Welcome Maddie Johnson
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We are excited to announce Rev. Maddie Johnson as the next Good Neighbor Experiment Coordinator.
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Have your way oh Lord. reflections on Jesus washing of the disciples feet
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Often times we think of transformation from Jesus as an act that completely overwhelms the person we once were. This week I use the foot washing story to allow us to reflect on the fact that God gave us our identity and transformation through Christ is frequently about allowing God to clarify and shape who we are rather than having our identity completely overwhelmed.
Read More52 Weeks of Neighboring - Week 6
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Neighboring Tip of the Week - Check in again with your neighbors.
Happy Sunday, friends!
As you probably have noticed, we are in the routine of releasing this particular neighboring tip every seven or eight weeks. Why? Because we think checking in with our neighbors regularly is one of the best ways we can neighbor in the midst of this pandemic. Every seven weeks, we want to give you the opportunity to ask yourself, “Have I checked in with my neighbors recently?”. This week, if your answer is “no”, that’s okay, and now is your opportunity to do so! If your answer is “yes”, that’s awesome, but because so much has changed, and continues to change rapidly, in the midst of this pandemic, we now encourage you to check in with them again!…
Read MoreI took the 8 Front Doors Challenge!
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Hello friends!
kristopher here, and I hope this blog finds you well. Last week was a sunny and warm week here in Wichita, and I hadn’t yet done so, so I took the 8 Front Doors Challenge! The 8 Front Doors Challenge is, in simple terms, getting to know the neighbors behind the 8 front doors closest to your own. I recently moved and had not yet met even my closest neighbors, so I figured this was it. This was the time. I took the challenge.
And…it was fantastic! So so so good! And so so simple. I baked some brownies with a brownie recipe I like….
Read MoreAmy Notbohm: Gifts Economy
/This week Adam and Matt are joined by Amy Notbohm from Arizona. Amy found the Neighboring Movement through some mutual friends and started listening to the podcast, then jumped onto a Community Call and we immediately fell in love with her energy and started including her in all the things so that she could begin sharing her knowledge with us!
In this episode, Amy references two books:
"Doughnut Economics" by Kate Raworth. You can find out more information about that book and "the doughnut" at https://www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/.
"Women in the Gift Economy" by Genevieve Vaughan. You can find more information about this book at http://www.gift-economy.com/womenand.html
Listen on any podcast platform! Here are links to the most popular ones…
iTunes: https://apple.co/2Tba3H1
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2VBrUDT
Stitcher: https://bit.ly/2NC744g
Google Play: https://bit.ly/2EoHTOE
Fragile hosanna from waving branches to Clenched fist
/This week on our journey through Lent, we jump ahead to the events of Palm Sunday to reflect on how it might be possible to encounter Jesus with no expectations for what that encounter might produce within us. Perhaps if the people on that road had let go of their own expectations of Jesus, the end of the week might have gone very differently.
52 Weeks of Neighboring - Week 5
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Neighboring Tip of the Week - Offer to help a neighbor with a spring project.
Hello friends!
The Spring Equinox approaches, and with it, spring projects! Now that the temperatures are warming, neighbors are generally starting to come outside, and hang around outside, so much more. With this outdoor activity comes outdoor projects, and that’s what this neighboring tip is all about!
So, this week, our tip is pretty simple:…
Read MoreThe Funston Neighborhood Garden Continues to "Grow" ;-)
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A few weeks ago, there was a small gathering at the neighborhood garden at Funston & Broadway. This is a garden that is truly a result of many individuals and groups sharing their gifts. You can read the wonderful…
Read MoreWe are hiring!
/We are hiring a coordinator for the Good Neighbor Experiment.
Read MoreCormac Russell: Part 5
/Welcome to the 5th and final part of our Cormac Russell interview! For the past 4 weeks, hosts Matt and Adam have broken down an hour long conversation they had with Cormac Russell, the author of "Rekindling Democracy," a much sought-after international keynote speaker and Managing Director of Nurture Development, the leading Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) organization in Europe. Listen in for the conclusion of this inspiring conversation.
I really want to just have basically a transcript of everything Cormac says in this episode; there are so many profound, make you think, things packed into this short episode. But instead I will lead with this one quote and you will have to listen for the rest. "So if you want to breathe free, the starting point is to remember that the people who are most likely to enable that to happen, are you and your neighbors."- Cormac Russell
To learn more about Cormac Russell, visit https://www.nurturedevelopment.org/who-we-are/cormac-russell/
Listen on any podcast platform! Here are links to the most popular ones…
iTunes: https://apple.co/2Tba3H1
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2VBrUDT
Stitcher: https://bit.ly/2NC744g
Google Play: https://bit.ly/2EoHTOE
Reflections on the fig tree
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This week in returning to our Lenten theme I examine the sometimes challenging, often frustrating, but always evocative story of Jesus’ encounter with a fig tree to ultimately show how sometimes we have to let even good things die to experience true fruit from God.
Read More52 Weeks of Neighboring - Week 4
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Neighboring Tip of the Week - Continue to research and remain informed about coronavirus.
Happy Sunday to you! We hope this email finds you healthy and well.
