Stephanie Acker, of Vineyard Boston shares about the vision gathering of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) on February 16. CCDA is a national network of Christians who are committed to seeing urban neighborhoods thrive. CCDA traces it’s roots to a man named John Perkins. If you don’t know who he is, you should. You can read about him here. In sum, he has been instrumental in calling the church to take an active role in addressing society’s deepest hurts. From his leadership, he has created a movement of individuals who have devoted their lives to addressing urban decay, youth violence, homelessness, racial injustice and a whole slew of other things.
I had the absolute privilege of being on the team to plan and host the event. Our hope was to create a space where followers of Jesus in some way, shape or form interested in areas of social justice could connect with one another. We decided we would be happy if 20 people came. You can imagine our delight when 7x more people showed up.
The night was a mix of table discussion and upfront sharing, including guest speaker Noel Castellanos, the CEO of CCDA, who shared about the precedent for Jesus-followers engaging holistically in their neighborhoods. Paul Malkemes, Executive Director of the Boston Project, blew everyone away with his vision of God calling Christians in Boston to really love our neighborhoods.
In case you still think how you spent your Thursday evening was better, let me give you a run-down on other stellar aspects of the evening:
- Many people and local Christian organizations collaborated on the event (Boston Faith & Justice Network, Emmanuel Gospel Center, TechMission, Gordon College, Eastern Nazarene College—Center for Responsibility & Justice, The Boston Project and Vineyard Community Offerings at the Greater Boston Vineyard);
- There were pastors, students, youth workers, community organizers, lay people, teachers, businessmen, and non-profit workers from all ages and ethnic backgrounds;
- Attendees represented 50 churches and came from over 50 cities throughout New England–and even a group of Latino pastors who drove up from NYC that very day and drove back once it was over. No excuses for any of you who couldn’t make the trek up the Red Line.
It was beautiful.
A room filled with followers of Jesus who are just trying to show up in their neighborhoods and be good neighborhoods.
The biggest sign of success: When the event ended, everyone stayed. And kept talking.
That Thursday night was such a reminder to me of just how good it is to get together.
If you’re now fully convinced that this night was the best thing ever and bummed you missed out, don’t dismay. Here are my tips for you:
- Get connected with us! | More than half of the attendees said they wanted to keep getting together. We’re currently planning a summer gathering. For information, email Stephanie.
- Find other people and get together. Not to save the world or accomplish anything but just to share. I recommend sharing food and honest stories about what is going on in your life.
- Attend the CCDA conference in Minneapolois on Sept 26-30. If you want to be blown away by speakers or inspired by how God is working in neighborhoods throughout our nation, you should go.
See more pictures here.
Stephanie is an Assistant Pastor at the Greater Boston Vineyard church where she helps her church try to be a good neighbor through their Vineyard Community Offeings initiative. She runs a program called Soccer Nights and thinks you should participate in that. In her spare time Stephanie likes throwing dinner parties, listening to top 40 tunes and blogging (follow her blog here).
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