Summer 2011 PRAXIS

a ministry of Evangelicals for Social Action

PR AXIS “Your connection to holistic ministry”

Summer 2011

An Interview with Reverend Raymond Garcia

by Marcos Ortega

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hat is The Philadelphia Project?

Our website says it best, so let me just read it: The Philadelphia Project (TPP) is a Christian non-profit organization committed to the holistic development of neighboring communities in partnership with the local church. We seek to accomplish our mission through the creation of a vibrant, engaging, and safe community center as well as providing service opportunities caring for the homes of the elderly, poor, single-parent and those plagued by hardships. All of this intentionally places us in relationship with our neighbors, engaging with them in the midst of their needs and life circumstances, in an effort to reveal the love of Christ through the outreach and partnership of the local church.

TPP is committed to living out the call to love and serve others. We desire to see our neighborhood transformed by the love of Christ while sharing in the opportunity to teach and train students from all over the country through our Summer of Service ministry. As an extension of the local church, we have the privilege of sharing the Gospel with our neighbors, first through After a long day of work, learning and our actions and then, in earned games provide a much needed reprieve. relationship, through our words.

Through our Summer of Service ministry, we invite churches to participate with us in our neighborhood, to think deeply about our biblical response to the needs of others, and to begin to dream about living out those same principles in their home towns. In summary, we are a group of people who share a call that God has placed on our hearts to love our neighbors, to build up the local church, and to participate in transforming lives in our community.

We have hosted over 200 students through our Summer of Service ministry, along with another 100+ participants through our Philly Blitz weekends to serve our community, especially those in need.

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Whether in Philadelphia USA or in a remote province in the Philippines, local churches continue to grow in their desire, as well as in their ability, to serve their communities in holistic ways. But rather than focus on local churches directly, this issue of Praxis features organizations that seek to help local congregations to engage in community transformation.

We learn of The Philadelphia Project (TPP). A 501(c)3 founded and directed by Palmer Theological Seminary graduate Raymond Garcia, TPP partners with local churches to provide avenues, primarily for youth, to serve the needy in the community.

Meanwhile in the Philippines in a province about three hours north of Manila, LIGHT Ministries continues to live out its founding motto, “Empowering churches to empower their communities in Christ’s name,” despite difficult times and a shoestring budget.

These are examples of “parachurches” that are truly “para,” that is, truly coming alongside the church (in contrast to doing the work and competing with the church) to help her be all she can be as she participates in God’s kingdom agenda.

It is these types of para-church organizations, which are driven by the same vision that inspires WDN, with which WDN desires to partner and support. Perhaps as organizations of this sort come together, we can move closer to seeing every local congregation on the planet doing holistic ministry until the whole world knows.

ow did you know that this was what God wanted you to do?

My understanding of my call to start TPP was formed out of my own life experiences, the example of other ministries that seemed to be making a difference in their communities, and my assessment of my own personal gifts Continued on Page 2

Al Tizon, Director

prax·is [prak-sis] –noun; Action and reflection upon the world in order to transform it.

It’s Personal

The Philadelphia Project:

continued from page 1

The Philadelphia Project: An Interview with Reverend Raymond Garcia and talents. But I can specifically trace the call back to my freshman year of college in 1997. While attending Eastern University (College at the time), my Youth Ministry professor challenged me to consider what ministry in an urban setting might look like for me. I grew up in a lower economic area and was raised in a single-parent home, so the challenge touched a part of who I was (and am). I heard the Gospel for the first time at age 16. As a college student, I began to try to make sense of my history, while looking to the future.

Throughout my four years at Eastern, and the ten years of ministry that have followed, I have worked with churches, met with pastors and studied under professors, all of which have helped shape my understanding of God’s call for justice and the need for the church to respond.

TPP is the primary way that God has confirmed His calling in my life.

After years of serving in the local church, the door opened for TPP to get started. At the very idea of it, there was already a team of folks who rallied around us. The church I was serving at the time—Grace Presbyterian Church—was excited to sponsor the starting of TPP. We also found another local congregation in Philadelphia that had been praying about how they could once again serve the community in significant ways. It was clear that God was making the way clear for a ministry in and through youth for the sake of community

transformation.