This week, we are again repeating a neighboring tip that we have been presenting every few months. As coronavirus cases remain so high around the world, this tip continues to feel incredibly important. This week, we encourage you to continue to research and remain informed about coronavirus. “How is this a neighboring tip?”, you may ask. This is a neighboring tip because what we know about coronavirus will help shape our conversations and interactions with neighbors.
As you are probably well aware,…
Read More"Won't You Be My Neighbor?"
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Hi friends!
This week you get a bonus blog, as I respond to the news that Texas will lift its mask mandate at the beginning of next week along with its other COVID restrictions. I try to encourage folks around the state to be good neighbors and help keep others safe.
Read MoreBeautiful Encounters
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As Catherine mentioned in the last blog post, we recently held our quarterly Community Call. It helped me to remember the important value that we at The Neighboring Movement place on relationships. I think we all are now grasping the importance of connection after being thrown into the middle of a global pandemic, but, this recent call allowed me to reflect on those important relationships in my own life.
There are obvious relationships in our lives like the one with our spouse, family, and closest friends, but there are also those that we often forget about. These can be the seemingly insignificant relationship with that girl that you frequently see at the gym or the grocery store clerk you always run into when you don’t look your best….
Read MoreCormac Russell: Part 4
/Welcome to Part 4 of 5 of our Cormac Russell interview! For the past 3 weeks, hosts Matt and Adam have broken down an hour long conversation they had with Cormac Russell, the author of "Rekindling Democracy," a much sought-after international keynote speaker and Managing Director of Nurture Development, the leading Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) organization in Europe. We are down to our last 2 parts of the conversation and oh friends, we are still very much in the depths of this rich, chocolate peanut butter pie!
This week, Cormac starts out by talking a little about economics of institutions and the neighborhood economy.
"Lots of liberals would say, "well thank goodness we've got the public sector and we've got charities because they don't operate that way..." Well actually, they do. So the structure of the institution is essentially I'm going to take your need in whatever form it comes and I'm going to structure it in such a way that it can be commodified... Two thirds of all the monies that are intended to go to the people living in poverty, to put an end to poverty, don't go to people living in poverty in the US. They go to people who are servicing people who live in poverty who are not poor."
"Many of the big churches are exactly the same, where they're harvesting people's misery and turning it into money."
Insert head explosion emoji here! Listen in to hear what Matt and Adam talk about in response to that band-aide rip!
To learn more about Cormac Russell, visit https://www.nurturedevelopment.org/who-we-are/cormac-russell/
Listen on any podcast platform! Here are links to the most popular ones…
iTunes: https://apple.co/2Tba3H1
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2VBrUDT
Stitcher: https://bit.ly/2NC744g
Google Play: https://bit.ly/2EoHTOE
Disability civil rights crisis in Canada! We must bear witness!
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In this blog I discuss the purposed law in Canada that would make it easier for persons with disabilities to utilize medically assisted death. I talk about quality of life being something divorced from societal expectations.
Read More52 Weeks of Neighboring - Week 3
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Neighboring Tip of the Week - Double your favorite recipe and share extra with a neighbor.
This feels like one of the most classic neighboring tips, and for good reason; sharing food is a fantastic way to introduce yourself to a neighbor! We have a theory that 93% of all people are powerless against food. Seriously, there's something really magical about sharing out of our own abundance!
The simple act of sharing food touches upon a few key neighboring elements. First,…
Read MoreReflecting on the Community Call
/Last week I participated in The Neighboring Movement’s second ever quarterly community call. It was inspiring! I found it energizing to visit (on zoom) with people from other parts of Kansas, other states, and Canada! Neighboring really is a movement, bubbling up simultaneously in many places. In each of the four breakout sessions, I heard stories from folks practicing neighboring in their own location. People were honest about the struggles of neighboring as an introvert, or the awkwardness of not knowing exactly how to start a conversation. There were resources shared – books about neighboring, podcasts, organizations, courses, initiatives, and websites. Talk about assets!
I facilitated a breakout session entitled: Leaning into the Awkward, Neighboring as an Introvert. To my surprise it turned out to be a popular session…
Read MoreCormac Russell: Part 3
/Welcome to Part 3 of 5 of our Cormac Russell interview. Hosts Matt and Adam are joined by none other than Cormac Russell, the author of "Rekindling Democracy," a much sought-after international keynote speaker and Managing Director of Nurture Development, the leading Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) organization in Europe.
To recap a bit, Cormac has been telling us about the 3 Lanes. The first lane is what communities can do for each other. The second lane is what citizen's can do WITH institutions, key word is "with." And the third lane is what institutions alone can do. And where we are now is we always tend to start in lane 3, without asking questions of lane 1 first.
This week, Cormac gives a couple of recent examples of lane one and how Covid has actually moved us back into lane one a bit.
To learn more about Cormac Russell, visit https://www.nurturedevelopment.org/who-we-are/cormac-russell/
Listen on any podcast platform! Here are links to the most popular ones…
iTunes: https://apple.co/2Tba3H1
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2VBrUDT
Stitcher: https://bit.ly/2NC744g
Google Play: https://bit.ly/2EoHTOE
In this weeks’s blog I use the story of the woman who anointed Jesus with perfume to talk about how persons with diverse embodiments can use the season of lint to reflect on their own expectations for themselves rather than to always respond to the expectations of the larger world.
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