Summer/ Fall 2019
INDEPENDENT Presbyterian Church
WINDOWS
Taking it to the Streets SEEKING OUR CITY’S WELFARE
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STREETS & ADVANCE
A New People. A New Memphis.
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FAITH & WORK
My dear Friends: I am excited for you to hold this issue of Windows magazine in your hands. As you know, our aspirational tagline that sums up our mission statement is “A New People. A New Memphis.” In this issue, you’ll find out different ways we as a church lean into seeing a new Memphis emerge. We literally take the Gospel to the streets, whether through our partner Windows is a publication of Independent Presbyterian Church. Go to ipcmemphis.org to view online.
ministries or in our various callings. Because we have so many people who are new to IPC, you may not know about our historic partnerships with Advance Memphis and Streets Ministries that span decades. As you read the article, you’ll discover the key role that IPC members have played and continue to play in seeking the welfare of the city through these organizations. I’m so glad that we are
In this issue:
partnered together with Steve Nash, Eric Ballentine, and the other leaders in these two vital ministries. Yet even in our various workaday callings, we are involved in the
1 SEEKING THE WELFARE OF THE CITY
advancement of God’s kingdom. We are thrilled that we will be hosting
4 HITTING THE STREETS
night series on “Common Grace for the Common Good.” We will be
6 CARRYING CHRIST’S LOVE BEYOND CHURCH WALLS
Dr. Steven Garber and Dr. Luke Bobo this August as part of our Wednesday thinking together how God’s general grace comes to his world as we work, play, make art and music, care for our homes, and care for our city. John Calvin, after all, tells us that all of these things are good gifts from our heavenly Father; gifts allow all to know something of his care for us. At IPC, we long to see us shaped into new people by Word, sacrament,
ON THE COVER AND INSIDE: Memphis watercolors by IPC member David Butler. David is the Fine Arts Department Chair and Art teacher at Evangelical Christian School. As a lifetime Memphian, David seeks to capture Memphis’ architectural and cultural landscape with vibrancy reflecting both the city’s rich history and culture. He is married to fellow artist Hillary Butler; they have two sons, Cedar and Fox.
and prayer. And yet, God doesn’t make us new people so that we will have better lives for ourselves. Rather, he calls us into his world to love our neighbors as ourselves. As we take our Christianity to the streets, seeking to love others in Jesus’ name, we find that we provide our neighbors a window into God’s own love for them in Jesus Christ. I hope that this issue of Windows will do the same for you!
In the grip of God’s grace,
Dr. Sean Michael Lucas Senior Pastor Independent Presbyterian Church
4738 Walnut Grove Road Memphis, Tennessee 38117 901-685-8206 | ipcmemphis.org
Martin C. Shea
Seeking the Welfare of the City Sean Michael Lucas
One of the questions that makes me uncomfortable when I’m meeting someone new is, “So, where are you from?” Well, the answer to that is complicated: when you’ve lived in eleven different locations and had eighteen different addresses, you’re not really from any place.
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Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to all of my moving around. The disadvantage is that there
he tells us to build houses and live in them; plant gardens and
is really no place that is “home.” When Sara goes home
eat the produce; marry wives and husbands; start families.
to Connersville, Indiana, where she grew up and where
All of these things represent good callings in this world that
generations of her family lived, it is home; it is her place;
God promises to bless: “multiply there, and do not decrease”
she knows it in her bones. I have no place like that. But the
(Jer 29:6). The same blessing given to Adam and Noah is
advantage is this: I’ve learned to lean into the biblical idea
promised to God’s people in Jeremiah’s day—as you live out
that we are exiles in this age. Repeatedly, the biblical writers
this mandate and calling, you will multiply and be fruitful.
emphasize this idea, whether Peter (1 Peter 1:17, 2:12-13), the
But second, he urges us to seek the city’s shalom.
writer to the Hebrews (Hebrews 11:13), or Paul (Phil 3:20).
