COMMON GRACE:
Connecting, Supporting and Mobilizing Churches
to Effectively Reach their Communities
BRING US CLOSER TO OUR SUPPORT GOAL!
You can show your support of the ministry by giving monthly or increasing the amount you already give. Our personal support-raising goal has been $4500/month. During this year, we have averaged about 60% of our goal. Thank you for the many who have been so generous. We ask that you pray with us and consider your role in bringing us closer to our goal.
Common Grace is a nonprofit with 501C3 status. Here is the information you need to continue supporting us in this ministry:
Write Checks to Common Grace
Send them to: Common Grace, P.O. Box 46615, Philadelphia, PA 19160
Monday, November 15, 2010
Reflections by Dana
I am entering a new phase in my life now that both Alecia and Justis are in school. Justis started at a pre-school associated with Alecia’s dual language school. My goal this year is to be able volunteer some time at each school now that I don’t have a toddler attached to me!
Last week I attended a volunteer orientation with Aspira, the organization that runs both schools. We were required to watch a PBS documentary about Antonia Pantoja. Pantoja started the organization to empower Puerto Ricans who were moving into New York City in the 40’s and having trouble in school and suffering various forms of discrimination.
A woman shared her story of wanting to be a part of Aspira, but she noticed that the organization was made up of “the cream of the crop.” “I was not the cream of the crop; I lived in the projects,” she explained. It seemed that she was able to find her place in Aspira and become successful. However, I wondered about an organization that was meant to serve the oppressed which inadvertently began catering to the more fortunate. Many of the students in Alecia’s class live in more middle class neighborhoods, but commute to her school because of the dual language and Puerto Rican curriculum. Many of the more struggling Puerto Ricans cannot get into the school.
For my birthday, Nes and I went out to dinner in an up and coming neighborhood just two miles south of our neighborhood. The community used to be blighted, but has since been bought up and revamped. Poor have been pushed out and the neighborhood has been taken over by the privileged. On our drive home, we noticed the stark transition from privilege to poverty. It struck me hard when we I saw a man pushing a cart full of his belongings several blocks before we reached our home. I have often asked the question, “How can we revitalize a neighborhood without pushing out the poor, but rather serving them?”
Aspira recently took over an existing public school as a charter school just across the street from Bethel Temple. This neighborhood school has served kids from some of the most difficult of circumstances. Our prayer is that as Aspira strives to revitalize this struggling school, they would continue to serve the neediest. Aspira has no Christian roots, but we can still pray for God to use it!
Last week I attended a volunteer orientation with Aspira, the organization that runs both schools. We were required to watch a PBS documentary about Antonia Pantoja. Pantoja started the organization to empower Puerto Ricans who were moving into New York City in the 40’s and having trouble in school and suffering various forms of discrimination.
A woman shared her story of wanting to be a part of Aspira, but she noticed that the organization was made up of “the cream of the crop.” “I was not the cream of the crop; I lived in the projects,” she explained. It seemed that she was able to find her place in Aspira and become successful. However, I wondered about an organization that was meant to serve the oppressed which inadvertently began catering to the more fortunate. Many of the students in Alecia’s class live in more middle class neighborhoods, but commute to her school because of the dual language and Puerto Rican curriculum. Many of the more struggling Puerto Ricans cannot get into the school.
For my birthday, Nes and I went out to dinner in an up and coming neighborhood just two miles south of our neighborhood. The community used to be blighted, but has since been bought up and revamped. Poor have been pushed out and the neighborhood has been taken over by the privileged. On our drive home, we noticed the stark transition from privilege to poverty. It struck me hard when we I saw a man pushing a cart full of his belongings several blocks before we reached our home. I have often asked the question, “How can we revitalize a neighborhood without pushing out the poor, but rather serving them?”
Aspira recently took over an existing public school as a charter school just across the street from Bethel Temple. This neighborhood school has served kids from some of the most difficult of circumstances. Our prayer is that as Aspira strives to revitalize this struggling school, they would continue to serve the neediest. Aspira has no Christian roots, but we can still pray for God to use it!
