Practice
Practices that encourage knowing and loving your neighbors and neighborhood.
Playing in the Street
Sitting in the backyard as a new mom while my first daughter played, I found to be a very isolating experience. But when I took the kiddie pool or the slide to the front yard, the chance of interacting with other adults rose exponentially.
Wandering
Wandering is a counter script to the often overly scheduled lives centered around efficiency and productivity. Wandering is a practice that cultivates curiosity, looking to be interrupted by the world around you. When we are willing to wander, we have the possibility of being present to what is around us.
Planting Gardens
The practice of planting a garden is an embodied way to engage both the people and place where you live. It is a practice of forgiveness and gratitude. It is an invitation to be present and patient. It is an opportunity to slowly walk and see what is growing.
Honoring The Legacy
By walking hand in hand with the past, may we all journey forward together, writing new chapters into the richness of our shared history.
Extreme Community Makeover
The ECM model is “adopt-a-block.” Volunteers knock on doors ahead of work days to connect with neighbors. They ask about any external home improvement projects that could be done by volunteers.
Eastertide Happy Hour
Eastertide is 40 days (50 when combined with Ascensiontide) in the liturgical calendar. It is a season for Christians to contemplate, celebrate, and explore the implications of the resurrection from the dead of Jesus of Nazareth.
Standing in the Awkward
Standing in the awkward is the practice that tells our neighbors they are worth our discomfort. On the other side, we may get more comfortable, or at least get more comfortable with being uncomfortable.
High School Musicals
A creative practice to love your neighbors and neighborhood is to attend a local high school musical. Supporting the arts at your local high school is an opportunity to connect with your community and communicate you care about what for many students is their annual highlight.
Creating Space
Creating space prioritizes hearing and responding to what God is doing in and around us. It is an intentional way to open ourselves to receive the extravagant love of God, and then extend that love to our neighbors and neighborhoods.
Prayer in the Park
People who live in the neighborhood who may attend different local congregations or participate in various expressions of the Church, can come together to pray in and for the neighborhood. The simple practice of praying in a park will help guide your prayers for people and ground your prayers in place.
Delivery Drivers
Gratitude for delivery drivers cultivates hospitality for all those who serve us in unseen ways.
Chalking the Door
Chalk is ordinary material of the earth. This practice takes common elements and makes them holy. Chalk does not make a permanent mark. It fades with time, but each time we enter our home and see the inscription, we are reminded of our desire for our homes to be places of hospitality, welcome, and peace.
Christmas Carols
Caroling is a wonderful way to meet new neighbors, make memories with friends, and benefit from the all the gifts of singing songs.
Hanging Christmas Lights
Christmas lights hung outside your home are a tangible way to brighten the season for your neighbors. It may be a single strand lining the roof or an elaborate visual display, hanging Christmas lights is a historic Denver tradition that brings joy and light to your neighborhood.
Engaging With Your Local School
Our schools are often the conduit for the confluence of our neighbors and their needs. The Holiday Store is a beautiful way to begin to build relationships by engaging with your local school.
Asking for Help
Asking a neighbor for help is being aware of our needs and one of our greatest needs is to live in community. Asking for help is a practice that cultivates humility in us.
Running
The run clubs are as consistent as a Sunday church service and are inclusive of all levels of run enthusiasts from 1st timers to seasoned marathon racers.
Gathering Leaves
Fallen leaves are an annual reminder of who is your neighbor. They are an invitation to care for both the people and place around you.
Supporting Kids Sports
Showing up and saying you love to watch a kid from your neighborhood play sports, at any level, cultivates joy. It is a playful practice of showing love for your neighbors, and builds confidence and connection with their kids.
History
The place you call home has a history. The geography where you live has a story. To know your neighborhood begins with the practice of knowing the history of your neighborhood. Learning the history of the place you and your neighbors live is a spiritual practice.
