Category: mission

Resistance Narratives: Shelter Theology

identity, mission, service

Today I facilitated an adult Sunday School class discussion about “Resistance Narratives,” which is the fourth chapter of Susan J. Dunlap’s 2021 book, “Shelter Theology: The Religious Lives of People without Homes.” The ACE class at Caldwell Presbyterian Church in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, is studying this book in advance of a visit from the author, Dr. Susan Dunlap, who lives in Durham and is on the faculty at the Duke Divinity School. Here are the slides I shared during our lesson today, along with a 30 minute summary video I recorded this afternoon after class, to share with members who were not present today as well as others online.

I created over 40 annotated photos of quotations and excerpts from Chapter 4 in preparation for today’s lesson and discussion, but just talked about six of them during class. All of those annotated photos are available in this Flickr album.

Caldwell Presbyterian Church of Charlotte is in the midst of a multi-year project they call “Easter’s Home,” which involves the conversion of the church’s old education building into a 21 apartment, permanent supportive housing facility for single adults in the Charlotte community experiencing homelessness. The need for this type of affordable / supportive housing in the Charlotte urban area is tremendous. Around 3000 adults in Charlotte are homeless each night.

After summarizing and highlighting key points from the chapter in today’s class, I shared some personal connections to the ideas and themes Dr. Dunlap raised. I talked about Positive Tomorrows, which is the non-profit and school serving families in Oklahoma City experiencing homelessness where Shelly (my wife) worked and taught for 4 years. I also shared an audio podcast Shelly recorded with her students in November 2015 at Positive Tomorrows, talking about things for which students are grateful. I didn’t have enough time to fully play the podcast in class today, but I did include it in the 30 minute summary video linked above.

In the after-class video recording, I also mentioned Storychasers and the different types of digital stories highlighted on the Storychasers “Examples” page. I did not mention, but probably should have) the “Christian Digital Storytelling” examples page I created recently. I think there are good possibilities for the ways members of the Caldwell Presbyterian community might use digital storytelling in the weeks and months ahead both to educate their own congregation about the complex issues involving people experiencing homelessness, their needs, and the respectful (as well as safe) ways members of the church community can act in service and support of these marginalized members of our community.

The last thing I will note is that I was able to share a little of my own experiences reading and studying the pedagogy of Paulo Freire, whose ideas about empowering and transforming the minds and lives of the most marginalized and oppressed members of our communities connect directly to the themes and invitations of Susan Dunlap in her book, “Shelter Theology..” In addition to studying John Dewey for a semester with Professor Doug Simpson at Texas Tech University when I was working on my PhD, I also studied Paulo Freire for a semester with Dr. Simpson. It was a challenging and motivating experience, and continues to shape my thoughts as well as aspirations on the subjects of diversity, inclusion, equity and social justice.


“The Pedagogy of Paulo Freire” (CC BY 2.0) by Wesley Fryer
Leave a comment

Lessons from Prison Ministry

digitalstorytelling, mission, service

This morning Shelly and I planned and recorded a 97 second video, “Lessons from Prison Ministry.” This focuses on our experiences several years ago with a wonderful Oklahoma non-profit, “The Oklahoma Messages Project,” which was previously called, “Redeeming the Family.”

Here’s the script we wrote and used for this 7 slide “Narrated Photo Story.” More examples and resources for creating Photo Story videos and other kinds of digital stories are available from Storychasers.

When we lived in Oklahoma City, through our church, we had several opportunities to serve in a wonderful prison ministry called, at that time, “Redeeming the Family.” It has since been renamed, “The Oklahoma Messages Project.” (slide 1 image)

We went into Oklahoma prisons to work with moms and dads experiencing incarceration, helping them record messages of love for their children at home during special times like Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Valentine’s Day. (slide 2 image)

This was the first time either of us had ever set foot into a prison. It was a bit scary, but we had some prior volunteer training from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. (slide 3 image)

We helped parents select books for their children, and filmed them reading the books to their kids, along with supportive messages of love and affirmation. (slide 4 image)

These messages were recorded with digital camcorders, and put on DVDs that were mailed to each family and child to watch at home. Many of the kids receiving these video messages from their mom or dad would watch them over and over again. (slide 5 image)

When a mom or dad is missing from their family home, it is natural for children to worry.  It is very important for children to know that their parent is safe and OK. It is also very important for children to hear messages of affirmation and love, when they are separated. (slide 6 image)

We both thank God for the opportunity to serve, even just a few times and in some small ways, with the Oklahoma Messages Project. We encourage you to find similar organizations and nonprofits in your community which are serving children, parents and families. (slide 7 image)

(/end of script)

Learn more about “Christian Digital Storytelling” in my chapter on “Narrated Slideshows” from “Pocket Share Jesus: Be a Digital Witness for Christ.”

“Redeeming the Family” (CC BY 2.0) by Wesley Fryer
Leave a comment , , , , ,

Donate Thanksgiving Food to Roof Above in Charlotte, NC

mission, service

Are you in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area and interested in giving to others in our community who are in need this Thanksgiving season? Consider making a food donation to “Roof Above,” a non-profit focusing on ending homeless and serving those affected by homelessness.

Roof Above is looking for a variety of food items, details are in the attached screenshot and in this Instagram post.

From their website:

“We believe that home is critical to provide safety, stability, and dignity in people’s lives. Each day, we serve 1,200 people in our community –half we serve through our homeless services, and half are formerly homeless served through our housing programs.

It’s not just about what we do but how we do it. Our approach is personal; relationships drive our services and help to heal the trauma of homelessness. We strive to honor the profound worth of each life, and for our work to reflect that belief.”

Learn more about “Roof Above” and their work by watching this new (4 days old) two minute video, “Uniting the Community to End Homelessness in Charlotte.”

