What I Learned in Denver

While I’ve been in Denver I’ve been able to observe the activities of Providence Church and Urban Ministry up close and behind the scenes.  Here are a few things I’m taking away from Denver:

Leadership:  The leadership cares deeply about the people in the church AND the people in the surrounding community.  They work quickly to address needs and are always looking for opportunities to serve this community better.  Loving their neighbors is their goal, and everything they do is done with intentionality.  They have a vision of bringing the kingdom of God to this neighborhood, and their passion for this ministry is inspirational.

Ministry: Wow!  This church runs 250-300 and has a tremendous amount going on.  They run programs to support people getting out of prison, and do many things in support of single-moms, widows and orphans.  Foster care is near and dear to their hearts and many of the elders of the church have foster children.  A program called Upstream is designed to move families out of poverty. 

PCULD:  Providence Center for Urban Leadership Development is another arm of the ministry here.  This is a rigorous two-year program designed to teach young leaders how to do urban ministry.  The participants gain experience by leading many of the events and programs that are developed.  It is not an easy program, but I can see that it is transforming lives.  While I’ve been here I’ve gotten to meet these young people, and they are wonderful.

Community:  When I’m at Camp of the Woods, one of the things I enjoy is living in community.  But I don’t know how that’s supposed to work when I get back home.  Here, they are doing the hard work of making community happen in their “real” lives.

Diversity:  The leadership is striving to make the diversity of the community be reflected in all aspects of the church.  The elders are from all different racial backgrounds.  The church has a refugee population and many languages are represented in their services.

Ray & Pattie:  It has been good to see Ray and Pattie working in this ministry.  While I was here Ray spoke for the prison ministry and Pattie spoke to the single moms.  I also tagged along to some of the leadership meetings that they had.  After being with them for a week I also became acquainted with some of their struggles and have a better idea of how to pray for them.

My church:  I look at what’s going on here, and see that we have many of the same ministries at Ewtonville.  But I’m seeing how we could do it more effectively.  I hope I can bring these ideas back and implement some of them in our church.