How Do We Connect, Support and Mobilize?
Common Grace has begun a partnership with Palmer Seminary, CityNet Ministries and Word and Deed Network to develop a comprehensive directory of all the churches and ministries in Upper Darby, a suburb that borders West Philadelphia. We also hope to provide up to date demographic information on the community that will tell the story of the rapid changes taking place on the edge of Philadelphia. Church directory projects have been done in other cities and show excellent results in helping to connect the Body of Christ together as well as study trends within the church. We hope to expand this partnership into parts of Philadelphia to one day complete a full city directory. These directories are not just a listing of church names and addresses but include information that can be vital to understanding church growth or decline within a community.
Common Grace also works with church planters across the city, helping them understand where to strategically plant churches and then how to understand those communities. We believe everyone should have multiple opportunities to hear and respond to the Gospel and one role we play is to help churches identify just who lives in their communities. Whole groups of people can be overlooked in the rapidly changing city, so spending time out in the neighborhoods is a major part of our work.
Nes has also been working with Kingdom Builders Anabaptist Network of Greater Philadelphia that held an urban-suburban partnership discussion time on October 16. Nes was on the team to organize the event and also led a small group discussion to talk about perceptions that each group has of each other. Some urban church members admitted bitterness toward the privilege of suburban churches. Suburban members were able to reflect on their prejudices of city neighborhoods and how to connect effectively with their urban counterparts. Praise God for this open discussion!
One way Common Grace mobilizes churches to reach young men in our community is to facilitate the Timoteo Flag Football League. Through a grant from Esperanza USA, Timoteo is building infrastructure and is looking to expand partnerships with more churches, community organizations and ministries. Nes continues to serve as Commissioner of the league with a dedicated leadership team of five men. During the “offseason”, Timoteo runs a league for adult men which provides an opportunity to build relationships with men who are leaders with Timoteo or could be potential leaders.
Timoteo is currently looking for ways to raise funds for this exciting ministry. If you have any ideas or would like to support it, email nes@timoteofootball.com or visit http://thesimpleway.org/friends/timoteo/ to donate.
Common Grace also works with church planters across the city, helping them understand where to strategically plant churches and then how to understand those communities. We believe everyone should have multiple opportunities to hear and respond to the Gospel and one role we play is to help churches identify just who lives in their communities. Whole groups of people can be overlooked in the rapidly changing city, so spending time out in the neighborhoods is a major part of our work.
Nes has also been working with Kingdom Builders Anabaptist Network of Greater Philadelphia that held an urban-suburban partnership discussion time on October 16. Nes was on the team to organize the event and also led a small group discussion to talk about perceptions that each group has of each other. Some urban church members admitted bitterness toward the privilege of suburban churches. Suburban members were able to reflect on their prejudices of city neighborhoods and how to connect effectively with their urban counterparts. Praise God for this open discussion!
One way Common Grace mobilizes churches to reach young men in our community is to facilitate the Timoteo Flag Football League. Through a grant from Esperanza USA, Timoteo is building infrastructure and is looking to expand partnerships with more churches, community organizations and ministries. Nes continues to serve as Commissioner of the league with a dedicated leadership team of five men. During the “offseason”, Timoteo runs a league for adult men which provides an opportunity to build relationships with men who are leaders with Timoteo or could be potential leaders.
Timoteo is currently looking for ways to raise funds for this exciting ministry. If you have any ideas or would like to support it, email nes@timoteofootball.com or visit http://thesimpleway.org/friends/timoteo/ to donate.
Australia Trip
By David “Coz” Crosscombe, Common Grace Director (who is originally from Australia)
In August Common Grace sponsored a team of four to travel to Australia to connect and serve some friends over there. Nes, Carlos Borges (a teacher and church planter from Chicago) and Casey Dunn (Young Life’s Regional Director for the Mid-Atlantic) all joined me on the trip. These three men brought an amazing balance of expertise and humility as we visited various ministries to encourage and support their work.
