Podcasts about lawndale community church

In this episode Sara Joy and Eric interview Jonathan Brooks of Chicago, currently co-pastor at Lawndale Community Church and the former pastor of Caanan Community Church in Englewood and author of Church Forsaken: Practicing Presence in Neglected Neighborhoods. Jonathan tells how his attempt to get out of Englewood by pursuing a career in architecture, led him right back to his old neighborhood where he had to learn to see it with different eyes. "Pastah J" shares about becoming a pastor in the neighborhood where he grew up and discovering that God was very much at work in this neighborhood of Chicago. Turns out that the narrative of Englewood involved much more than violence, drugs, and brokenness, and Jonathan found a lot of goodness and beauty throughout as he stuck around and got to know his neighbors. What makes Jonathan's story particularly interesting is how he learned to ‘see' his neighborhood while serving as a pastor at a local church. He learned that a local church could tip the scales towards the hopeful side of the narrative by engaging local residents and empowering them to make positive changes in the neighborhood. Jonathan's insights about completing the narrative are not only for churches in under-resourced neighborhoods, but are relevant for middle and even upper class neighborhoods as well, where the tendency is sometimes to hide the pain and suffering within the neighborhood behind a façade of wealth and privilege. In those neighborhoods, completing the narrative involves being more honest about the brokenness.Whether your neighborhood feels rich or poor, this episode can help you and your church practice God's faithful presence right where you live.  Access more Show Notes with pictures and resources related to this episode.More information about this podcast and helpful church and urbanism resources can be found on The Embedded Church website.Related ResourcesJonathan BrooksEnglewood RisingChristian Community Development AssociationChurch Forsaken: Practicing Presence in Neglected Neighborhoods by Jonathan BrooksMaking Neighborhoods Whole: A Handbook for Christian Community Development by Wayne Gordon and  John M. PerkinsThe New Parish: How Neighborhood Churches Are Transforming Mission, Discipleship and Community by Paul Sparks Tim Soerens, and Dwight J. FriesenEverywhere You Look: Discovering the Church Right Where You Are by Tim Soerens and Walter BrueggemannFind these Key Terms on The Embedded Church website:- Eyes on the Street- Food Desert- Gentrification- Parish- Placemaking- Social Determinants of Health- Third PlaceShow CreditsHosted and Produced by Eric O. Jacobsen and Sara Joy ProppeEdited by Adam Higgins | Odd Dad Out Voice ProductionsTheme Music by Jacob ShafferArtwork by Lance Kagey | Rotator Creative

Vance T. Henry works in the Mayor's office for the City of Chicago. Under former Mayor Richard M. Daley, he was appointed to be the Director of the City of Chicago’s CAPS Implementation Office. In that capacity, he coordinated the delivery of city services to alleviate conditions that foster crime, while supervising a staff of community organizers to mobilize city neighborhoods. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Henry served as Public Outreach Coordinator for the CAPS Implementation Office. He has acted as the 24th Ward Alderman Michael D. Chandler’s Chief of Staff. In addition, Mr. Henry has an extensive background in grassroots community organizing and has served as Assistant Pastor/Program Director for the Lawndale Community Church. He is also a former Executive Director of the Inter-Faith Organizing Project of Greater Chicago and serves on the Board of Directors for several community-based organizations. Born and raised on the West Side of Chicago, in the North Lawndale community, Mr. Henry is a product of the Chicago Public School system. He graduated from Wheaton College with a special dual degree in Philosophy and Sociology and has done graduate work at Garrett Theological Seminary at Northwestern University campus. He is an ordained Baptist minister who has been preaching since 1986. 

This week on Family Looking Up we are exploring the topic of fathering with Carey Casey, CEO of the National Center for Fathering (NCF).  Carey is the author of Championship Fathering: How to Win at Being a Dad and it’s sequel Championship Grandfathering: How to Build a Winning Legacy.  He was also general editor of the book 21-Day Dad’s Challenge: Three Weeks to a Better Relationship With Your Kids.  Since 2009, Carey has served on the White House Task Force on Fatherhood and Healthy Families.  Carey also served for five years as co-pastor of Lawndale Community Church, an inner-city church on Chicago’s west-side.  At Lawndale, Carey helped empower the community with health care, housing, education and economic growth. Carey has also served as a lecturer at the World Congress on Sports, the college football Senior Bowl, the National Association of Basketball Coaches Convention, at the Final Four, and the Super Bowl.  Carey and his wife Melanie live in Chicago Illinois. They are the parents of four children and have nine grandchildren.

