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Tales of Adventure Blog

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

 

Time for a Refresh in San Antonio

Matthew Overton

It’s been a while since I have posted on this website. I am doing so because I have been discerning my new role as a Lead Pastor at the church I have served for 13 years. As I sit 9 months into that new role, I am trying to discern how to continue to lead my church forward into a more missional identity. It’s time for a refresh on this space and to reflect on ministry and social enterprise through a new lens for me.

5 years ago I helped initiate a conference at Seattle Pacific University that was the first conference that gathered church leaders and institutional Christian leaders to discuss the intersection of congregations and social enterprise work.

Because of the relationships that I formed at that event I was invited to be a very small part of the creation of a new conference called, “Neighborhood Economics”. This conference attempted to start in San Antonio, Texas when Covid hit. After that, I was unable to engage because of a multitude of transitions and need at my local church, Columbia Presbyterian.

Recently I began a process of handing off the non-profit social enterprise that I founded at CPC this year and so here I am. I am trying to figure out what it means for CPC to steward our resources and our missional imagination well.

 

Here is the goal of Neighborhood Economics:

They are seeking to help people of faith leverage their economic capital and social capital to create impact in the arenas of housing, entrepreneurship, and impact investing.

 

Here at this conference:

There are clergy, representatives of religious and non-religious foundations and trusts, denominational executives, and investors who manage billions in capital. It is an impressive group. One billionaire financial investor is here because his youth pastor once brought him on a mission trip. It changed him.

 

Here are the key topic areas the conference will cover:

-101 Sessions: These are for folks new to this work.

-Catalytic Capital

-Creating Assets

-Shared Ownership

-Entrepreneurship

-Subverting Redlining

-Congregations Engaging Faith and Finance

 

This is from the San Jose mission in San Antonio. More on this later!

So, here I am. Trying to figure out how to help my church re-imagine it missional role in its county and its neighborhoods. I am here because of the work that I have done, the work that I am discerning, and because I believe that my church has an obligation to deploy its gifts SUPERBLY in the name of living in to the Kingdom of God that is already and not yet fully among us.

Keep reading my posts if you want to follow the kind of things that I am learning. My goal is to bring this home (over time) and to bring some people back here next year.



-Pastor Matt

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