Carlos had the opportunity to share his powerful testimony in a number of school classrooms. Casey was a great encouragement and teacher to a number of people serving youth in 2 different cities, and Nes facilitated a gathering of youth workers in my home city of Armidale as they discussed ways they could work together to reach every young person with the Gospel.
We were also able to be a part of a meeting where an Indigenous (Aboriginal) pastor came together with 2 white pastors. I think that having Nes and Carlos there opened the opportunity for the conversation to become real, as the indigenous pastor shared that this was the first time he had ever been asked for his input on something. Young Life has been reaching into the Indigenous community in Armidale for a number of years and so this meeting was a great opportunity for developing a real and lasting partnership, something that I have been praying about for a very long time.
In August Common Grace sponsored a team of four to travel to Australia to connect and serve some friends over there. Nes, Carlos Borges (a teacher and church planter from Chicago) and Casey Dunn (Young Life’s Regional Director for the Mid-Atlantic) all joined me on the trip. These three men brought an amazing balance of expertise and humility as we visited various ministries to encourage and support their work.
Carlos had the opportunity to share his powerful testimony in a number of school classrooms. Casey was a great encouragement and teacher to a number of people serving youth in 2 different cities, and Nes facilitated a gathering of youth workers in my home city of Armidale as they discussed ways they could work together to reach every young person with the Gospel.
We were also able to be a part of a meeting where an Indigenous (Aboriginal) pastor came together with 2 white pastors. I think that having Nes and Carlos there opened the opportunity for the conversation to become real, as the indigenous pastor shared that this was the first time he had ever been asked for his input on something. Young Life has been reaching into the Indigenous community in Armidale for a number of years and so this meeting was a great opportunity for developing a real and lasting partnership, something that I have been praying about for a very long time.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Common Grace Updates
So many exciting things are happening! Please pray with us!
Nes completed his first year as Commissioner of Timoteo Flag football. There is a solid group of five men who make up the leadership team for the league and opportunities are coming the league’s way. They were accepted into a program called the Hispanic Capacity Project. Through this, they will be given resources to further develop the structure of the league and be given a financial grant. A grant from the Huston foundation was also received to support a fall weekend retreat for all the players.
We are currently praying about an exciting opportunity to work with a neighborhood church. They are in a transition period and are looking to focus their vision to move forward. The church is just seven blocks from where we live and has a desire to be incarnational and to reach out to its community. As we pray for God to give us direction and wisdom, we ask that you join us in prayer. This will be an exciting step to take, but a challenging one. Our hope is that this church could become an example of how a church can learn to better reach its community and work with other churches to do that. Through Common Grace’s mission to connect, support and mobilize churches, Nes would work with the leadership team of the church to focus their vision, utilize their gifts and teach them how to work with others to reach the neighborhood for Christ.
Common Grace is also in the process of building a missional and relational partnership of leaders and churches in the greater Philadelphia area. Several have already been meeting for missional discussions over the last year, and have developed a vision for this partnership. The ultimate goal is that people in the greater Philadelphia area have repeated opportunities to hear, see, touch and respond to an incarnational, geographically close, culturally relevant presentation of the gospel.
Nes continues Seminary classes through the summer at Biblical Seminary. The program is called the Urban LEAD MDiv and is structured to be very practical for people currently working in an urban ministry setting.
Our urban garden is doing well. We are gardening half of it and our neighbor Ralph is growing on the other half. We have green beans, zucchini, white beans, corn, tomatoes and grapes!
Nes completed his first year as Commissioner of Timoteo Flag football. There is a solid group of five men who make up the leadership team for the league and opportunities are coming the league’s way. They were accepted into a program called the Hispanic Capacity Project. Through this, they will be given resources to further develop the structure of the league and be given a financial grant. A grant from the Huston foundation was also received to support a fall weekend retreat for all the players.
We are currently praying about an exciting opportunity to work with a neighborhood church. They are in a transition period and are looking to focus their vision to move forward. The church is just seven blocks from where we live and has a desire to be incarnational and to reach out to its community. As we pray for God to give us direction and wisdom, we ask that you join us in prayer. This will be an exciting step to take, but a challenging one. Our hope is that this church could become an example of how a church can learn to better reach its community and work with other churches to do that. Through Common Grace’s mission to connect, support and mobilize churches, Nes would work with the leadership team of the church to focus their vision, utilize their gifts and teach them how to work with others to reach the neighborhood for Christ.
