Stories from Bonhoeffer House
by Ryan Klinck, Bonhoeffer House Steward
When I first met Mike, he was a fellow from our group of homeless friends who frequented the Bonhoeffer House, that kept mostly to himself. He did not engage conversation much, came for the food, and was fine sitting quietly in the corner, doing his own thing.
Read MoreBees & Honey
by Kate Rudd
We added an exciting feature to Haw Creek Commons recently - bee hives! We started with four hives: two Langstroth hives whose focus is honey production, and two top bar hives whose focus is beeswax production. The bee yard is complete with bear fencing (aka electrical fencing) as well as a privacy fence to deter hive theft (apparently a big deal in North Carolina).
Read MoreAhadi's Christmas Stars
by Ronda VanDyk
During the first part of December, White Rock UMC hosted a holiday luncheon in The Mix Coworking & Creative Space. The Ahadi Collective received the honor of being commissioned to make a small gift for each of the attendees.
Read MoreSquare Soul
Manager, minister at CitySquare has a new mission
Byron's Lens: "Street Jesus" Finds Grace Under Pressure
By Byron Harris, as printed on WFAA.com
*Jonathan Grace resided in the Bonhoeffer House, a part of Missional Wisdom Foundations' Epworth Project, for three years.
Jonathan Grace stands out in a crowd. He’s an imposing presence, tall enough that when he walks into a room you notice him. He’s also got shoulder-length hair and a beard, that’s the other reason he catches your eye. He’s usually wearing jeans, a open-necked shirt and work boots and bears a strong resemblance to Leonardo Da Vinci’s depiction of Jesus in The Last Supper. Your first reaction is: what’s up with this guy?
Read MoreHaw Creek Proposal
A few weeks ago, my children, Laine (8), Annabel (6), and Oliver (5), had the opportunity to present a project they have been working on for several months to a granting agency in the Asheville area. Here are their ideas in their own words. Oliver’s was aesthetic…he was not going to be left out!
They will begin working on implementing their projects at Haw Creek Commons in the coming year.
Enjoy.
-Andrea Lingle
Reclaiming Wonder
by Rachel Wells
Though I was raised in a devout Christian home, our faith tradition did not really practice or observe Advent. Which is why, as a child - and even into adulthood - I did not understand much about this season of anticipation. My exposure was pretty much limited to the calendar that hung in our living room, with a cookie for each of us kids nestled in the numbered pocket for each day of December.
Read MoreAdvent
by Bret Wells
Our study of Shawn Small's The Via Advent is officially underway! Below is an excerpt from our online community discussion. It is not too late to join us - everyone is invited! See below for details on how to join the study.
Read MoreHarvest Time
by Maria Bergh, former resident of the Epworth project
As fall finally settles in and the harvest slows, I find myself grateful. My summer months were spent on Mustard Seed Community Farm, a part of the Catholic Worker Movement. This began during the Great Depression when a journalist named Dorothy Day met a teacher named Peter Maurin and they started talking and publishing their vision.
Read MoreThe Paloma House, a part of the Epworth Project
By House Steward and Resident, Lauren Roepken
At The Paloma house in Arlington, TX we outreach directly to the women at The Wesley at The University of Texas at Arlington. Every Monday evening we have a group of about 20 women (yes you read that right - 20 college women in one house) over for dinner, dessert, games, and a beautiful time of fellowship.
Read MoreU9TED
by Lindsay Simmons, owner of Clear Media Design
[We have] a choice to make. I’m not talking about [yesterday,] election day, I’m talking about [today], the day after, November 9th.
We will have to choose how we react and move forward. No matter the outcome, our nation will be divided. Some will be bitter and negative, some will be arrogant and condescending, and some will be disgusted with the whole thing.
