Community Committee and Community Groups

I enjoy being a pastor who lives in the community he is planting in.  Living here gives me the opportunity to get plugged into various community events, including the MacGrove Community Outreach Committee.  This committee is doing a lot of good work for the city of Saint Paul.  I met a woman who has raised close to 400,000 pounds of food for the community, and another lady who directs a youth mentoring program for the Twin Cities.  In addition, this committee organizes the Battle of the Bands for Grand Old Day.  It will be a priveldge to help out with these events. 

Picture from media.decider.com

Throughout the summer, I am also facilitating two community groups that meet in order to talk about worldviews.  In this group we talk about some of life’s most fundalmental questions, such as: What is reality?  Where is history going?  What is evil?  Each person brings a different perspective to the table, and I get to talk about Jesus.  So everyone in the group gets to articulate their thoughts and challenge one another.  Also, you can’t beat meeting at places like Coffee News Cafe on Grand.

The Lord continues to bless this new church richly, and I am excited to see how the Spirit leads throughout the summer!

- Pastor Bryan

A Community Class: Theology and Social Change

 

Pastor Bryan is teaching a class through a Twin Cities Experiential College (exco for short).  Exco is an organization that was started in 2006 by Macalester students as a way to offer “free and open classes and is building a community around education for social change.”  Although Exco is not affiliated with this new church in any way, we do see this Exco class as a way for us to get to know and serve this community of Saint Paul better, and also so that others may know more about this church.  Here is all you need to know about the class:

What: the class is called “Theology and Social Change: how a theistic worldview empowers social justice.”

When:  Saturday, February 7th to Saturday, March 7th.  The class starts at 10:00am and ends at 11:30am (except Saturday, February 21st when the class is 9am to 10:30am).

Where: 1404 Concordia Avenue Saint Paul, MN [View Larger Map] – above the Snelling Company on the second floor, which is called The Space.

How to Sign Up: Either contact Pastor Bryan at bryan.lair@efca.org or 651-675-8484, or sign up at the Exco website.

Course Description: The need for social justice both in the Twin Cities and around the world can be overwhelming. There are various worldviews that have presented applications in dealing with the injustices in our day. This particular course will investigate how a theistic worldview, particularly from a Christian perspective, can empower individuals and communities to face the complex challenges of injustices in our present day. We will use various avenues for communicating this content, from lectures to discussions to media. We will also provide practical ways to apply this class within the city of Saint Paul.