City Ministry

Loving Your Neighbor(hood) Challenge: Take Initiative to Meet Others

The leaders at Trinity City Church are working with Sara Joy Proppe to launch the Loving Your Neighbor(hood) Challenge. Sara Joy is the founder and director of the Proximity Project. For even more practical guidance on neighborhood engagement, listen to Sara Joy’s podcast The Embedded Church.

  1. Learn About Your Stomping Ground

  2. Identify Your Neighborhood Leaders

  3. Walk with Intention

Whether you're new to your neighborhood or have been in the same place for a long time, it's sometimes hard to know practical ways to get to know your neighbors. Here is some guidance so that you can take the initiative to meet others in your neighborhood.

  1. Fill out a block map. Put in your address on Google Maps and see if you can identify the names in each household around you. Who do you know and who do you need to get to know?

  2. Spend time in your front yard once a week. If your habit is to unwind inside the house or the backyard, then try spending some time in the front yard. You may have the opportunity to meet someone new or catch up with a neighbor.

  3. Hang out once a week at the same place / time. Go to the same coffee shop, park, etc. and meet some folks who also frequent those places.

  4. Volunteer with a neighborhood organization. Every neighborhood in Saint Paul has organizations with different teams or committees where one can serve. Reach the non-profits, ministries, or district councils in your neighborhood and consider volunteering for one.

  5. Participate in National Night Out on Tuesday, August 2nd. Go to the local webite (see https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/police/administration-office-chief/community-engagement-division/national-night-out) to see if your block or a block near you is participating.

Union Depot Chalk Art. | Source: City of Saint Paul

Loving Your Neighbor(hood) Challenge: Walk With Intention

The leaders at Trinity City Church are working with Sara Joy Proppe to launch the Loving Your Neighbor(hood) Challenge. Sara Joy is the founder and director of the Proximity Project. For even more practical guidance on neighborhood engagement, listen to Sara Joy’s podcast The Embedded Church.

  1. Learn About Your Stomping Ground

  2. Identify Your Neighborhood Leaders

Over the last two years, many of our households were at home more than out in our community. With COVID rates down and warm weather going up, we're going to give the congregation monthly tips for engaging our city and neighborhoods a little more.
The next tip: Walk with intention!

  • Draw a map of a two-block radius of where you live: When drawing your map, consider it your "prayer radius." While two blocks is suggested, there isn’t an exact science to this. Rather, think about it in terms of the density of neighbors around you and/or a manageable walking distance that provides you opportunities to pray for those around you.

  • Pray for particular people within your walkshed: Think about your neighbors in broad and creative categories. Your neighbors will certainly include people living in houses or apartments around you, but they can also include business owners of nearby shops, management companies of neighboring apartment buildings, and so on.

  • Take pictures of things while you walk: This exercise will encourage you to "see" your neighborhood in a new way. Paying attention to the nuances is how you begin to know your neighborhood. Ask God to reveal the good and the broken places where you might participate in his work. God is on the move in your neighborhood. Pausing and observing helps you see this.

  • Check out Sara Joy’s article for the Evangelical Free Church - Praying with Proximity.

Lake Como. (Photo courtesy of the City of Saint Paul)

Loving Your Neighbor(hood) Challenge: Identify Your Neighborhood Leaders

The leaders at Trinity City Church are working with Sara Joy Proppe to launch the Loving Your Neighbor(hood) Challenge. Sara Joy is the founder and director of the Proximity Project. For even more practical guidance on neighborhood engagement, listen to Sara Joy’s podcast The Embedded Church. Here are the previous challenges:

  1. Learn About Your Stomping Ground

One of the greatest impacts you can have on your neighborhood is getting involved at the local level. It's easy to be consumed by national and international news, but the (seemingly) small decisions that are made on the street level within your community are oftentimes what impact your daily life the most. Council members, district councils, and neighborhood associations vote on things like approving the construction of new affordable housing, deciding where a new bike path might be routed, or locating where new street trees are planted. Connecting with these groups and using your voice is a great opportunity to advocate for city plans that benefit people of all walks of life. All too often the least of these are ignored when it comes to creating healthy and good places that encourage flourishing.

Every city is set up differently, but if you do a little online research you will likely find one or more of these leaders / forums present in your community. Take the time to learn the names of those who are leading in your community and begin to pray for them. You might even consider reaching out to get coffee or sending an email to ask about community concerns and ways you can be involved. Many council members host coffee hours that allow for local citizens to meet with them. Consider signing up for your Council Member's e-newsletter to stay in the know about local happenings.

If you show up to be a part of the good stuff, you will have more credibility when you have concerns to share. Don't wait to show up at a neighborhood meeting only when you're angry about a proposed change! Start now and identify your neighborhood leaders.

Saint Paul Neighborhood/District Map. (Source: Wikipedia)

Loving Your Neighbor(hood) Challenge: Learn About Your Stomping Ground

The leaders at Trinity City Church are working with Sara Joy Proppe to launch the Loving Your Neighbor(hood) Challenge. Sara Joy is the founder and director of the Proximity Project. For even more practical guidance on neighborhood engagement, listen to Sara Joy’s podcast The Embedded Church.

Over the last two years, many of our households were at home more than out in our community. With COVID rates down and warm weather going up, we're going to give the congregation monthly tips for engaging our city and neighborhoods a little more.
The first tip: Learn about your stomping grounds!

It's so easy to be like fish swimming in water, totally unaware of the environment that surrounds us. We often overlook the context of where we live in the bustle of our daily lives. But an important part of living out our call to love our neighbors involves recognizing how our physical places affect our flourishing. Learning about your neighborhood is a simple first step to begin seeing the connections between the place where you live and the livelihoods of neighbors who are living, working, and playing in proximity to you.

  • Read your community newspaper. The Villager (Highland, Merriam Park, Summit) Park Bugle (Saint Anthony Park, Como Park, Falcon Heights, Lauderale) Saint Paul Monitor (Midway, Como, & Frogtown), Community Reporter (West End), St. Paul Voice (West Side / Downtown) or others! Local newspapers are a great resource for learning about new development that is happening in the neighborhood and understand community needs around things like affordable housing, small business efforts, environmental concerns, volunteer opportunities, etc.

  • Read some of your neighborhood plans. Neighborhood plans are drafted by local residents just like you, and serve as the guiding document to prioritize neighborhood change and improvements into the future. This is a great resource for understanding the goals expressed by your community when it comes to things like housing, parks, education, and economic development.

  • Learn your “walkscore” at walkscore.com. Walkscore is a tool that maps out the basic services and transit options available by foot within a 1/4 - 1/2 mile radius from your address. This can be an eye-opening exercise to understand how walkable your neighborhood is and consider whether a person with a limited income and no car would have the ability to do life in your neighborhood. It's easy to take owning a car for granted, but a large portion of people in our cities do not have easy access to reliable transportation, which limits housing and job options for them.

  • Attend a Distritc Council (aka neighborhood association) meeting. If you live in Saint Paul, look up your District Council. This step can feel intimidating, but most of these meetings consist of everyday people like you who are simply interested in making the neighborhood a good place to be. You can always be a fly on the wall and just listen -- you will likely learn a lot about your neighborhood!

The Blair Arcade Building in St. Paul. (Wikipedia)