My Sunday mornings between now and Easter will bring me to Southlake, Texas.
The Southlake Boulevard Church invited me to speak each Sunday during their two morning services through the first three months of 2007.
Southlake, Texas is located on Highway 114 just past (northwest of) DFW International Airport and on the road to Roanoke, Rhome and parts beyond.
Over the last two decades or so, this community has gone through an amazing metamorphosis.
The new home construction continues to boom, along with the population. Retail outlets spring up everywhere. The schools are expanding rapidly. Folks are employed at jobs that pay more than a livable wage. I am sure that Southlake is a great place to call home.
On the surface of things, Southlake seems a world apart from where I live and where I spend most of my time. Just about every category of growth that characterizes Southlake is not true of inner city Dallas.
East Dallas, at least parts of it, is growing with new home starts and a few new retail opportunities. Of course, nothing like Southlake. The pace is much slower and the problems associated with driving low-income families out of rebounding areas continue to challenge us.
South Dallas is the polar opposite of Southlake in terms of economics, growth, resources, investment and opportunity.
Beneath the surface of things though, down at the human level, I find so much that is the same.
The folks in the church where I am speaking confess many of the same fears, have many similar personal and family issues with which to contend and depend on their faith to make life workable. Like in so many East and South Dallas churches, the worship at Southlake Boulevard Church is lively, engaging and motivational.
While my impression is that the economic differences are great when I compare the communities, the spiritual resources are likely more nearly equal. I wouldn't be surprised if the low-income faith communities of Dallas don't have a bit of an edge in terms of faith and spiritual resourcefulness and opportunity.
Great, good people in both parts of the Metroplex--that is very clear to me.
I find myself wanting to get everyone together! I know such an experience would be mutually beneficial. What affects one part of the city affects every other part. If one person or neighborhood is diminished, all are diminished.
Segregation is never good.
So much is lost when people are kept apart. So many possibilities missed. So many solutions unrealized. So many friendships never forged.
6 comments:
What barriers do you think you would face to having the congregation meet at a place in South Dallas one Sunday (perhaps at a community center, library or something)?
Anonymous, thanks for asking.
I think all of the "barriers" would be practical--things like scheduling, logistics, etc. I know both groups would be eager to share something together. Your question may prompt me to ask!
What we need though beyond this sort of meeting is long term connections that help lift both groups in mutually beneficial ways.
Larry:
I very much respect the work you are doing in Dallas. Your work is reaching into the streets of Dallas where real people live.
I have lived in Southlake. There are a few "real people" who live in Southlake, but very few.
Southlake is about where you live, what your job is, what you drive and what designer clothes you are giving to your children. My experience in Southlake left me feeling very lost in an empty, superficial, materialistic society.
With priviledge comes great responsibility. I am reminded of the parable of the talents. There is great priviledge in Southlake, but I found very little else. Most of the Soutlake's servents have buried their treasure in 401k's hoping for a 9% return on investment.
Larry-
Perhaps a subject for a future blog: why don't churches actively seek out diversity the way that businesses or some of our finest universities do? These instituions have come to the realization that the creative environment improves when those around the table have different experiences and different backgrounds. However, when Sunday morning rolls around we all seem to want to gravitate to people just like us. This isn't an indictment of rich people, poor people, black, white or hispanic as I've been to an array of churches and this fact seems pretty apparent: I want to go to church with folks just like me. Is it worth our time trying to pull people together that want to worship in their own way, or is our time best spent working through other institutions (such as CDM) to affect change?
Hi Larry, I live in Southlake and while I agree with the earlier post that many folks here are materialistic, there are more than just a few genuine, real people. I go to White's Chapel United Methodist and every week I'm impressed with the minsters' message that emphasizes to who much is given, much is expected. We are working to to give back to our community and world, most recently with numerous mission trips to help rebuild homes destroyed by Katrina.
I am glad you are also preaching in Southlake. I think if people know how and where they can help, they are more than willing to get involved.
Thanks for the posts from everyone.
I don't think the goal for me is to get churches all worshipping together, though I am huge advocate of multi-cultural life and work! I do think we need to build cross-community and "cross-economic status" bridges and intersections and we need to be deliberate about it. Supporting CDM and groups like ours is a good way to spend time and resources.
I also agree that there are active, engaged and concerned folks in Southlake and its churches and other organizaitons. No doubt about it. And, I agree that folks do more and better when they simply know what is going on and what is required. I am hoping to involve as many Southlakers as possible in inner city Dallas! We already have a number of supporters of various kinds who live in Southlake and we have at least one staff member who lives there!
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