make a clear profession of faith, it was clear the church's presence had a dramatic impact on his life. Iako Merle nije jasno ispovijest vjere, bilo je jasno Crkve prisutnost je dramatična utjecaj na njegov život.

Involvement in service projects like the Habitat trip also aids personal evangelism, as a lay leader notes: "A good approach is to go and do this kind of ministry, then tell people-tell your neighbors, tell your friends, tell your coworkers-what you're doing. And they'll ask you why you're doing it. It's a good opportunity to witness." Uključenost u službi projekata kao Habitat putovanje i pomagala osobne evangelism, kao lider stavi bilješke: "Dobar pristup je otići i učiniti ove vrste ministarstva, recite ljudi-TELL YOUR susjeda, reći svojim prijateljima, recite vaše coworkers-što vi radite. A oni će vas pitati zašto vi radite. To je dobra prilika da se svjedok. "

One of Rev. Borror's models for mission is the early church. Jedan od Rev Borror's modeli za misiju je rano crkve. A second century pagan writer sent Caesar a report about Christians: "Not only do they take care of their own poor, but they're taking some of our poor, as well." A drugi stoljeća, pisac poslao caru poganski izvještaj o kršćanima: "Ne samo da se brine o svojoj siromašni, ali oni su uzimajući neke od naših siromašnih, kao i". Media Presbyterian has the same witness to the surrounding community. Media Prezbiterijanac ima isti svjedok na okolne zajednice. "The secular world and school districts and politicians can't say that what is here at this church isn't real," Rev. Borror affirms. "Svjetovni svijet i škole općina i političara ne može reći da ono što je ovdje u ovoj crkvi nije u stvarnom," Rev Borror potvrđuje. "They can't dismiss us as merely being another cultural clique, or a socio-economic ghetto. We may not be doing things they are comfortable with, or they understand, but they cannot write us off as being insignificant and not impacting our community." "Oni ne može raspustiti nam se samo kao još jednu kulturnu grupa, ili socio-ekonomski geto. Mi svibanj ne biti događaj što su udobna s, ili oni razumiju, ali oni ne mogu pisati s nama kao što je beznačajan i ne utječući na našu zajednicu . "

The chair of the Faith in Action committee, describes the evangelistic impact of the church's social ministries this way: Predsjedatelja vjere u akciji odbora, opisuje evangelistic utjecaj Crkve socijalne ministarstava na ovaj način:

The people that are in the community watching us know that we are from a church, and they know that we are doing what Jesus taught us to do. U ljudi koji su u zajednici promatrajući nas obavijestili da smo iz crkve, i oni znaju da rade ono što je Isus učio nas učiniti. ... The newspaper article said that we're practicing what Jesus preached. List članak je rekao da smo trenirao što je Isus propovijedao. ... When we did our blitz build we got attention and that was good, because Rev. Borror was on television talking about why we were doing it. Kad mi je naš Blitz izgraditi mi je dobio pozornost i da je bio dobar, jer je vlč Borror je na televiziji pričaju o tome zašto smo se radi. I just hope somebody watched that newscast that may be frustrated with [televangelists] and said, "Hey, maybe all these Christians aren't such bad people after all." I samo se nadam da je netko gledao newscast koji svibanj biti frustriran s [televangelists] i reče: "Hej, možda se sve to su kršćani ne takvih loših ljudi, nakon što su svi."

Media Presbyterian folks know well that spiritual and social needs are not limited to the inner city or the rural poor. Media Prezbiterijanac ljudi znaju dobro da duhovne i socijalne potrebe nisu ograničeni na unutrašnjem gradu ili u ruralnim siromasima. Though the scars may be less visible than in poverty areas, people come to Media wounded by the maladies of middle-class culture: divorce, substance abuse, domestic violence, eating disorders. Iako su ožiljci svibanj biti manje vidljiv nego na područjima siromaštva, ljudi dolaze do medija ranjen od strane maladies of middle-class culture: razvod, substance abuse, nasilje u obitelji, poremećaja prehrane. In a society driven by materialistic values, many kids are bounced from activity to activity without parental supervision or attention. U društvu upravljana je materijalist vrijednosti, mnoga djeca su odskočiti od aktivnosti do aktivnosti bez roditeljskog nadzora ili pozornost. Rev. Borror describes the impact as "the fragmentation of the youth culture." Rev Borror opisuje utjecaj kao "fragmentacija i kulture mladih." In one year, the community reeled from the death of five high school students in an auto accident, several youth suicides (the youngest in sixth grade), and a murder. U jednom godišnje, u zajednici reeled od smrti od pet srednjoškolaca u jednoj auto nesreća, nekoliko mladih samoubojstava (najmlađi u šesti stupanj), te ubojstva. In response, Rev. Borror and Media's youth pastor have come to be known as unofficial chaplains for the community-hosting funerals for unchurched families, providing counseling for the local school district, and inviting youth to participate in the church's active youth group. Kao odgovor, vlč Borror i medija za mlade župnik došao da bude poznat i kao neslužbena chaplains za zajednicu hosting-za nas dvoje unchurched obitelji, pružanje savjetodavnih za lokalne područnih škola, i poziva mlade da sudjeluju u crkvi je aktivan mlade grupe. The church also hosts several support groups, such as for divorce and grief processing. U crkvi se također domaćini nekoliko grupa za podršku, kao što je za razvod i bol obradu.