Jeremiah says, “Seek the welfare of the city.” That word for
We are sojourners in this time between the times. This world
welfare is shalom, universal flourishing, wholeness, delight.
is our true home, but we are looking for this world to be
As theologian Neal Plantinga observed, shalom is a rich state
made new and lasting.
of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts
In the meantime, we are called to live as sojourners, as those in exile—like God’s people did when they were taken to Babylon. In Jeremiah 29, the prophet Jeremiah writes a letter to these exiles with specific instructions on how they should live during their time of sojourning. Central to his instructions: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jer 29:7). These continue to be good instructions for us as we live in this place, in Memphis, Tennessee, as sojourners and exiles from God’s new city to come. Notice what Jeremiah tells us to do. First, he tells us to live out our callings. In the tradition in which I was raised, workaday callings were relatively unimportant; what was really important was evangelism, soul-winning. We were to be about getting people into the lifeboat, out of this world that is about to be destroyed.
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However, that’s not what Jeremiah tells us to do. Rather,
fruitfully employed, all under the arch of God’s love. Or to put it differently, shalom is when things are the way they ought to be. And so, if we are to seek the city’s shalom, then we need to be engaged with our city, Memphis, in such
“Above all, we need to seek not just natural needs and proximate justice; we also know that true shalom will not come until men and women, boys and girls, come to have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
a way that natural needs are
meaningful relationships across racial and class lines. We need to care about how our city’s development affects all of its people, issues related to migration and gentrification, transportation, urban parks and preservation. Above all, we need to seek not just natural needs and proximate justice; we also know
satisfied, natural gifts are fruitfully employed. We need to be
that true shalom will not come until men and women, boys
seeking justice in which people have access to meaningful
and girls, come to have peace with God through Jesus Christ
work, decent food, health care, affordable housing, and
our Lord. And so, we need to plant churches and partner with other believers throughout our city to see all truly flourish through faith in Jesus. And that means, finally, we need to pray for the city. As Christians, we have access to the only one who can actually change our city, who can actually cause it to flourish. To be sure, we must do our part, but the Christian’s motto always has been “ora et labora,” Pray and Work. On Sunday mornings, we pray for our city regularly; but I wonder when was the last time you personally prayed that God would advance his shalom in Memphis. Why should we live this way? Because our city’s flourishing and our own flourishing is connected: “in its welfare you will find your welfare,” Jeremiah tells us. We are to bless and be a blessing; as we do, we will come to know God’s own blessing, a blessing of shalom. We will be the way we ought to be, and we will lean into that very shalom that God desires for this city in which we find our place, where we presently sojourn. As Memphis celebrates its 200th anniversary, I can’t help but wonder how different our 300th anniversary could be if you and I, and our children, and our grandchildren learn to live this way, seeking the peace and welfare of our city where God has sent us.
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Hitting the Streets One Interaction at a Time Annie Howard
Across Memphis, many different hands are working toward a common goal: building up their city.
Streets has two locations while Advance has a building on Vance, two warehouses, and a community garden run in tandem with the nonprofit Memphis Tilth. Both have become forces for change. Eric Ballentine, Streets’ current Two organizations, Streets Ministries executive director, has a ready smile and and Advance Memphis, are pursuing a down-to-earth passion for working that goal heart and soul. Both have a with youth. long-standing bond with IPC. “The first thing “We’ve been we’re doing is engaging involved with both E A R LY DAYS in relationships,” he [Streets and Advance] says. “You look for since day one of their that opportunity to existence,” said Pastor Ed encourage growth and Norton, IPC’s minister of equip these kids for missions and outreach. life … and a window to Though separate share the Gospel. We’re ministries, Streets getting our team to see and Advance share that every opportunity the same DNA; both you get to spend with started as one-man a child, whether that’s projects, growing out ACT prep, tutoring, Bible of their founders’ love study, whatever, try to for the Vance Avenue approach it with that neighborhood. Located Ken Bennett, founder of Streets Steve Nash, founder of Advance same intensity as if you’d in 38126, one of the been preparing 365 days nation’s most povertyfor this moment.” That cabinet was full of job leads and, stricken zip codes, Vance became the Around 820 children a week visit soon, files on individuals Nash got to heart of two ministries. Streets’ two locations for mentoring, know. “If I met you, I’d start trying to find Ken Bennett, founder of Streets, recreation, and tutoring. The ministry a job for you and listen and serve you.” wanted to reach out to inner city youth. also facilitates college tours and trips Steve Nash, founder of Advance, sought Their leaps of faith have flourished. to job sites, exposing children to new Streets has been active for nearly three to connect South Memphis adults with possibilities. For kids growing up in a jobs. Clinging to those visions, they hit the decades, and this year, Advance turns twenty. They’ve streets, building trust one interaction at a gained staff, time as they drove daily through 38126. “It’s survival getting from the house to school. volunteers, Bennett started out with his van ‘Mama don’t have transportation so I got to walk and expansive and a basketball, shooting hoops with to school.’ The gang gets him. There comes that programming. neighborhood kids. pressure to fit in and get involved in something that you really didn’t The days when “He and his wife, Debbie, were want to; I faced those same cars were seeking to really be invested and show a challenges myself as a kid.” home base are presence and a heart for everybody in that Eric Ballentine, Executive Director of Streets gone. Today, neighborhood,” said Catherine Wilfong,
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an IPC member involved with Streets since its formation. “I think because of his continuing to show up, he began to engender confidence on the part of the community.” Advance, too, got its start on four wheels. “I just showed up,” said Nash, “and I had a plastic filing cabinet in my trunk.”
