Church School Partnerships

210 North Fulton Avenue,Evansville IN 47710

29 September, 2021

Description

What's the future of church school partnerships in Evansville? Let's find out together. When Jesus' disciples asked who was greatest in God's Kingdom, Jesus presented them with a child, showing them that God's idea of status was drastically different from the world's. When Christians demonstrate a high value for children, we (like Jesus) testify to the nature of the Kingdom and of God himself. Imagine if people said of the Church in Evansville, "No one cares more about kids in our city than they do." Church/school partnerships are an opportunity to be a faithful presence in an influential space in a child's life, but moving beyond a backpack drive or service project to develop a partnership with deep relational trust can be challenging to navigate. Fortunately, there are a number of churches in our city that are already doing this really well. That's why we're excited to gather Church leaders on September 29th to discuss potential challenges, share best practices, and hear specifically from Ben Lovell about the crucial lessons Blue Grass Church has learned through their partnership with Cedar Hall. Their longstanding partnership with the school has become a primary focus for the church, so Ben will have a lot of great insight and experience to share. However, much of our time will be devoted to discussion, so come ready to share your perspective and experience as well! We'll also hear from a school principal and two representatives of Talent 2025 about why they see Church/school partnerships as an essential part of Evansville's future. Talent 2025 is a multi-sector, long-term strategy to systematically address the region’s top issues and accelerate growth, so we're excited that they recognize the Church as an important contributor to the flourishing of the Evansville region. As always, this will also be an opportunity to share a great meal (at no cost) and encourage one another to "not grow weary of doing good." (Galatians 6:9) Friends, our city is blessed because of the work you do to equip the saints for ministry - keep it up. We love you, we're praying for you, and we look forward to seeing you soon. We want Evansville to be a city where every person experiences love and gives love; every person prioritizes the holistic wellbeing of all people; and every person’s work provides community value and individual purpose.  Citywide flourishing happens when every person in the city flourishes. We pursue the fruitfulness of every person by bringing people together to solve our city's most pressing needs. We convene church and community leaders, cultivate the mindsets and language necessary for collaboration, and storytell about the way things are and the way things should be. Our ultimate goal is to cultivate collaboration between churches and others in the city around the city’s needs and dreams that align with God’s mission. For Evansville seeks to facilitate the formation and/or the sustainability and effectiveness of centered sets in the Greater Evansville area.  Centered sets are mini Collective Impact cohorts of organizations, businesses, schools, government agencies, and churches that care about the same issue or geographic area.  Rather than operating in bounded set mentalities that rule out cross-sector collaboration, centered set mindsets and structures foster effective collaboration.  We are deeply committed to seeing churches and the channels of culture thrive for the flourishing of the Tri-State area.  We support centered sets at www.forevansville.org, we storytell at www.leftturnproductions.com, and we provide education about city transformation at www.cityshelf.org.