[Uucf-bible] Revival 2009 Service Project

[RevRonRobinson at aol.com]

Hi all. This email is not only for those planning to attend Revival this  
year, or hoping to do so (so please feel free to forward on to others you know  
still thinking and discerning about coming to Tulsa) but it is also for those  
interested in the overall spirit of Revival. We have sought in recent  
Revivals to make a hands-on missional component one of the vital aspects of our  time 
together. As we have promoted the worship and the workshop programs  and 
small group experiences at Revival, here then is the information on the  upcoming 
service project. Apologies to those who will receive this in multiple  emails. 
blessings, Ron
 
Revival 2009 Tulsa--Service Project:
 
This year the service project attached to the UUCF Revival will take  place 
Friday, March 27, 3 to 4:45 pm, at the site where the UUCF  offices are also 
located, in A Third Place, a Free Community Center, in  Turley, OK, 6514 N. 
Peoria Ave (eight miles north of All Souls on the same  street, easy to get to and 
we will have shared transportation). The  Center was begun by The LivingRoom 
Church, a member of the Council of  Christian Churches within the UUA, and an 
emerging UUA congregation. See these  websites for more on the work being done 
here: _www.livingroomchurch.net_ (http://www.livingroomchurch.net) , 
_www.turleyok.blogspot.com_ (http://www.turleyok.blogspot.com) , 
_www.progressivechurchplanting.blogspot.com_ (http://www.progressivechurchplanting.blogspot.com) . 
 
The Community Center, just two years old, operates almost solely, so  far, on 
all volunteer effort and volunteer contributions. At the Center, there  is: a 
health clinic run by the University of Oklahoma; a free internet center;  
free library; free clothing and more donation room; meetingspace with cable TV;  
food pantry; kitchen; a prayer table; community information boards; a Turley  
Resource Center sponsored by the University of Oklahoma Graduate Social Work  
Dept; a chance to order heathy, local food through the Oklahoma Food Coop; a 
12  step recovery group; a nutrition class; Let Turley Bloom community 
gardening  group; Saving Pets of Turley animal aid group; and The LivingRoom Church  
gatherings. 
 
The Center and church, and church members, are located in the zip code  area 
with the lowest life expectancy in the Tulsa area, 14 years lower than in  the 
zipcode where the rest of our Revival will take place; only 7 percent of our  
neighbors have college education, only 37 percent have high school education; 
on  the north side of Tulsa we have no hospitals, no movie theaters, no pizza 
 delivery within our two miles radius, no entertainment venues, sparse public 
 transportation with in our area no covered bus stations for folks during bad 
 weather, and limited grocery options; we have an exorbitant percentage of 
vacant  buildings with 40 percent of those being abandoned, much more so than 
the  percentage available for rent or for sale. Within the last year in Turley  
we have lost our three main sit-down restaurants and have left only a very 
small  (though good) burger joint that seats five people, and a morning donut 
store.  Within our service area we have a high racially diverse area with 66  
percent African Americans, 21 percent white, and remainder american  indian and 
hispanic primarily. We are a crossroads of urban, rural, small  town edges, 
mostly unincorporated and therefore ineligible for governmental  block grants, 
services, etc. But the folks here resist both statistics and  stereotypes and 
are striving to reshape the story of  our community and lives. A Third Place 
Center, in its short  life, has become the hub of the community and is crucial to 
the  hope we nurture in each other.    
 
Two years ago, in March 2007, there was no community center presence at all  
or almost none of the projects listed above; in the past two years there has  
been the exponential growth of community spirit, connecting, celebrations, and 
 services provided, as well as coalitions formed with others in our area. The 
 LivingRoom Church, few in number, took a risk in 2007 by moving out of its  
small rented space dedicated to church gatherings and moving into the much  
larger rented space just one block away and transforming it into the community  
center, giving it away to others, and meeting inside it. Our impact in the  
community immediately soared. 
 
We are pleased to host folks to the Center during Revival and are greatly  
appreciative of those who take part in the "quick plunge" mission project of  
helping out at the Center. We will have optional projects for volunteers to do  
which, though not taking long, will make a big and lasting difference  at the 
Center for its mission of "doing small things with great love to  change the 
world." Weather permitting, these may include some projects outside  the Center 
for those who like gardening, but others inside the Center such as  helping 
to do an "extreme design makeover" of one of our areas, or helping  organize 
and label the library materials, or other projects to choose from. Any  
donations can be made out also either to A Third Place Community Foundation or  to The 
LivingRoom Church, same address, and will go to the same place. 
 
 
 
 
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