tough environment, these experiences can be life-changing. “After spending time with them you find out stuff like, ‘Dad’s in jail for life,’ or ‘My dad’s been in jail for 15 years.’ This kid is trying to figure it out, trying to figure out what life looks like,” Ballentine says. “At the same time, you’re living in a community riddled with crime, drugs, violence, poverty. It’s survival getting from the house to school. ‘Mama don’t have transportation so I got to walk to school.’ The gang gets him. There comes that pressure to fit in and get involved in something that you really didn’t want to; I faced those same challenges myself as a kid.” Streets offers another perspective, meeting children where they are with a
Catherine Wilfong and LaTisha, who now lives in Atlanta, remain close friends.
Kids in the “Streets Smart” literacy program ended their great school year with a party.
Students in Streets’ ACT prep program consistently improve their scores and two seniors scored over a 20 this year.
firm belief in their potential. Staff and volunteers power academic assistance, lab and homework help, and mentoring. The Pathways program pairs middleand high-school kids with mentors one-to-one; the commitment is only one hour a week, but “sometimes you get someone signing up to volunteer for a year with a kid that’s a sixth grader, and you’ll see that same mentor with their kid at graduation,” Ballentine laughs. “That’s what it’s about. It doesn’t take a lot of experience; it just takes a willing heart.” Streets Smart, an elementary education program, aims to help second and third graders with literacy. Wilfong points out the special importance of Streets’ academic aids. “If you’re discouraged in school, it can lend itself towards future problems,” she says. Ken Bennett formulated Streets’ programming with that fact in mind. “Ken and a number of other academic ministry folks [early on] just thought, ‘Let’s step into this [tutoring] in middle school before kids fall into so many other temptations.’” As volunteers and staff bolster children, the giving isn’t always one-sided. During her first few years working with Streets, Wilfong entered into an
academic accountability mentorship with a young girl, La Tisha. “I was in my early twenties and I think she was 14,” said Wilfong. La Tisha now has a graduate degree and is pursuing a career in social work; she and Wilfong have weathered a lot together, and they still keep in touch. “With the accountability is a bit of unconditional love,” said Wilfong. “I actually talked to her yesterday. It’s been a reciprocal blessing.” Streets’ many initiatives have the impetus to change a child’s perspective on life. “If all she’s seen is Mom struggling to take care of the family, poverty, crime, violence, sex, all this stuff going on around her, that’s all she’s exposed to,” Ballentine says. “Somebody has to tell her, ‘Hey, you can do something different. You can come back and change your community.’”
From Youth to Adults While Streets reaches out to Memphis youth, Advance focuses on adults. Steve Nash, executive director, has shepherded Advance since it began. His mission remains as clear as it was twenty years ago: connecting South Memphis adults with jobs. “This is grassroots. We’re not addressing things structurally,” he says.