Common Grace is also in the process of building a missional and relational partnership of leaders and churches in the greater Philadelphia area. Several have already been meeting for missional discussions over the last year, and have developed a vision for this partnership. The ultimate goal is that people in the greater Philadelphia area have repeated opportunities to hear, see, touch and respond to an incarnational, geographically close, culturally relevant presentation of the gospel.
Nes continues Seminary classes through the summer at Biblical Seminary. The program is called the Urban LEAD MDiv and is structured to be very practical for people currently working in an urban ministry setting.
Our urban garden is doing well. We are gardening half of it and our neighbor Ralph is growing on the other half. We have green beans, zucchini, white beans, corn, tomatoes and grapes!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Our 2010 Timoteo Eagles
With only five returning players from our repeat Timoteo championship team, our team is ready for a new season. The ten new players are excited to be a part of the legacy!! They are working hard and have a current record of 2 wins and 1 loss. Pray that our players would learn new skills beyond football, like conflict resolution, self-control and working as a team. Pray most of all for their growing knowledge of Christ.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
COMMON GRACE:
Connecting, Supporting and Mobilizing Churches
to Effectively Reach their Communities
www.commongracephilly.com (website under construction)
Common Grace assists ministries in their work to cooperate with each other and reach the urban community. In order for each part of the body to be effective, all parts need to work together, be equipped and value each other’s gifts. In order to accomplish this, Common Grace connects, supports and mobilizes church and community leaders as they seek to spread the gospel and address the needs of their communities.
Many exciting things are happening among Philadelphia churches. Nes, along with Coz Crosscombe (co-director) and Bill Krispin (research developer) are involved in a variety of activities that build on existing networks and encourage more of God’s people to be equipped for the kingdom!
One
“One,” the collaboration of several church youth ministries which Nes initiated several years ago, just celebrated its annual youth retreat at Camp Andrews October 23-25. Through Nes’ new role at Common Grace, he worked with other “One” youth pastors and leaders to bring together five neighborhood churches at the retreat. The speaker for the weekend, Carlos Borges, is a public school teacher and a church planter from Chicago. His message was titled: “Sheep in Da Hood: Hearing the Shepherd’s Voice.” These area youth groups will also come back together on December 11 for a youth rally. Youth rallies will be held in 2010 for these youth ministries to continue meeting together.
Reload
Another project Nes began working with before transitioning to Common Grace has continued. Reload, a training ministry of Urban Youth Worker Institute (UYWI), is a one-day conference to train, mentor and connect urban youth workers. The purpose is to encourage local ministries to network as they play a key role in organizing their own conference. Nes has facilitated the Philly Reload for several years and will continue to do this under Common Grace. The next Reload conference is March 20. It will be held at an exciting young church called Epiphany Fellowship. Epiphany is located just blocks from Temple University with a growing and ethnically diverse congregation including many college age folks.
Connection with pastoral networks
Common Grace also connects on a regular basis with a few pastoral networks in Philadelphia. Partners in Harvest is a network made up of African American pastors in Philadelphia. Kingdom Builders is a group of Anabapist urban leaders who pray, work at common concerns and fellowship together. A church called “In the Light Ministries” hosts a prayer time for a variety of area pastors. Common Grace regularly attends all of these groups to build relationships with existing networks in Philadelphia and seek ways to work together.
Demographics
Through a contract with Esperanza USA, Common Grace has been able to complete demographic reports for nine Hispanic nonprofits. These reports give them a clearer picture of their communities and how to serve them.
Timoteo Flag Football League
www.Timoteofootball.com
Nes will be assisting the Timoteo Flag Football League in a transition next year. Bill Campbell, the founder of Timoteo, is preparing to move his family to France in a new ministry. Nes will be taking on the commissioner role for a year. During the year, new leadership will be developed by raising up young men from the neighborhood. Nes and Coz are also working with an organization called The Simple Way, a community of faith in the Kensington neighborhood, that will adopt Timoteo as their ministry.
