In this week’s blog I reflect on the experience of helping lead the liturgy this Sunday at Oak Lawn UMC Dallas and the impact it had, as a person with a disability, to be leading from behind the communion table and within a fully ADA accessible chancel.
Read MoreIn this blog, I offer my brief thoughts on what living with the reality of Cerebral Palsy has been like throughout my life and the unexpected gift and grace it has been and continues to be in my life.
Read MoreIn this week’s blog, Matt talks about the importance of not only worshiping God, but enjoying that worship. The story of Dvid dancing when The Ark returns reminds us to enjoy ourselves and embrace our unique gifts while we worship.
Read MoreAs people of faith, we often spend a lot of time focusing on the birth of Jesus, the life and ministry of Jesus, and the events surrounding and including Jesus’ last week and death. I am completely aware of why this is and as a clergy person, I largely endorse this. However, we often forget that the Christ that we’re interacting with in the present is the post-resurrected Christ. How would it change our view of potential, and the impact we could have in the world, if we knew every morning that we had access to the power of a resurrected Jesus?
Read MoreIn this week’s blog I reflect on both, the situation with mask mandates in schools, and the burden felt by special needs families, as well as, the vaccine ordinances in major cities such as New York and San Francisco to talk about how, no matter your political opinion or persuasion, the burden of COVID is falling hardest on those with disabilities and community support is the only way we will see our way through.
Read More"Until recently, it was often hard to find representations of disability. It may surprise you to learn that the ancient Greeks had some disability representation in the form of the god Hephaestus. His story serves as an example of disabled people that still resonates today."
In this week’s blog, we explore the vivid and somewhat shocking injunction by Jesus in John 6:51-58, to “eat my flesh and drink my blood.” Why is Jesus speaking in such graphic terms and how is he talking to us today through this passage?
Read MoreThis week I discuss the resurgence of the pandemic due to the delta variant, and the complex reality that disability can be for one’s ability to protect one’s self and function in a pandemic. I call on those without disabilities or underlying conditions to wear masks and get vaccinated in order to protect themselves and the wider community.
Read MoreIn this weeks blog I take a moment of personal privilege to give thanks to God for 40 years of life and 13 years of marriage, as well as, looking ahead to whats next for myself and my ministry.
Read MoreIn this weeks blog I explore how the newest proposed voting law in Texas will disproportionately effect those with disability and mobility issues and dramatically effect there ability to participate in the democratic process.
Read MoreComing out of the 4th of July holiday, I reflect on America’s ability to change, evolve, and be better as the thing that keeps me in love with this country and it’s people.
Read MoreThis week on the podcast, Matt and Adam are joined by Joseph Shepard, a member of the Neighboring Movement's Board of Directors. Joseph is Director of Multicultural Engagement and Campus Life at Newman University and recently has begun a new journey as Director for Lead for America Kansas. He is a California native, moved to Kansas to attend Wichita State about 10 years ago, fell in love with our beautiful state and the City of Wichita and is here to share his experiences of how awesome it is to live here and do this work of neighboring!
"... being boots on the ground and having an opportunity to get your hands dirty and the challenges that our neighbors are facing and our communities are facing, and recognizing the power of community. I think so often we rely on different entities to come in and solve our problems and there's nothing wrong with that, these entities are resources, our government, our non-profit organizations, they're resources to help us solve those problems but there is power and understanding that we as individuals and neighbors have the power to change the trajectory of our own communities if we are just willing to get our hands dirty for ourselves."- Joseph Shepard
To learn more about Lead for America, go to www.lead4america.org.
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 discuss whether or not we actually function - as people of faith - as though God is a refuge, and how we are called to be a place of both safety and celebration for those around us.
Read MoreThis week on the podcast, Matt and Adam are joined by Megan Ginn whom they met virtually during a seminar that the Neighboring Movement was hosting for a global ABCD event. Megan has a gift for finding information and learning from everything she can find and then sharing what she has learned with the rest of us. This episode is a gold mine of sound bites and mic drops!
"Relationships rooted in mutuality... we both have something to learn from one another and there's strengths in that..." when discussing coming into ABCD.