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“We’re starting with people.” Advance’s programs change Memphis one life at a time, from finance and job skill training to classes in gardening and trauma recovery. Nash has assembled a ministry that rallies nonprofits, churches, volunteers, and businesses around Memphians in 38126 and, most recently, 38106, creating an atmosphere of care and support. Bryn Wilson, an IPC member and Advance volunteer, spent time mentoring women in Advance’s career preparation program, previously called Jobs for Life. “Somebody that I met with, she talked about how walking through the doors of Advance, you were met with this unconditional love that gave you hope,” Wilson says. “It was the first time in her life that she had ever felt like people were surrounding her with encouragement and telling her, ‘You can do this.’” At Advance’s core is a six-week Work Life class, readying adults for the workforce. In the morning, enrollees learn soft job skills; in the afternoon, they take electives from a lineup of forklift training, high school equivalency prep, anger management, trauma healing, gardening, and cooking. Advance also offers a financial literacy class and an entrepreneurship course for those interested in starting their own business.
Among the many IPC members involved with Advance Memphis, Leah Butler (center) chaired the 2018 Art for Jobs fundraiser. Lane Patikas is this year’s chair, and Bryn Wilson is compiling a history of the ministry that will be presented at the event to commemorate Advance’s 20th Anniversary. The 2019 Art for Jobs will be September 26.
Support doesn’t stop at class graduation. Entrepreneurs can rent space for their start-ups in Advance’s primary warehouse; a walkthrough yields glimpses of lawn equipment, a photography studio, party inflatables, and t-shirt screening. Advance also runs a staffing service, providing temporary employees to between 15 and 20 businesses, and coordinates with multiple companies in need of warehouse labor. All these programs branch from Nash’s central belief in respect. “We all have dignity,” he says. “We all have gifts and talents. We’re all men and women made in the image of God. All of
Students attending a STEM class at Advance Memphis.
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the relationships between volunteers and residents and staff, everybody is learning from each other.” That relational approach leads to opened eyes. Leah Butler, an IPC member, has served Advance in several ways; last year she chaired the ministry’s annual art show fundraiser, Art for Jobs, and she’s mentored several women in the Work Life program through the years. “Once I developed relationships with the participants in my group, I was reminded of how many similarities we share, such as our mutual brokenness, the fact that we are all image bearers, and we all need the hope of the Gospel,” she said. “Some people may think it’s fairly straight forward to get a job, but it requires several forms of ID––which are often difficult to obtain with obstacles like transportation. Things that may seem simple to those of us with resources, such as getting a birth certificate or social security card, are often overwhelming hurdles for these ladies.” Wilson, a former high school teacher, signed on several years ago as a GED tutor; it’s an experience she sums up as “frustrating,” “eye-opening,” and “inspiring.” “It was encouraging getting to work
“We all have dignity. We all have gifts and talents. We’re all men and women made in the image of God. All of the relationships between volunteers and residents and staff, everybody is learning from each other.” Steve Nash, founder of Advance
with adults who wanted to be there, and it was frustrating, too, because my eyes were opened to seeing so many opportunities that the people I worked with didn’t have previously. The ability and the intelligence was there,” she said. Wilson was paired with a young man named Michael. “It was just us walking through it together,” she says. Michael went on to get his GED; while he’s finished the program, he and Wilson stay in touch, and caught up on the phone not long ago.
“It’s a meaningful relationship that we can still be thankful for each other. It doesn’t matter if you’re in east Memphis or Germantown or there, we tend to be so critical and judgmental of each other,” she says. “This was just an opportunity to appreciate the way the Lord is working in someone’s life. … And I think sometimes, as people who don’t live in that neighborhood, we think we’re going into a neighborhood or going to meet with people to supposedly save them. But we
don’t always acknowledge what they have to offer also. And there’s a lot there.” This year marks Advance’s second decade of changing lives. A celebration of history and success stories, organized by Wilson, will be held this September in conjunction with the 2019 Art for Jobs. In Memphis, there are lives not yet changed and relationships not yet built. As Streets and Advance move into the future, IPC Senior Pastor Sean Lucas takes a moment to appreciate the good work IPC can accomplish at their side. “It’s about going into 38126, not with the answers, but just, ‘Hey, we’re all in this together. We don’t really have answers, but we do care about you and we care about our city. How can we help? What does that look like?’ That’s the blessing of having such great partners. We don’t have to have answers. We just have to be willing to serve. They’ll put us to work,” he says with a laugh. “They’ll help us figure out what to do, what to say, how to be.” “When you’re preaching the kingdom of God, you’re preaching shalom,” says Nash. Together, we can bring peace to Memphis lives.
