Myponga UCA

1402 Myponga location

Rev Julia Pitman invited me to join in an evening meal with Myponga UCA and congregations from within the parish. After dinner I told three stories where examples where churches have moved from ‘poverty’ models of welfare to ‘asset’ models of engagement.

At the establishment of Adelaide Central Mission – the Methodists provided maths and literacy as well as food and shelter to the unemployed.
Colleen the Giant Teapot visiting local street to address isolation of elderly people
Marion Church of Christ moving from Soup Kitchen to an opportunity to prepare food for lunch

I will prepare a full description of each of these projects in future blogs.

Question 1: I asked the group to discuss what where the principles which they identified from “successful” community programs. Some of their ideas included;

Self esteem and life skills
Listen deeply esp to those who are lonely / isolated
Concerns about permission and privacy were raised
Catalyst to create someting
Live and help live!
People aren’t just deficits – they always have things they can do (strengths)

Question No 2 :What if you were to apply these principles to your location? What might you do? Some of the ideas which arose include;

Getting the whole of Aged Groups together
Isolation in the new developments in the regions
Make a contribution to children and young families
Connect with Christian Pastoral Support Worker

We discussed the four quadrant integral theory – as a way of ensuring you are addressing all elements in a complex problem.

Myponga Dam