Connecting, Supporting and Mobilizing Churches
to Effectively Reach their Communities
www.commongracephilly.com (website under construction)
Common Grace assists ministries in their work to cooperate with each other and reach the urban community. In order for each part of the body to be effective, all parts need to work together, be equipped and value each other’s gifts. In order to accomplish this, Common Grace connects, supports and mobilizes church and community leaders as they seek to spread the gospel and address the needs of their communities.
Many exciting things are happening among Philadelphia churches. Nes, along with Coz Crosscombe (co-director) and Bill Krispin (research developer) are involved in a variety of activities that build on existing networks and encourage more of God’s people to be equipped for the kingdom!
One
“One,” the collaboration of several church youth ministries which Nes initiated several years ago, just celebrated its annual youth retreat at Camp Andrews October 23-25. Through Nes’ new role at Common Grace, he worked with other “One” youth pastors and leaders to bring together five neighborhood churches at the retreat. The speaker for the weekend, Carlos Borges, is a public school teacher and a church planter from Chicago. His message was titled: “Sheep in Da Hood: Hearing the Shepherd’s Voice.” These area youth groups will also come back together on December 11 for a youth rally. Youth rallies will be held in 2010 for these youth ministries to continue meeting together.
Reload
Another project Nes began working with before transitioning to Common Grace has continued. Reload, a training ministry of Urban Youth Worker Institute (UYWI), is a one-day conference to train, mentor and connect urban youth workers. The purpose is to encourage local ministries to network as they play a key role in organizing their own conference. Nes has facilitated the Philly Reload for several years and will continue to do this under Common Grace. The next Reload conference is March 20. It will be held at an exciting young church called Epiphany Fellowship. Epiphany is located just blocks from Temple University with a growing and ethnically diverse congregation including many college age folks.
Connection with pastoral networks
Common Grace also connects on a regular basis with a few pastoral networks in Philadelphia. Partners in Harvest is a network made up of African American pastors in Philadelphia. Kingdom Builders is a group of Anabapist urban leaders who pray, work at common concerns and fellowship together. A church called “In the Light Ministries” hosts a prayer time for a variety of area pastors. Common Grace regularly attends all of these groups to build relationships with existing networks in Philadelphia and seek ways to work together.
Demographics
Through a contract with Esperanza USA, Common Grace has been able to complete demographic reports for nine Hispanic nonprofits. These reports give them a clearer picture of their communities and how to serve them.
Timoteo Flag Football League
www.Timoteofootball.com
Nes will be assisting the Timoteo Flag Football League in a transition next year. Bill Campbell, the founder of Timoteo, is preparing to move his family to France in a new ministry. Nes will be taking on the commissioner role for a year. During the year, new leadership will be developed by raising up young men from the neighborhood. Nes and Coz are also working with an organization called The Simple Way, a community of faith in the Kensington neighborhood, that will adopt Timoteo as their ministry.
SUPPORT NEEDS
-More monthly commitments.
-Extra end of the year gifts.
-A sturdy 10’x10’ tool shed for our urban garden.
-A tiller for our urban garden.
-Laptop for Nes.
-Desktop computer for Common Grace office.
PRAYER REQUESTS
-Nes will begin seminary in February with Biblical Seminary. Please pray for discipline and balance.
-For March Reload—for helpful speakers and hungry participants.
-We are still looking for the right missions organization to oversee our ministry with Common Grace.
-More monthly commitments.
-Extra end of the year gifts.
-A sturdy 10’x10’ tool shed for our urban garden.
-A tiller for our urban garden.
-Laptop for Nes.
-Desktop computer for Common Grace office.
PRAYER REQUESTS
-Nes will begin seminary in February with Biblical Seminary. Please pray for discipline and balance.
-For March Reload—for helpful speakers and hungry participants.
-We are still looking for the right missions organization to oversee our ministry with Common Grace.
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