Missional Communities in the Suburbs & Cities

A friend of mine referred me to Jonathon Dodson’s message on Missional Communities.  I listened to it today and he had some great philosophical and practical insights into building thriving Gospel centered communities.  Not a small group, not a sunday school class…a whole different way of enjoying people with Jesus.  Check it out!

I sat outside of the 567 tonight watching street lights flicker on the backdrop of a Georgia rainstorm.  It was a nice night in GA with a slight breeze moving the humidity along.  Throughout my life I have often asked God – ‘Why have you brought me here?  What is it that you want me to learn?’  Over the years I have realized that I am in the place that I am in today because it prepares me for tomorrow.  I should enjoy the moment, but I should also remember that He is preparing me for what is to come. As I look back on my life I can see many times, people, and places that God has used to prepare me for today and I know today was used to prepare me for tomorrow.  It’s an incredible cycle really, and it has always pointed me to God’s sovereign plans and my daily dependence to walk in those plans.  Tonight I was able to enjoy God’s sovereign planning in Gospel conversations and I look forward to how He is using them.

Tonight I met a magazine reporter doing a write-up on local music venues and she wanted to ask me questions about the 567. ” How did it get started?  Why do you do it?”  I was completely unprepared and stumbled my way through an interview that I wasn’t planning on having all the while she is busily taking notes.  While I’m talking I keep thinking, “Uh, God, seriously?  Shouldn’t Keith or Cameron or Hannah or someone else be having this conversation? “WHY ME?”

And then I met a Rutland High School art teacher that wants to join forces with City Watch in creating a space for graffiti artists to display their works downtown – and she knows other art teachers that want to get involved.  She loves what we are doing and wants to offer her time and talent in renewing Macon through the arts, fighting crime and empowering kids.

And then I met the mother of one of the band members who must be in her 80’s and she wanted to thank ME for all the work I’M doing downtown.  I tried to tell her that I didn’t start any of this and tried to get out an explanation about who she should be thanking but she just ’shooshed’ me and said ‘you are here now’.

And then I sat on one of the benches next to a couple of my homeless friends and listened to them swear that next month everything was going to change and they were going to get an apartment and I wasn’t going to see them on the streets anymore.  I listened to him pledging and committing to get an apartment all the while knowing that they have been in this same position many times before and it always fails.  Always.  The call back to the bottle or crack pipe is too much and even if they were able to get into a place for a short time…I’ll probably see them right back out here.  I didn’t know what to say.  I could hear the desperate genuineness coming through  his liquor slurred words and blood shot eyes, so I offered them encouragement and affirmed what a great place that would be.  The lady was even excited about watching cartoons and westerns again and it seemed like that was the thing that she was looking forward to.  All the while they are holding open containers of beer under their shirts.

Normally I see the 567 as a place where we ‘Showcase Macon’s Creativity’ through art and music.  But tonight was different.  Tonight I saw Macon’s Creativity in it’s people and I’m excited to see where God is taking us.

City Watch Coordinator

There’s a new sheriff in town. But this sheriff doesn’t have a badge, a squad car or a bulletproof vest. He’s not even armed.

Patrick McConnell patrols a 25-block area in downtown Macon by foot every day, keeping a watchful eye on the city’s homeless and ne’er-do-wells. If a problem arises, he solves it.

Patrick McConnell is the only full-time employee of the City Watch program in downtown Macon. City Watch seeks to clean up downtown to make a better business environment. McConnell, who also works with New City Church in Macon, came to town from Spokane, Wash., with his wife, Jennifer, and their seven children.

It’s his job as coordinator of NewTown Macon’s City Watch program.

McConnell, 36, has been helping keep the streets safe since he assumed the post in April. His clientele include drifters, panhandlers, delinquents and drug dealers.

“I’m sort of like a downtown problem-solver,” he said.

While on duty, McConnell carries only a cell phone and digital camera. He has a direct line to Sgt. Willie Brown with the Macon Police Department in the event he needs assistance from law enforcement.

If he sees someone breaking the law, McConnell will notify the authorities.

If someone needs shelter or food, he’ll point that individual in the direction of the appropriate aid agency. Usually, he sends people to the Salvation Army on Broadway or the Loaves and Fishes Ministry on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

“Most of the individuals I deal with already know where to receive aid, but I try to help them anyway,” he said.

Sgt. Brown said the work McConnell has done with City Watch has boosted the efficiency of police efforts in arresting panhandlers and people with open containers.

“McConnell has served as our eyes and ears for downtown,” Brown said. “Because of his work, there’s not as many rule-breakers in the immediate downtown area as there used to be.”

McConnell said he has befriended quite a few of downtown’s homeless in the past three months.

He’s met characters such as “Mr. Winters,” the cross-dresser who boasts about his singing abilities and marketing expertise, and the “Cherry Street Lady,” a petite elderly woman who is scared people will steal her medications.

“They all have stories to tell,” he said. “I try to wear street clothes so I’ll fit in and they’ll talk to me.”

McConnell said he’s made his share of enemies, too. Many of the city’s beggars think he’s with the police and will shout slurs such as “pig” and “5-0” as he walks past.

“A homeless lady walked up to me a while back when I was outside a friend’s house downtown and looked at me and said ‘I know who you are. People know you’re working to clean up the streets. You need to watch yourself,’ ” McConnell said. “I was shocked someone recognized me.”

But the husband and father of seven said he’s not worried about his safety, because he thinks most of Macon’s drifters are harmless.

“As I’ve talked to vagrants downtown, they’re not dangerous. They usually stay to themselves, besides the occasional panhandler who approaches you,” he said.

McConnell, who lives downtown on Maple Street, said the rewards that come from his job far outweigh the risks.

“Macon is a very unique and beautiful place. I want to see it become all it can be and for the populous to explode downtown,” he said.

In order for that to happen, McConnell said, perceptions about downtown security will have to change.

“People have this image in their head that downtown’s unsafe, that it’s full of crime and fighting,” he said.

“That couldn’t be more wrong. I live here. I work here. I attend church here. I raise my family here. I want to make the streets feel safer so other people will realize that it’s safe, too.”

As part of McConnell’s job with City Watch, he’s also started to tackle the town’s graffiti problem by photographing and documenting graffiti that needs to be removed. Pretty soon, he’ll have the equipment to start removing the graffiti himself.

Kris Hattaway with NewTown Macon said she’s already noticed a drop in the vagrancy downtown since McConnell started the job.

“Patrick’s done wonders in making the city feel cleaner and safer,” she said.

“If this is any indication, the City Watch program has already been very successful.”

To contact writer Carl Lewis, call 744-4347.

Article: Carl Lewis
Photograph: Grant Blankenship