: my friend coop : on homelessness :

... we had a good day at Saanichton Bible Fellowship yesterday, as what I dubbed Mustard Seed Sunday @ the SBF went off really well. Chris Pollock, the seed's youth pastor, spoke in the morning, with a few comments about the tragedy on Victoria's streets this last week. More on that in the next post. We followed up with a Mustard Seed Street Church benefit concert, with the Seed's Praise Band kicking things off, and a variety of Seed artists, poets, musicians contributing. Amazing the tentacles of ministry an intentional street church must develop ... food bank, Hope Healing Farm, youth outreach, back-to-school supplies, counseling, advocacy, social assistance navigation, you name it.

This is may favourite picture of my buddy Jordon Cooper, taken by his almost 9 year old son Mark. One of the smartest people I know, and that's saying something, Jordon is a voracious reader. And a sage football fan, as both of us are Denver Broncos and Notre Dame Fighting Irish fans. Anyhow Coop works these days in a leadership capacity in a Salvation Army shelter in Saskatoon, SK. He just had an article published in NextWave magazine on the complexities of homelessness, and a way faith communities could be part of the solution. Between his intellect, his reading, and his blogging, he's honed quite an articulate voice on things.

Maybe you will find this helpful as you process your locale's homelessness challenge?

dlc

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ps. Ron Cole has weighed in on this as well, spurred on by the Coop's article. Well, maybe catalyzed by it? Ron is always thinking about this stuff, but he wrote some of it down here after reading Jordon's article. And then Randy commented on it, and Ron replied ...

: in the city : mustard seed sunday @ sbf :

... driving up to the SBF this morning I heard the Eagles' version Joe Walsh's 1979 song In the City on 100.3 the Q. Guess I was thinking about urban ministry as this Sunday morning Chris Pollock, youth pastor @ the Mustard Seed Street Church is speaking, and later on Sunday evening various bands, artists, poets and staff from the Seed and Hope Farm will be sharing at a benefit concert. I also just finished reading Gary Haugen's book Just Courage. He is the founder of International Justice Mission. So maybe, just maybe these guys are getting through ... to me?

... a couple of years ago, as I was trying to think through what Lambrick Park Church's role, as a suburban church, might be in our city, I had a similar experience while driving. Michael McDonald's Taking it to the Streets song on the Doobie Bros album titled Taking it to the Streets ... hit me differently, as more than just background lyrics. I eventually wrote to Michael ( I can call him Michael, right? ) and got some background to why he wrote the song, as he did, when he did. I also invited Tom Oshiro, Executive Director of Mustard Seed Ministries to speak @ Lambrick in July 2006, and he was graciously blunt about what the Lambrick's of Victoria could do as partners-in-ministry with the Seed. If you hit that link you can find your way around to Tom's challenge to LPC.

But I digress ...

... it has been a tough week in the city of Victoria. For people on the streets of this beautiful city. For people who work with, serve and love these folks. Maybe the reminder from Joe Walsh is a bit of what we need ...



Somewhere out there on that horizon
Out beyond the neon lights
I know there must be somethin' better
But there's nowhere else in sight
It's survival in the city
When you live from day to day
City streets don't have much pity
When you're down, that's where you'll stay
In the city, oh, oh.
In the city

I was born here in the city
With my back against the wall
Nothing grows, and life ain't very pretty
No one's there to catch you when you fall
Somewhere out on that horizon
Faraway from the neon sky
I know there must be somethin' better
And I can't stay another night
In the city, oh, oh.
In the city

: thoughtful commentary on controversial shack :

... over the last few months I've heard all kinds of comments, ideas, questions, endorsements and slams regarding the Shack, which apparently just reached the milestone ( of sorts, I guess? ) of #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List for the 36th straight week. Seems there are 3 categories of response: love it, hate it, undecided.

It actually took me two, maybe three tries to get into it, and then to finish it. Not sure why. But I did manage to read it all. Mind you, I think I was sitting at the end of the dock on Shawnigan Lake with a pitcher of lemonaid beside me, and the waverunners zipping across the narrows 150 m out.

Stephen Shields is a 'blogger I respect, who has done a lot of things in ministry and career, and he has posted this review . Might be one of the saner of the handful I've read. Maybe this will help you help one of the many people reading, and asking, about it?

dlc