Advance Memphis Work Life graduate Xavier Evans now works full-time for a Memphis company serving the commercial construction market.
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How can we carry Christ’s love beyond church walls? Annie Howard
E
“I’ve worked with the 40s Community xploring the crossroads of faith, career, for the last six years, and in that middle-aged and daily life, IPC’s Faith and Work state of life, people often begin questioning, program dives into that question. ‘What is this all about? What I spent the last The year-old ministry launches twenty years doing—what is its real value?’” faith-based discussions on calling and he says. “In terms of career and the role that’s career, examining how best to serve others going to play in your life, those questions get in our individual contexts. formulated in your twenties and thirties, but “We’re focused on the application of people continue to wrestle with it.” faith to the work life,” says Pastor Jeremy By bringing IPC members of all ages and Jones, who leads the program. “Those who career paths together, Jones hopes to create a stay at home with their kids, what does that forum for these thoughts, questions, and fears. mean for them to flesh out that calling? “One of the visions of this deal is to see As well as someone who’s an artist or a that eventually there’s mentoring going on journalist or a nurse?” Dr. Steven Garber between the generations,” says Jones. “So you Participants gather for regular group can talk to someone who’s 28 or 38 or 48 about what they’re facing, meetings, and this year, engage in a church-wide conference on job-wise, career-wise. Whatever you’re facing, there’s someone 15 or vocation taking place in August. While the Faith and Work group 20 years older who’s been through it.” is centered on career, August’s Christian Life Conference, titled Though the Faith and Work program is one year old, it has “Common Grace for the Common Good,” will look at our role not enormous potential. As members establish connections, Jones only in the workplace, but in the world. foresees not only mentoring, but intra-career brainstorming. “It’s really about how to connect Sunday to the rest of the week,” “If you get a bunch of nurses together who share a view of the says Dr. Sean Lucas, IPC Senior Pastor. “For most of us, that involves world, they’re going to be the best ones to sit around and talk about thinking particularly about our work, but it also causes us to think how to face some of the dilemmas nurses face, how to bring the about our play, about art, about recreation.” values of the kingdom into their jobs,” Jones says. He hopes the Faith The conference will feature guest speakers following August and Work family will grow into a community of “people who can Wednesday night dinners, plus a seminar on Friday night and get together in more specific gatherings where they can hammer on Saturday morning, August 16-17, led by Dr. Steven Garber, issues that they’re facing in their specific fields.” award-winning author and faculty member at Regent College, where Once Christians build that inward community, they can then he pioneered a graduate program integrating theology, vocation, more effectively focus outward; as they define godly purpose in and leadership. His most recent book, Visions of Vocation: Common vocation, work becomes ministry. Grace for the Common Good, wrestles with how to meaningfully love “Pursuing your job with excellence in life, how Jesus defines that, and change a broken world. How do we “step into the mess of the starts to include care for the neighbor,” says Jones. He views vocation world, understand it, and still choose to serve it?” he asks. as “the missing piece” in the quest to address systemic woes. Each of the conference talks will share those themes: “One of the main ways Christians in workforces can think about investigating how to live out our lives in the world for the common their work connecting with the common good, is to connect that to good. In addition to Dr. Lucas (August 7) and Dr. Garber (August the needs of the community,” Jones says. “Education, unemployment, 14), other speakers include a panel of IPC members working in fine poverty, public health—there are a million problems that are kind of arts (August 21) and author Dr. Luke Bobo, who currently serves as inescapable in Memphis.” As Christians follow Jesus’ example in the Director of Partner Engagement for Made to Flourish (August 28). workplace, they can keep their eyes open for opportunities to utilize “All of us live in this world. We’re seeking to participate in their position “relative to some of these issues.” making our city beautiful, working for the common good,” says Lucas. Ultimately, the Faith and Work program aims to affirm and The conference and a film-based Bible study, “Reframe,” will be encourage Christians in all walks, setting aside a space for mentoring, Faith and Work’s primary programming for the fall. (The 10-week sharing, and support. Reframe series, which helps Christians connect faith with all of life– “Almost every kind of calling can be an expression of Christ’s whether that be tending a garden, caring for children, pastoring a redemption in your life and pursuing ends that benefit people,” church, or negotiating a business deal—will also be the fall study for Jones says. “What does IPC’s Grace Groups.) Monthly Faith and Work meetings are set to he call us to do in the resume in spring. world? Find the courage While the August conference asks big questions about the to do that and support Christian life, the spring gatherings zoom in on the Christian career. each other when it’s Jones has seen Christians struggle with work-related questions confusing.” across all ages and fields.
