Thursday, September 17, 2009

Faith@School

The Faith@School ministry is very slowly taking on a shape of its own.

It was originally conceived as a way for Faith to reach out into the community and build strong ties of partnership with a single school. There was an effort to build on a successful reading buddy ministry at West Huntsville elementary school (WHES). The faintest inkling of partnership was budding when it was announced WHES would be merging with Morris elementary school. I say, faintest inkling, because establishing that partnership is a two-way street of trust and commitment, and that takes time to develop.

At the beginning of this school year Faith is trying to reform and restructure this ministry. In order to do that, a partnership of trust must be formed not only with the community but also within Faith Church itself. A luncheon meeting at Faith was held back in August with several school representatives, Second Mile Development, Youth Development Association and about a dozen or so Faith members. This was a very informative meeting highlighting the strong needs of the entire school system for community involvement. Particularly in these times of decreasing budgets, school restructuring, changing demographics, and anticipated rapid growth.

At a following Outreach Committee meeting the question of whether to focus on one school or several was discussed. Several individuals have been making inroads into relationships with several schools. Libba Nicholson is working with Morris Elementary, George Newell is working with Farley Elementary through a group from Redstone Village (not confirmed), and Sara Curtis is working with Whitesburg Elementary. While no formal decisions are being made, it appears this ministry effort is taking the form of multiple paths into involvement with Huntsville City Schools.

Given this direction that the Holy Spirit seems to be leading these folks and schools, the question that remains is what form of leadership and nurture does Faith Church pursue? The efforts of three individuals who happen to be Faith members does not make a Faith ministry and is likely not sustainable in the long run. However, their faithfulness offers Faith the opportunity to provide ministry to our community by ministering to these servants. How can Faith support them? How can Faith nurture more Faith members to engage in this multi-faceted school ministry to provide resources and more importantly a growing and sustainable source of ministry leaders to share the burdens and carry on the work in the long term? How can Faith bring these efforts together as a team rooted in God’s Word and Jesus’ example of servanthood? How can Faith bring them together to share successes and failures and strengthen one another? How does Faith strengthen these servants, and more, to spread out into the community?

Where will the Holy Spirit guide Faith Church in this ministry? What is the Spirit revealing to you? Share you thoughts, ideas, and prayers by commenting below.

Agape!

Lions & Pandas & Falcons, Oh My!

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Whitesburg LionMorris PandaFarley Falcon

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