Media Presbyterian has also become attuned to the "hidden" poverty of the suburbs. Media Prezbiterijanac je također postao attuned na "skrivene" siromaštva i pašnjacima. People regularly call the church with urgent requests for food, or a month's rent, or intervention in a domestic crisis. Ljudi redovito poziva na crkvu s hitne zahtjeve za hranom, ili mjesec dana, najam, ili intervencije u domaćim krize. Church members in social work positions, such as one who works for the local public school, also refer families with special needs to the church. Crkva članova u socijalni rad položajima, kao što je jedan koji radi za lokalne javne škole, također se odnosi obitelji s posebnim potrebama do crkve. Through the deacons and Rev. Deb Miller, the church's associate pastor for mission, the church either meets the needs or refers people to other appropriate agencies. Kroz đakona i vlč deb Miller, crkvu je župnik suradnik za misije, u crkvi ili zadovoljava potrebe ili se odnosi na osobe druge odgovarajuće agencije. By helping people, a deacon explains, the church is planting "seeds of goodness" that may eventually bear spiritual fruit, even if they never see the person again. By pomaganja ljudima, đakon objašnjava, crkva je sadnja "sjemena dobrote" koji na kraju snosi svibanj duhovni plod, čak i ako se oni nikad ne vide osobi ponovo. "Many people come to us who are not Christians and who don't understand why we do this. You can't make people understand, but you can say we do this as a representation of Christ's love. It's easy to appease people by taking care of their material needs, but we constantly have to remind ourselves that we are doing this for a reason-that we are God's hands here in Media." "Mnogi ljudi dolaze u nas koji nisu kršćani i koji ne razumijem zašto smo to učinili. Ne možete natjerati ljude razumjeti, ali možeš reći mi to učinili kao prikaz Kristove ljubavi. To je jednostavno popustiti ljudi zauzimanjem brigu o njihovoj materijalne potrebe, ali mi stalno moramo podsjetiti sebe da smo za to razlog-da smo Božje ruke ovdje u medijima. "

One particularly needy group the church has encountered are grandparents who for various reasons end up raising their grandchildren. Jedan posebno potrebnima grupi crkva je naišao su djed i baka koji iz raznih razloga završiti podizanje njihove unučadi. The grandparents face multiple pressures from fixed incomes, failing health, depleted energy, and adult children in crisis. The djed i baka lice više pritisaka iz stalnih prihoda, u nedostatku zdravlje, osiromassenog energije, i za odrasle djece u krizu. One grandmother asked the church to host their "Second Time Around" support group, and Media welcomed them with open arms. Jedna baka je pitao crkve u vojsci njihova "Second Time Around" support grupa, medija i pozdravio ih s otvorenim naručju. Every year, the church throws a Christmas party for the families and buys gifts for the children. Svake godine, crkva baca Božićni party za obitelji i kupi darove za djecu. The youth pastor leads a parenting class for grandparents raising teenagers. U mladosti župnik vodi jedan parenting klasa za grandparents podizanja mladih. If a grandparent needs home repairs, they call on Media's Carpenter's Club. Ako grandparent potrebe popravke kuće, oni na poziv medija Carpenter's Club. In emergencies the church helps out with food, medicine, or financial counseling, as well as an open door to the pastor's office for personal counseling or prayer. U hitnim slučajevima crkva pomaže s hranom, medicine, ili financijskih savjeta, kao i otvorenih vrata na župnik ureda za osobnu molitvu ili savjetovanje. "I can call Rev. Miller at any hour and say, 'Stop what you're doing and pray,'" says the group's coordinator. "Ja mogu poziv vlč Miller bilo sat i reci: 'Stop ono što radite i molite,'", navodi se u grupe koordinatora. "If I knew there was a need for one of the people who attends the group, there's not one thing I wouldn't go to the church and say there's this tremendous need, and they wouldn't find a way to help. We know they're there for us and we're so grateful." "Ako bih znao ima je potrebna za jedan od ljudi koji sudjeluje u grupi, postoji ne jedna stvar ne bih otići do crkve i reći, tu je ovaj strašan potreba, i ne bi naći način da pomogne. Znamo oni su tu za nas i tako smo zahvalni. " Three of the families in the group now attend church services at Media, though the church puts no pressure on them to join. Tri od obitelji u grupi sada pohađa mise na medije, iako crkvu ne stavlja pritisak na njih da se pridruže.