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Common Grace for the Common Good
AUGUST 2019 CHRISTIAN LIFE CONFERENCE Join us this August for Wednesday nights plus a weekend seminar. We will see how God intends our Sunday lives to connect to our Monday-through-Saturday lives, using us to serve the common good.
Wednesday Nights | 6:30 August 7 | Dr. Sean Lucas “What is Common Grace? Why the Common Good?” August 14 | Dr. Steven Garber “Singing Songs the Whole World Can Hear” August 21 | Panel Discussion “Art for the Common Good” August 28 | Dr. Luke Bobo “Living Life Vocationally: What the Church Must Do”
Visions of Vocation Seminar* with Dr. Steven Garber Friday, August 16 & Saturday, August 17
*Weekend seminar cost of $25 includes meals and a copy of Dr. Garber’s book, Visions of Vocation. Register online at ipcmemphis.org. Child care available with registration.
in the word: Bible Study for Men
Wednesday Nights at IPC
Dinner Large Group teaching • Blast! • choirs
AUGUST 2019 CHRISTIAN LIFE CONFERENCE STARTS AUGUST 29 youth groups • scouts • grace groups
Divorce Care • and more!
Thursdays 6:30 -7:30 a.m.
STARTS STARTS BACK BACK SEPTEMBER SEPT. 4, 20194 SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE!
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 422 MEMPHIS, TN
All Ages | Fellowship Hall | Taught by Dr. Sean Lucas
Women’s Luncheon Tuesday, August 27 11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. Fellowship Hall | $7 Guest Speaker
Mary Willson -
Women’s Bible Study Starts September 10
Director of Women in Ministry Second Presbyterian Church
Morning groups 10:00-11:30 a.m. Evening groups 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Make reservations at ipcmemphis.org Nursery Provided
oad
Mary
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE
4738 Walnut Grove Road Memphis, Tennessee 38117 www.ipcmemphis.org
PAID
PERMIT NO. 422 MEMPHIS, TN
Dated Material — Please Expedite
SUMMER/FALL
CALENDAR At Independent Presbyterian Church August 4
Promotion Sunday for Nursery-4th Grade 7, 14, 21, 28 Christian Life Conference: Common Grace for the Common Good 9-10 Pathway Class Weekend for Prospective Members 10 Senior High Choir Ski Day 16-17 Visions of Vocation Seminar 18 Ruling Elder Election 18 Sunday Evening Praise and Four Corners Resume 27 Women of the Church Luncheon 29 In the Word Men’s Bible Study Resumes
September 2 4
6 10 29
Labor Day—Church and Bookstore Closed Wednesday Nights at IPC Resume with Large Group Study, Grace Groups, BLAST!, Choirs, DivorceCare, Youth Groups, Scouts 99 Balloons rEcess Resumes Simply Tuesday Women’s Bible Study Resumes Fall Festival and Church Picnic
October 10 27
“What’s Happening in Memphis?” Lunch with Guest Speaker Kevin Kane Community Reformation Service
November 3, 10, 17, 24 Pathway Sunday School Class for Prospective Members 9 “Finishing Well to the Glory of God” Seminar with Dr. John Dunlop 12-14 Covenanters’ Corner Holiday Open House 17 Churchwide Potluck 21-24 Junior High Buffalo Retreat 27 No Wednesday Night Activities 28 Thanksgiving Day Service