I could not have predicted that God would raise up TPP from that challenge issued to me years ago by my Youth Ministry professor.

I have no doubt that TPP is one of the ways that God is training up the Church in and around the city of Philadelphia to truly live out the Gospel.

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Installing a new deck rail, requires a plan, patience and a really good level.

ay more about TPP’s focus on youth.

There are similar models of justiceoriented youth ministries throughout the country such as the Boston Project, Project RAKE, and the Pittsburgh Project. Having a degree in youth ministry as well as several years of experience as a youth director, I found that it only made sense to work initially with youth. Our ultimate desire is to partner with all ages, as we mobilize the whole local church. This year we have ventured into working with college students, and this summer we will host an intergenerational week of ministry involving all ages, from kids age 5 through grandparents.

As we think about serving with adults, we see many new and exciting ways that we could engage our community. For example, with the help of a few law Over time, the storms of life take a toll on all things. students, TPP is This deck never stood a chance. currently exploring what it would look like to open a free legal clinic in our neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Additionally, we have had conversations with doctors and nurses about providing free medical screenings for older adults of our community.

Recently,

a parishioner approached us about partnering to host an older adult dinner with their church. As God enables us to dream with others about ways we can best serve our neighbors, we become more excited about the possibilities.

But I hope a significant portion of the ministry we do is investing in the leaders of the church of tomorrow.

Youth offer a fresh look at ministry. I was first called to work with teens in response to how I encountered God as a teen, and that passion for youth still burns within me today.

our “home base” is Mt. Airy Presbyterian Church (MAPC). Can you describe what that relationship is like and how your relationship came to be?

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I’ll start by saying that our pastor is someone that you should get to know.

Google her! Rev. Aisha Brooks-Lytle is a woman who desires to preach the transforming Word, to see lives changed and souls saved. She is someone that is making a difference for the Kingdom. I am thankful to call her my pastor, ministry colleague and friend.

The partnership between MAPC and TPP is based out of a common desire to be a part of the work of God in the community surrounding the church. At the time that we were praying about where to start TPP, MAPC was praying about how to effectively reach their neighborhood, showing and sharing the love of Christ. TPP’s desire was and is always to be in direct partnership with a Page 2

MAPC was just a year ago.

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ome of our readers may be interested in starting ministries like The Philadelphia Project or building relationships with ministries like yours through their churches. What advice would you give to readers that share some of your dreams and aspirations?

Build a team. Start by sharing your vision with everyone and anyone who will listen. Gather those folks around you that are encouraging and are strategic thinkers for the Kingdom.

Be sure that you have a clear sense of God’s voice articulating this dream, and be sure you have a church that is supportive and responsive. This kind of work is entirely too difficult to do alone.

The other thing I would say is that it takes time. The past 14 years, for example, have certainly been direct preparation for what God’s doing in and through my life. So things might not happen as quickly as you want them too. That said, if you stick with it, at some point in the journey things will pick up pace. For me 13 of the 14

years went by slowly, and then, this past year has been a whirlwind!

Let me end by saying, “Enjoy each season because each is a part of God’s journey to which God has called you to participate.” So enjoy the privilege of being part of the journey, as God has called you to bear witness to the greatest story the world has ever heard.

If you would like to find out more about The Philadelphia Project, go to ThePhiladelphiaProject.com Raymond, his wife Michelle, and son Isaiah

Recommended Resource Common Prayer

by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan WilsonHartgrove and Enuma Okoro Reviewed by Amanda Kaminski “Some liturgical types smile when evangelicals discover the ‘miracle’ of liturgy,” write Wilson-Hartgrove, Claiborne, and Okoro in their new book, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals. Christ followers possess varying levels of familiarity with the liturgical life, and this book purposes to serve people from all walks of the faith— from high church to no church. Common Prayer offers a compilation of morning, midday, and evening liturgies for families, communities, coworkers, dorm mates, and individuals. The liturgies are designed to be prayed in community but allow those outside of physical communion to know that their prayers are part of a canticle of praise being offered to God from around the world.

