We practice a "gathered and scattered" rhythm in living out our faith and mission together. We have found that spiritual growth and discipleship happens as much when we are serving others together as when we gather for more traditional church activities such as worship, prayer, and teaching. Though it may not be the typical approach to a church schedule, it provides a variety of opportunies for people to get involved with what God seeks to do through our community.
The Church Gathered
Strength Training This gathering is about learning how to live on mission with Jesus for the long-haul with a focus on serving friends without homes and other marginalized people. One Sunday evening a month we gather for a time of worship, prayer, and mutual encouragement. We take time to hear from each other about what is happening in our missional communities and outreaches and to pray for the needs. We also take time to look at Scripture together to strengthen us in our pursuit of the mission God has called us to. For those who have yet to get involved in a specific missional community or outreach, it's a chance to learn the values that drive us as a movement and seek God's mission in your own life.
Listening Prayer One Sunday each month at 5:30 PM we take time to pray together and seek God for His direction in our mission. We will spend time in prayer, listening to the Holy Spirit, and praying what He lays on our hearts. There will not be much structure to this time. We will spend the first several minutes, preparing our hearts to hear from God, and then move on to pray what He lays on our hearts. Our pattern will be to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” (Matt. 6:33) and to trust everything else to Him. This is the key to seeing lasting change in our own lives and in the lives of others. Come, “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8a) As we seek the Kingdom of God we find our place in His mission.
Sunday Morning Simple Church For those who have identified Diakonos as their church, we meet weekly on Sunday morning at 10:30 AM. As the name implies we keep things simple. We begin with a short teaching and discussion over a specific Bible passage. We then move to a time of worship and prayer. We usually have coffee and water available and encourage people to bring fruit or pastries to share.
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The Church Scattered
Penn Place Missional Community Penn Place is a low-barrier, supportive housing building where 41 formerly homeless friends now live. This missional community seeks to do 2-3 activities each month with our friends at Penn Place in order to build relationship, respond to community needs, and be the church among them. We currently serve a community meal at Penn Place at 2:00 PM the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month. Our team provides the majority of the food, but we also invite residents to bring something to share as a part of building community. After residents have gotten their food, we sit down with our friends to join them in conversation around the table. After the meal, we invite people to stick around for a half-hour simple church gathering. We meet at Penn Place at 5:00 in order to have everything setup to begin serving at 5:30. The address of Penn Place is 1415 N Pennsylvania St. People can contact Leon Longard about carpooling from the south side. Guerin Place Missional Community (on break for the summer) Formerly known as St. Philip Neri Convent, Guerin Place is a 19-unit Partners In Housing building. A group of University of Indianapolis students will serve a community dinner at Guerin Place at 5:30 PM the 4th Friday of each month. From this starting point we will decide what other services are needed in this location. Food 4 Souls Food 4 Souls is a long-time partner ministry that exists to go out and serve friends without homes with unconditional love and acceptance by providing hope in Christ, meeting daily needs and aligning resources to those who are ready to move into a life beyond homelessness. Every Sunday afternoon, from approximately 1:00 – 4:00 and Wednesday evenings 6:30 - 8:30, a group of volunteers travels to downtown Indianapolis to serve friends without homes. Volunteers typically spend 30 minutes at each camp and distribute the items from the back of our vehicles. Though we don't have a formal Diakonos team, several of our community members spend time volunteering with Food 4 Souls. Visit the Food 4 Souls website for more information on volunteering for their Sunday and Wednesday routes or go to their calendar on Sign-Up Genius to volunteer to serve. Future Missional Communities We have set a goal of launching two more missional communities at two additional Partners In Housing sites: Fall Creek View Apartments and St. George Apartments. Contact Leon Longard at (317) 970-7799 or [email protected] for more information about getting involved with a missional community at one of these locations. |