Discern what God is up to in your neighbourhood & participate in it

Naming the Name: it’s what the Incarnation calls and empowers us to do where we are: God with us. In the same vein, theologian John V. Taylor writes, ‘nothing is more needed by humanity today, and by the church in particular, than the recovery of a sense of ‘beyondness’ in the whole of life.’

A spirituality of the neighborhood is one that embraces its most immediate context as a place of God’s presence and rich with sacred possibilities. Of course, discovering this ‘beyondness’ relies on our ability to see God in places we don’t normally think to look. For those conditioned to see God in the rituals, gatherings and ministries of the church, those spiritual bifocals become all the more necessary.

The fifteenth century mystic Saint Teresa of Avila once described the essence of spirituality as ‘learning to look.’ The fact is, the presence of God is not something to conjure up through particular rituals, nor is it contained in special places. God is with you—with you in the neighborhood just as profoundly as God is anywhere else. (Simon Carey Holt)

Name something that you think God might be doing in your neighbourhood?

Do you know the stories behind:

People:
- Marriages
- Neighbours
- Friendships
- Families
- Children?

Organizations:
- Business
- Public transportation
- Gathering spaces/places
- Housing
- Community league
- Community groups or clubs
- Sports teams
- Social service agencies
- Schools
- Religious groups that meet in your neighbourhood
- Parks or other common spaces?

What are the strengths of your neighbourhood?

What are the issues or needs present in your neighbourhood?

Name “celebration” initiatives taking place in your neighbourhood. (e.g. block parties, festivals, barbeques, holy days).

Name “service” initiatives taking place in your neighbourhood. (e.g. clean ups, kids or youth programs, International initiatives, senior care, block watch or parents).

Is there a story you can share that describes yourself or other neighbours participating in what you could imagine as God’s dream for your neighbourhood?

In the next year, what do you imagine it would look like if God’s dream for your neighbourhood was lived into, what would change?