"It's not our role to force people into our vision of flourishing, it's just partnering with them to create it..." when discussing finding joy in the work.
"...one of the necessary components to engaging in this work... shifting from that needs based to asset based approach, is you need to be able to lament really well because you're realizing that you can't control everything. Lament isn't very compatible with happiness but it is with joy."
And as is with all rabbit holes, there's more!
To find more about Megan Ginn's work, you can go to www.CommunityResourceNetwork.com or find CRN on Facebook and Instagram.
To find out more about the Neighboring Movement, find us at www.NeighboringMovement.org or Facebook and Twitter.
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
This week, Matt and Adam are joined by friends, Justin Hancock and Rebecca Mitts. We are doing something we haven't done in a while, a podcast episode swap! Justin and Rebecca are the hosts of a podcast called Palsys With Palsies where they share profound ideas about important topics in an approachable and accessible way. Today, they share with us Episode 11 of their podcast called, "The Gaze & the Dance".
"In this episode Justin talks about his experience with "the gaze," known in the disability community as being stared at by and interacting able bodied people who don't know how to inhabit the space with a person with a disability. He shares one the best experiences and some of his lousiest experiences with "the gaze." There is a social dance that happens whenever you meet someone different from yourself; so if you step on toes, don't keep stepping on their toes. Be curious, but not an a*****e."- summary from Palsys With Palsies podcast.
Find their other podcasts at:
Apple Podcasts: HERE
Google Podcasts: HERE
Simplecast: HERE
Listen to The Neighboring Next Door 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 First John Chapter 4:7-12, the author talks about Christ being the atoning sacrifice. In this weeks blog I reflect on a sermon my wife and I preached on Sunday. And I ask the question, What if the sacrifice wasn’t God sacrificing Christ to prove God’s love? But rather because Christ refused to compromise and instead chose to love without boundaries or limits.
Read MoreNeighboring Tip of the Week - Support a business in your neighborhood.
Hello friend! We hope this neighboring tip finds you well.
This week, we’re thinking about how part of neighboring is simply supporting the various assets throughout our neighborhoods. We know that a lot of businesses have experienced hardship in the midst of this pandemic, so this week, we encourage you to support one of your neighborhood businesses.
Before experimenting with this tip, we encourage you to think through four questions:…
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I recently spoke to a group of folks at Florence United Methodist Church about Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) and the significance of finding out what people love to do, what they are good at, and what they care about enough to take action. I asked everyone to share something they love to do and people quickly chimed in with wonderful things: baking, woodworking, off-roading, tree-planting…just to name a few. I could feel the energy in the room starting to rise, joy and abundance were increasing. It was a blast!
So here is my challenge to you, do 1 or more of the following:
Ask your neighbors what they love to do (really listen to their answers and ask follow-up questions). Celebrate the gifts your neighbors bring into the world.
Tell your neighbors the gifts you see in them that you are thankful for. Sometimes people don’t realize their gifts or they dismiss them as unimportant, but every gift matters!
Lead a group of people in the exercise I described above. Create a “gifts garden” with gifts listed. BONUS: look for ways to connect and share any gifts that are not being shared.
This week, Matt and Adam are joined by Kristopher Swanson for a new Neighboring Tip which is to strike up a conversation with your neighbor. For some people, this may be a very obvious tip. It is spring, people are out and about, it makes sense to strike up a conversation! For others that may think this is a harder tip to execute, be intentional about saying hello and being open to a conversation. If you can't remember your neighbors name, name the awkwardness and ask! And remember to write your neighbors name down for next time. Perhaps on a piece of paper OR a block map magnet that you can purchase at our store HERE.
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
Neighboring Tip of the Week - Take a walk in your neighborhood and collect trash.
Happy Sunday, folks!
This week’s neighboring tip classic comes to us from Neighboring Movement co-founder Matt Johnson, but he borrowed the tip from his mom, Glenna, so we give her the credit (for a great idea and for a clean neighborhood).
Glenna began taking walks around her neighborhood a few years ago, and upon doing this, she started to take bags with her in order to pick up trash….
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