This guidebook leads disciples into a rhythm of daily prayer situated within weekly cycles that make up the larger annual series of biblical seasons: from

Advent through Christmas, to Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost, and with “Ordinary Time” in between.

Intentional prayer, responsive reading, Scripture meditation, and song are the “heartbeat for the global church,” and the authors invite us to recenter the Christian life around God’s story, over and against schedules and lives dictated by pop culture, busyness, or even national calendars.

Participating in these timeless petitions, songs, and observances, the church finds herself swept up in the dance of God’s history and involved in God’s ongoing work.

Liturgy interrupts our life and focuses us by reshaping “our perceptions and lives with new rhythms, new holy days, a whole new story.” These disciplined gatherings and exercises join us together with the saints, the persecuted church, and the global body.

The authors frame the liturgies with beautiful art, functional tips, reflections,

and action ideas to stir the imaginations of participants and inspire faith in deed. Many of the morning prayers offer a glimpse of church history through quotes or vignettes.

Each month also proposes a list of further readings, inviting readers to dive deeper and discover practical applications. An additional section offers special prayers for events— such as planting or harvest, healing, commissioning or dedication of the home or workplace—where through intentional liturgical ritual believers can invoke divine blessing or express gratitude for and grow in awareness of God’s active presence in the world. Want even more? A comprehensive database is available at CommonPrayer.net.

From Australia to Brazil, from India to Sierra Leone, and in 37 US states so far, Christians have hosted about 150 gatherings of ordinary radicals to celebrate the launch of the book through candlelit services and multilingual worship, demonstrating the timely publication of this much-needed guide into “life with common prayer at its center.”

Amanda Kaminski earned her M.Div. from Palmer Seminary and her masters in international economic development from the Campolo College of Graduate Studies, both at Eastern University.

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prax·is [prak-sis] –noun; Action and reflection upon the world in order to transform it.

local church; for we believe that the local church is one of the greatest instruments God uses in proclaiming the Gospel to others and building up the community. Part of our plan is to point our neighbors back to God and to encourage them to get involved in the community of God called a local church. Additionally, TPP desired to partner with a local church that will follow through on discipling and training up new believers. We desired to form a partnership with a church that had leadership that was committed to making a difference. MAPC offered all of those things and more.

We continue to explore together how we can grow in our partnership together. As I mentioned earlier, we are excited for the new ways we may be able to engage with our neighbors.

Likewise we are also excited about other church partnerships that are on the horizon. As the ministry of TPP grows, we recognize God’s call for us to expand outreach to other neighborhoods in Philadelphia. As a result, we continue to look for additional opportunities to partner with churches that are in a similar place as

Word & Deed Network On the Move WDN is forging a partnership with an organization in the Philippines called LIGHT Ministries. Established in the aftermath of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption of 1991, this community development organization has striven “out of the ashes” to help communities rebuild primarily through the catalytic work of local churches. Below is a part of a report of a recent seminar that LIGHT hosted, the Institute for the Study of Asian Church and Culture (ISACC) conducted, and WDN funded for the benefit of the

pastors and other workers in Zambales province. The report is written by Pastor Ana Marie Osorio (translated by Al Tizon), who is currently coordinating efforts to improve LIGHT’s community outreach: We are full of thanksgiving, first of all to God for enabling us to provide an important seminar called, “Journey to Wellness,” which was for his tireless workers who were in need of great encouragement. We also thank ISACC for partnering with us and for WDN for providing the needed funding.

gained a new outlook on life and ministry.

Some admitted that they came to the seminar tired of carrying heavy burdens of ministry among the poor. Others said that the seminar gave them renewed confidence to stand up and make their voices heard.

The seminar inspired many and gave them new energy and new hope for the future.

Based on these things, I can say that the seminar as a whole was a great help to individuals as well as to churches. Thanks be to God and to the Body of Christ worldwide in partnership.

The seminar took place on March 4-5, 2011. Thirty-seven people from the San Antonio cooperative and many surrounding churches made up the participants.

Many of them were pastors. From the testimonies and evaluations, I can say that the seminar was a success as it encouraged many. Some said that they

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