Wayne L. Gordon reflects with Dr. Labberton on his life as a pastor and founding president of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA). He traces the history of the organization and his long-lasting friendship with John Perkins, and he suggests steps for cultivating “a faith that leads into engagement” and a congregation that weaves into the lives of its local community. Hear a variety of voices from Fuller Seminary on the topic of “The City” here: http://fullerstudio.fuller.edu/voices-on-the-city/ Affectionately called “Coach” by those who know him, Wayne L. Gordon is the founding pastor of the Lawndale Community Church in Chicago and the president emeritus of CCDA, a network of individuals and ministries nationwide who engage in Christian community development efforts. Through conferences, speaking engagements, pastoring, and teaching, Coach has worked for decades to help Christians integrate evangelical faith with social justice. Read more about politics, justice, and the church in this reflection: https://fullerstudio.fuller.edu/politics-church-world/ “Conversing” is a podcast series produced by FULLER studio in which Dr. Labberton interviews leaders on the intersection of theology and culture. Mark Labberton has served as Fuller Seminary’s fifth president since 2013. His experience includes 30 years of pastoral ministry, 16 of those as senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, California. For more reflections from Dr. Labberton visit https://fullerstudio.fuller.edu/contributor/mark-labberton/. For more resources for a deeply formed spiritual life, visit FULLER studio at Fuller.edu/Studio.

We were so excited to have our dear friend and brother Pastor Phil Jackson, Associate Pastor of Lawndale Community Church and Pastor of The House Covenant Church in Lawndale. The vision of "The House" is to be an aggressive, Christ-centered, urban, youth-driven, culturally-relevant, biblically accurate, community-empowering, family-friendly hip-hop ministry that will cultivate and empower youth living on the Westside of Chicago with a sustainable faith. The mission is to present the gospel of Christ in a real, practical, wholistic and relational way in order to transform the lives of youth living in today's hip-hop culture.

Cliff Nellis’ call to work with youth and young adults involved in the criminal justice system occurred in 2002 when he pedaled his bicycle from Denver, CO, to San Diego, CA, to Miami, FL, with a bible. Cliff had just finished his federal clerkship in Denver after graduating from The University of Chicago Law School. On that bike trip, Cliff would read the bible daily. He soon became a follower of Jesus and sensed a call to youth ministry when he happened across a guard shack in front of a boys’ correctional facility outside Springer, NM. After striking up a conversation with the guard, Cliff was alarmed by the number of times the guard told him the kids in the facility had no hope. The guard said the kids who came in at thirteen years old, returned at fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, and went on to spend the rest of their lives in adult prison. The conversation haunted Cliff. As he pedaled on to San Diego and Miami, Cliff began to pray for youth in juvenile correctional facilities and asked God to give him a vision for serving them. When Cliff returned to Illinois, he enrolled at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (“Trinity”) and received a Master of Divinity. It was at Trinity that Cliff met the wonderful people at Lawndale Community Church, as well as at the Christian Community Development Association. Through these relationships, Cliff was given a broader vision for what ministry to court-involved youth could look like. In 2009, Cliff put his degrees from The University of Chicago Law School and Trinity to use when he helped found the Lawndale Christian Legal Center, with the mission of providing integrated legal and social services to court-involved youth. Today, Cliff lives in Lawndale with his wife Venessa and their two children.

Rev. Dr. Wayne L. Gordon is the founding Pastor of Lawndale Community Church & Chairman/President of the Christian Community Development Association (C.C.D.A) Wayne Gordon is a graduate of Wheaton College and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. He received his Doctor of Ministry degree from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 1975 Wayne moved to North Lawndale located on Chicago's Westside. At that time, North Lawndale was the 15th poorest neighborhood in the U.S. He was a teacher and coach at Farragut High School, also located in North Lawndale. Wayne and his wife Anne have raised their three adult children: Angela, a graduate of Taylor University who lives in Chicago and is a Chicago Public Schools teacher; Andrew a graduate of Baylor University and a trader with the Chicago Board of Trade, married to Stacy, and Austin graduate of Azusa pacific University, living in Chicago, in the Lawndale community. Wayne and Anne, along with some local high school students, founded the Lawndale Community Church. Today, LCC has over 1000 worshipping families and Wayne continues as pastor.

Special Guest Pastor, Mentor, Friend and Dear Brother "Coach Wayne Gordon of Lawndale Community Church.

Phil Jackson is Associate Pastor of Lawndale Community Church. Pastor of The House Covenant Church Founder / Organizational President of The Firehouse Community Arts Center. Reaching youth to present the gospel of Christ in a real, practical, wholistic and relational way in order to transform the lives of youth living in today's hip-hop culture.

Dr. Wayne Gordon, Lawndale Community Church

Coach Wayne Gordon from the Lawndale Community Church