Dear saints,

Yesterday, we held the first of three town halls that we have scheduled as we move into our parish engagement phase of the future of our block work. It was an excellent beginning. The chair of our parish engagement team, Kate Stradtman, introduced Hank Houser of Houser Walker who is very capably facilitating the sessions.  

I have been eagerly looking forward to starting this stage of the journey. The pause that the pandemic necessarily created for our block work allowed us to pour even more of ourselves into learning about what is happening around us locally and nationally, so much so that Hank Houser noted that he had never worked with any church or other organization that had committed so much to learning before launching a design process like this. I felt both a sense of pride in All Saints' that we had chosen to be so thorough—as always—and a sense of joy that at last, now is the time for us to learn from one another. 

There were some wonderful insights from your fellow parishioners. We heard about the deep and abiding value of our green spaces, of a desire to be even more a seven day a week block, of remembering why for many our core ministries are at the heart of what makes All Saints’ the church it is, and a number of iterations of how mixed populations and uses could one day be witnessed on our block. I commend the recording of the town hall to you. Please click on this link to see it.

One of the phrases that struck me was 'eyes on the street'. I comes from the work of Jane Jacobs, and makes the point that any city block is safer when there are more eyes upon it through the course of a day. Extending that idea a little, it strikes me that the question we are asking one another through this process is what we want the 'eyes on the street' to see when they look at, walk through, engage with, and find community on this city block in the future? What will they see of God? What will they see of us? And what will we see of them?

If you want to delve more into Jane Jacobs, take a look at this article referenced in the town hall, that imagines what she would offer to places of worship as they imagine the future of their land and property.

Next month, we will hold the first of 10 home gatherings. They are for 20 people, over a simple dinner, and will take place in homes across the metro area. The format will allow participants to really hear one another. You will find a link to sign up for a home gathering below. Please do plan on coming to at least one over the coming weeks. 

As always, please reach out to the steering committee via the email link below or to me by replying to this email. May God bless all that we are learning.