“Roof Above” is the “operational partner for Easter’s Home,” which is an outreach ministry of Caldwell Presbyterian Church in downtown Charlotte.

Follow Roof Above on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/RoofAbove/

Leave a comment , , , ,

Called to BE the Church

focus, identity, mission, service

This morning our pastor, Jen Howat, preached on Acts 1:1-9. Her sermon focused on how we are called to BE the church, which means doing the work of Jesus & not necessarily gathering in church buildings. This is my sermon sketchnote and narrated sketchnote of her sermon. I  integrated a couple tweets which I shared during the first part of the sermon.

 

Leave a comment

A Fast to End Injustice and Oppression

focus, mission, priorities, service, struggles

From the verses in Isaiah I used last week for an Ash Wednesday sermon, starting the season of Lent:

“This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The GOD of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, GOD will answer. You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.'” (Isaiah 58:6-9 MSG)

These verses are on my heart as I think about the challenges schools so close to our home face, and my own prospects for teaching in the year to come.

One comment

Sketchnotes About a Sermon on Racism in America

mission, sketchnotes, technology

These are my sermon sketch notes from January 18, 2015, at First United Methodist Church in Manhattan, Kansas. The sermon was preached by Pastor Patrick McLaughlin, who is Associate Pastor of Missions & Outreach at FMC. The title of the sermon was, “Would Jesus Call the U.S. a Racist Society?” This is part of a series titled, “Pastor’s Press Conference,” and archived versions of sermons are available online. The initial Bible passage Patrick started the sermon with was Colossians 3:12-17:

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Sermon Sketchnotes: Jan 18, 2015 by Wesley Fryer, on Flickr
Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License   by  Wesley Fryer 

While these issues are extremely important and timely for Christians in the United States to consider today given our recent events, I was surprised that the “closing prescriptions” offered by Patrick did not include any citations or references to Scripture. Because of this, his message overall was not differentiated from secular “calls to action” for social justice which we hear from different non-profit groups and organizations. The message itself is and was good, but it was essentially “missing Jesus.”

In his sermon, Patrick read verses from Colossians and Ephesians, but his message sounded and felt like more of a history lecture on social justice rather than a sermon in a mainline church. In the sketchnotes, I inserted the words “Let our hearts be transformed by God’s Love and His Word.” Patrick emphasized the importance of us loving each other, and put the focus of action on what WE as human beings could and can do. This made his message strike me as somewhat Gnostic, since it did not emphasize our need for Christ and the idea that WE cannot do anything (including change race relations in our communities and culture) without God’s power and actions.

I think this was the first time I’ve heard a pastor give a personal, racism-based “confession” during a sermon, and I think there was value in this. It took courage for him to admit mistakes he had made as a youth, which particularly focused on using the “N word.” I totally agree that we need to be having dialog within our churches and our communities about how we can constructively move forward with improving race relations. Patrick’s suggestions about “listening to the stories of others in our communities” and “sitting down at the table to eat together” particularly resonated with me. As a Storychaser, I especially agree with the first one, but the second one is an important strategy I don’t think we discuss or utilize nearly enough to promote understanding and the overall strengthening of relationships.

From a technical standpoint, I was able to use a stylus for these sermon sketchnotes (unlike last week) and again used the iPad app ProCreate. I exported my finished sketchnote as an image to the photo roll and uploaded it to Flickr, and also exported it as a video. I imported the video into iMovie for iPad and added voice narration, doubling the time for the playback so I had more time to talk. Lastly I uploaded the combined video using YouTube Capture. Here’s the narrated version:

I added this to my Flickr set for visual notes / sketchnotes. I was visiting FUMC in Manhattan, Kansas, today with my parents. I’m a member and elder at First Presbyterian Church of Edmond, Oklahoma.

If you’d like to learn more about sketchnoting, see my resources on visual notetaking in “Mapping Media to the Curriculum” and my eBook single on “Visual Notetaking.”

One comment , , , , ,

Redeeming the Family: Blessing Children of Incarcerated Parents

grace, mission

(cross-posted from Redeeming the Family)

This is a 14 minute video reflection by Wesley Fryer, who volunteered with Redeeming the Family on May 15, 2013, at the Cimarron Correctional Facility (prison) in Cushing, Oklahoma. Oklahoma currently has 17 prisons, and Cimarron is one of three which is privately operated. Corrections Corporation of America has owned and operated this prison commercially since 1997. Last week Redeeming the Family volunteers assisted 50 incarcerated dads to record video messages of love for their children, which will be mailed to their children before Father’s Day on Sunday, June 16th.

Sixty-six men had signed up to record video messages for their children on May 15, but because of security conditions at the prison not all those inmates were allowed to record their messages. Redeeming the Family will return to the Cimarron Correctional Facility again in the fall to record more messages which will be delivered prior to the Christmas holiday in December.

Redeeming the Family

Redeeming the Family

Redeeming the Family

Redeeming the Family

One comment

Podcast9: Discussing Urban Ministry with Shelly Fryer

mission, podcasts

This past week, I interviewed my wife about her work the past 3-4 years in urban ministry in Oklahoma City.

In addition to the Spreaker-hosted version of this podcast, I uploaded the mp3 audio file to Amazon S3 for backup. I don’t want to lose this recording, as I lost podcasts in 2009 which I’d recorded in our 5th grade Sunday School class!

[powerpress]

I also created an 8 minute screencast about how I created this, using the free app “Spreaker DJ” for iPad.

One comment

Confronting Evil as Christians

focus, mission, service

The Christian life is not about escaping evil and seeking complete separation from the world. Rather, our focus is and should be on confronting evil.

John 17:14, 15 NIV
“I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”

See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.us/111/jhn.17.14.niv

Leave a comment
1 2