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The
New Conspirators Conference
Feb 28 - March 1, 2008
Seattle, WA About The Conference:
The New Conspirators: What in the World is God Doing?
God is conspiring through a new generation to re-imagine
and create new expressions of discipleship, community, church
and mission and to make a difference in our rapidly changing
world. At this festival of imagination, we will bring together
leaders from the emerging, missional, mosaic and monastic
streams of renewal to explore new models, discuss tough questions
and create ways to be a difference and make a difference
in our churches, communities and God's world. As far as we
know, this is the first time that such a broad range of new
conspirators have come together to communicate, connect and
create with one another.
Join Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution
, Karen Ward of Church of the Apostles, Efrem Smith, co-author
of The Hip Hop Church , Dwight Friesen from Mars Hill Graduate
School, Julie Clawson, an emerging church planter, Mark Scandrette,
author of Soul Graffiti, Christine Sine, author of Godspace
, Tom Sine, author of The New Conspirators , and others for
this festival of imagination.
We are racing into an increasingly uncertain global future
in which the middle class, our poorest neighbors and our
planet will face daunting new challenges. In this festival
of imagination, we will invite you to create innovative ways
to engage these challenges in a way that reflects something
of God's new order.
We have three very clear goals for this festival of imagination
:
1. to communicate creative models of what new conspirators
are doing to address these challenges;
2. to connect leaders
from all four streams in order to share lives, stories and
concerns;
3. to create new ways to advance God's new order
in our world, in our lives and in our churches, in response
to the growing challenges facing the poor and the planet.
This event is sponsored by Mustard Seed Associates. Our
partners include: Emergent Village, Mars Hill Graduate School,
Northwest Hot House and Trinity Lutheran Church. Course credit
is available from George Fox Evangelical Seminary and Northwest
University.
Link to the Conference
Details
SMC Community Ministry Brochure
October
2007, Proposal
for Drop-in Space Location
Background and Introduction to SMC
Community Ministry
The development of Community Ministry at SMC is an outgrowth
of SMC's vision for peace and justice as followers of Jesus
Christ. The Seattle Mennonite Church's Task Force on Homelessness
was established in 2004 to coordinate a holistic response
to the homeless community in the Lake City neighborhood (where
the church is located).
 
Goal
Stop, Drop, and Roll's goal is to provide belongings
storage and transportation to allow clients access to critically
needed services and employment opportunities not available
in Lake City. Stop, Drop, and Roll is open once
each week and serves 15-25 individuals each Thursday.
Details
The program provides secure storage of personal belongings
for the day, roundtrip metro bus tickets, toilets, telephone,
and other resources from 6-8 am and 6-9pm each Thursday.
The program, which was developed in consultation with the
homeless community, is staffed by task force volunteers along
with homeless clients.
Lake City currently does not provide many of the services
or employment opportunities in the neighborhood that our
clients call home. Labor Ready left the neighborhood several
years ago. The closest community clinics are in Wallingford
and Greenwood. The nearest social service agency, the North
Seattle Family Center (located on our church property), focuses
its efforts on a different population in need.
Our program invites local homeless individuals to stop by
on Thursday morning between 6am to 8am. We provide coffee,
basic hygiene services (sinks and toilets), a telephone for
arranging appointments or conducting brief personal business,
and a secure place to leave their personal belongings to
facilitate travel outside the neighborhood. We also provide
2 Metro bus tickets for roundtrip transportation. Clients
are asked to return between 6pm and 8pm to retrieve their
belongings. Volunteers are available to assist with finding
community resources and services.
Our clients have found the service to be of vital assistance
to enable them to visit a physician, access complete hygiene
services, visit a social service agency for support, or find
employment when their lack of cash available on a given day
would otherwise make it impossible. They have found that
the baggage storage service enhances their ability to move
around town more efficiently, with less concern over belongings
left behind, and with decreased stigma.
 
Other Seattle Mennonite Church programs benefiting
homeless and low-income residents
- The congregation hired Community Ministers ,
who began their work on June 1 st , 2007. Their role is
to offer spiritual care, reaching out and engaging homeless
people, extending hospitality, and connecting people with
resources and referrals when desired. The Community Ministers
will work with SMC to develop future programs, do public
education, liaison with community partners, and develop
the resource base available to the homeless community in
Lake City.
- The SMC Emergency Fund continues to
provide funds for emergency housing, medical bills, groceries,
hygiene services, utilities, gas, and bus tickets. The
fund responds to three to four requests for assistance
each day. These funds are provided to both low-income and
homeless residents.
- We own and manage two houses on our
property that are used as transitional housing for homeless
residents.
- SMC provides monthly community meals at
our church to continue dialogue with the homeless residents
of the neighborhood as well as other neighborhood stakeholders.
We continue to gather feedback, suggestions, and information
on needs and abilities in this forum. This has recently
become a weekly gathering, as two other churches and one
synagogue have joined this effort. Still outstanding is
a volunteer group for the months which have a 5th Sunday.
- SMC facilitates the Lake City Task Force on Homelessness ,
which gathers each month (2nd Friday 3:30-5:00pm) at the
Seattle Mennonite Church to share insights and efforts
on ways to address the concerns of homelessness in the
Lake City neighborhood. Goals include information sharing,
strategizing, visioning, inviting participation, and collaborating.
Future Plans
We continue to develop other services that can be delivered
to this homeless population that would empower them to rise
out of homelessness. Due to the redevelopment of the Lake
City Park, a large group of homeless residents have been
displaced from the space they've, until recently, used as ‘legal
loitering space'. This group of folks, though not unchanging,
has a degree of cohesiveness and sense of belonging to the
Lake City neighborhood. This loss of space has caused the
need for a safe and acceptable location for these neighbors
to congregate. In the past, Labor Ready, a temporary employment
agency, was located in Lake City and provided jobs for some
members of this group. Since their departure, there are even
fewer opportunities for finding employment in the neighborhood.
Consequently, we have future projects under consideration
which include a daytime drop-in center, employment services,
legal and medical services, nighttime shelter, and other
social support services. Our hope is that the need for metro
bus tickets and belongings storage provided by Stop,
Drop, and Roll will decrease as more of these services
can be provided within Lake City – it is the neighborhood
these homeless residents call their own.
Volunteering and Support
If you are interested in connecting with homeless folks
in Lake City, and becoming part of the community of support,
please contact the SMC Community Ministers – Jonathan & Melanie
Neufeld at seattlesdr@gmail.com or
call the church office, (206) 361-4630.
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