“Weaving Stronger Neighborhoods” began as a dream… as many ministries and other good things do… because we realized that to love our neighbors as ourselves we had to know our neighbors. The Transformation Ministry inspired our team to think about widening our concept of community, in preparation for neighbors who will be sharing our campus. Working with community organizer, Liz Hall, and a grant from the Los Rios district, we held a retreat, walked the neighborhoods, toured nearby Salvation Army, identified influential people to get to know in our community, and made connections with some of them.
For a while, the dream has lay fallow, many of us examining the energy and commitment needed to learn how to be good neighbors. Now one of Napa Methodist’s members, Jennifer Tokar, has invited us to partner with our neighborhood school, Shearer. There are opportunities to partner including gardening, reading, recess and lunchtime supervision, sponsoring a 5th grade student’s fee for outdoor education, and participating in career events.
This opportunity to partner with Shearer – known as the “poor” school – seems to have fallen from heaven into our laps. Children of workforce families who will share our campus will most likely attend Shearer. We might become (better) known as the neighborhood church who’s invested in the wellbeing of a neighborhood school.
Please join me in recommitting to the dream of Weaving Stronger Neighborhoods, of knowing and loving our neighbors. I encourage you to connect with Jennifer about the many ways you can be a good neighbor to this neighborhood school. Click here to learn more about Shearer’s new magnet program.
In faith, Marylee