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.