Evangelism in their suburban context is most effective, Media Presbyterian Church has found, when it is low-key. Evangelism u kontekstu njihove prigradski je najučinkovitiji, Media Prezbiterijanac Crkva je pronađena, kad je low-key. The church has found that up-front strategies like Evangelism Explosion tend to alienate people. U crkvi je utvrđeno da se front-strategija kao Evangelism Rice imaju tendenciju da se otuđiti narod. Rev. Borror stresses the importance of lifestyle evangelism: "Evangelism is to take place in your neighborhoods, the PTA, the soccer fields, the workplace." Rev Borror naglašava važnost lifestyle evangelism: "Evangelism je da se održati u vašem susjedstvu, PTA, nogometni tereni, radnom mjestu." For example, when a deacon's company was going through a difficult time, another contractor asked him, "How do you stay so calm in this rat-race business?" Na primjer, kada je đakon je tvrtka je prolazio kroz teško vrijeme, još jedan ugovor upitao ga: "Kako ste tako mirno ostati u ovoj utrci rat-poslovanje?" The deacon surprised him with his answer. The đakon iznenađen mu odgovor. "It's simple. I have a very strong faith, and the Lord continues to direct my life. I feel sorry for people who don't have that. It's much easier for me, having the ability to let go of certain things and entrust them to the Lord." "To je jednostavna. Ja sam vrlo jake vjere, i Gospodin nastavlja na izravno moj život. Osjećam se ispričavam za ljude koji nemaju što. To je puno lakše za mene, imaju mogućnost da otpusti od određenih stvari i povjeriti im da je Gospodin. "

Another innovative way that Media witnesses to their community is through what Steve Sjogren calls servant evangelism. Još jedan inovativni način na koji Media svjedoci da je njihova zajednica kroz ono što Steve Sjogren poziva sluge evangelism. During summer street fairs, the church hosts a booth that gives out cups of cold water. Tijekom ljeta street sajmovi, crkvene domaćini jedan štand koji daje iz čaše u hladnu vodu. A brochure available at the booth asks on its cover, "Why would a church offer free water on State Street?" A brošura dostupna na štand, pita na svojim pokriti, "Zašto bi crkva nude besplatno vode na State Street?" Inside, along with Biblical passages about Jesus, the text concludes: "We just thought that you might be thirsty for the water in the cup or for the water from which you will thirst no more." Inside, uz biblijski odlomci o Isusu, tekst zaključuje: "Mi smo samo pomislili da bi moglo biti žedan za vodom u čašu ili za vodu iz koje će vam žeđ nema više." The results are not immediate or dramatic, but still meaningful, as the chair of Media's evangelism committee explains. Rezultati nisu neposredne ili dramatična, ali još uvijek smislene, kao predsjedatelja medija evangelism odbora objašnjava. "Later, when someone is in crisis or hurt, they will remember -'Hey, they were out there giving out cold water, so maybe I'll walk down a couple blocks to the church and talk to someone.'" "Kasnije, kada je netko u krizu ili nesreću, oni će se sjetiti -" Hej, oni su bili vani davanje iz hladne vode, pa možda ću hoditi down par blokova do crkve i razgovarati s nekim. "

As Media celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2000, a long-time member of the church reflected, "I think there is a spirit here in this church that will keep on bringing new members in, a lively program that will certainly serve the people, and do what Christ wants us to do, which is to reach out into the world and serve those who are in need, and broadcast the good news to everyone." Kao Media slavi svojih 150. anniversary in 2000, dugo vremena član crkve ogleda, "Mislim da je duh ovdje u ovoj crkvi da će se držati na donoseći nove članove u, životan program koji će sigurno služiti narodu, i učiniti ono što Krist nas želi učiniti, koja je do van u svijet i služiti onima koji su u potrebi, i broadcast su dobre vijesti za sve. "

[chap. 1, pp. 1, str. 26-29]