Read MoreNew MWF Leader, Heidi Miller
I remember helping my mother bake thumb-print cookies at our kitchen table when I was four years old. We would form a ball of dough, place it on the baking sheet and press our thumb into the center. It required lots of practice to my untrained hands as my little thumb would press a hole in the dough just far enough to form a small round bowl so that a bit of strawberry jam could be spooned in. Eagerly, I awaited the warm cookies to emerge from the oven so that I could share them. We made a lot of thumb-print cookies when I was little. Lots. You see, those were the cookies through which I could enter into the baking process at four years old, being a part of a community of baking and cooking in our family and extending that to others.
Read MoreNew MWF Leader, Denise Crane
I am Denise Crane, one of the new leaders of the Missional Wisdom Foundation. I should probably start by explaining that I hate being in the spotlight. It’s just not my cup of tea. That said, after I got over the knot in my stomach at being asked to write about myself for this week’s spotlight, I realized that it gives me an amazing opportunity to talk about how wonderful it is to get to walk with these people who make up the Missional Wisdom Foundation and all the other people who journey alongside us. That is worth talking about!
Read MoreAs we prepare to begin a new series of devotional thoughts in a couple of weeks, we are going to do sometime a little different. For the next two issues we will be telling you about some books by our Missional Wisdom leaders that will be published soon.
Together: Community as a Means of Grace
by Larry Duggins
Over the past several months, I have had the opportunity to travel to a number of cities to meet with people who are interested in repurposing a church building to be used to connect with the neighborhood in new ways.
Bonhoeffer House
by Ryan Klinck
Bonhoeffer House, an Epworth House in East Dallas, has been going through a transformation this past summer. One of the original members and the house steward of the house, Adam White, transitioned out of the house to be married (hooray!) at the beginning of the summer. The remaining members began to pay attention and pray together about this new season the house found itself in.
Read MoreThe Epworth Project
by Ryan Klinck
The past few months for the Epworth Project have been a full experience. Back in May, the spiritual formation team who oversees Epworth sat down and revamped the application process for bringing people into the houses. This process included bringing new aspects of discernment into the interviewing process and once the new residents were welcomed into the home. During the summer, the staff had the pleasure of interviewing and accepting ten new residents into our houses!
Read MoreLaunch & Lead Alum, Hannah Terry
Meet the minister building bridges between refugee communities in Houston, TX: Hannah Terry, an alum of Launch & Lead (then The Academy for Missional Wisdom). Hannah's work with FAM was recently featured in Houstonia online magazine.
"It was while she was attending Duke Divinity School in North Carolina that Terry was recruited to Westbury UMC, thanks to her fierce curiosity and her intense desire to build bridges—qualities church leaders saw as crucial in continuing their outreach mission to address what they call “the disparities next door.”
Read MoreCochran House
In the midst of all the negative news floating around recently, it's great to see this article featuring Cochran House, Epworth Project, and Missional Wisdom Foundation on DallasNews.com!
Read MoreEvery Day is a Pilgrimage
by Maria Bergh, former resident of the Epworth Project
Every day the sun makes a pilgrimage across the sky and, cognizant or not, we follow. Preoccupied by daily tasks, it is hard to sense the direction and speed we are traveling. But with a little grace and intentionality we can draw out the patterns and rhythms and see our lives as a pilgrimage homeward to God.
Read MoreThe Gathering: Burleson
by Rachel Wells
We had tears on the way to school this morning. Normally that is not a good thing. But this case was a little different - it was my eight-year-old, confessing that he was very nervous about the teacher rearranging the seating assignments today.
Read MoreWhat Do You Love About This Place?
by Bret Wells
The WNC3 cohort of Launch & Lead met at Haw Creek Commons this weekend for their 3rd training retreat (which means they’ve now completed about 75% of the 2-year program). This event, which focuses on principles and skills related to community development, also functions as a springboard into the practicum phase of Launch & Lead.
So much of what we do in Launch & Lead is designed to help our participants to develop a posture of curiosity, discovery, and expectation as we encounter the world around us. That isn’t to say that we turn a blind eye to, or adopt a naïve dismissal of pain, dysfunction, injustice. On the other hand, we also realize that constantly seeking out and highlighting everything that is wrong is not any more effective or beneficial.
