Jubilee in Southeast Dallas

From The Living Church-

How might an affluent Episcopal church celebrate its Jubilee anniversary? Would it commission another stained glass window, expand its facilities, redo the landscaping, upgrade its parking lots?

All those options were on the table in 1997 when members of Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, Dallas, started thinking about its birthday bash. But then something strange happened. The celebration committee decided to put suggestion boxes around the church, and hundreds of parishioners cast their votes, and chose, overwhelmingly, to make a substantial investment in people living beyond the church’s upscale neighborhood. Members of the anniversary committee put away the silver service and got out their work gloves.

We had no money to invest, and scarcely knew where to begin. So we stepped out in faith — determined, by God’s grace, to transform the lives of others in need. Of course, we have ourselves been transformed, beyond our wildest imagining.

First we chose a neighborhood: Fair Park, a 62-block neighborhood in southeast Dallas, just 15 minutes from Saint Michael’s. The focal point of the neighborhood was a bar. There were several drug houses. The elementary school rated the lowest in the entire city. Many senior citizens were living there because they had no other place to go, but were afraid to go outside due to violent crime.

After the committee shared its vision with the parish, donations began rolling in. Working with AmeriCorps, Habitat for Humanity and the Greater Dallas Community of Churches, St. Michael’s acquired five acres to build a beautiful park, on lots formerly covered in whiskey bottles, syringes and trash.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2010/2/26/jubilee-in-southeast-dallas