Park Place / Hip Hop Church in the Park

Sound check in Park Place, 03-08-2010 from Andy Jenkins on Vimeo.
The vision of the event is simple: create a fun, life-giving experience that draws people closer to Jesus and to each other. 

The event runs bi-weekly (Sunday evenings, the 1st & 3rd week of the month), from 5:00pm to 6:15ish. With set up and tear down it breaks down to look something like this, though not all team members need to be present for all of the activities that day:

• 3:00pm- sound team and logistical team begin setting up for the event.
• 4:00pm- sound check is complete, food team begins prepping food for the event.
• 5:00pm- outdoor worship service runs from 5:00- 5:45pm.
• 5:45pm- dinner is served (has been cooking during the event, near the stage area).
• 6:15ish- as the crowd disperses, tear down begins (by appropriate teams).

Background

A few years ago, many of the churches that were in the inner city moved away. This is true of black churches and white churches. For some it was an economic decision, for others it was the perception of safety. For some, it was the fact that all of their parishioners now lived in another area. And, for others, it was that they could not build a sustainable church in the heart of the city.

But people still live in the city. In fact, a lot of them do. And, to change the landscape of a city, you must change the inner city. This will always be true. Those in the city wage and undue amount of influence on the entire region. You can change the suburbs and outlying areas indefinitely. But, until the inner core is revitalized, the entire area will limp economically, relationally, and spiritually.

 

Just over a year ago, we created an outdoor “church event” that would open its “doors” to the neighborhood. We decided to locate the event (bi-weekly- giving us a week to do the event, and a week to prepare for the next one) in an obviously public place, somewhere where people were used to gathering anyway. And, it would be easy for people to attend. We would cook out (food is a draw in the city, because it is so highly relational); we would sing a few songs; we would present the Gospel; we would provide other forms of ministry (clothing, prayer, etc.).

The result was the Park Place event- which became dubbed as the “Hip Hop Church in the Park,” due to the music that was being used. The first event was successful: within 5 events (remember, it’s bi-weekly, so that means 10 weeks), the event grew to over 300 people.

The news even came to cover it. In fact, you can read a CBS 42 News story on the event right here.

We actually stopped doing the event around Easter 2011. The event was getting larger and larger, but there were so many moving pieces to it that it would require a team to pull it off. As such, we committed that we would pray for- and seek out- a team that was committed to the ministry. Then, when we had the right people onboard, a team that could sustain and grow the event (rather than burning out a few people) we would re-launch.

That’s where we are today.

There are 8 teams (comprising 17 areas of ministry). We need team leaders (for the 8 teams) and team members- to carry out the 17 functions. This doesn’t mean that we only need 17 volunteers. I  believe that to do a great job, we need about 50 people to kick the event off. Mind you, too, once we build the teams large enough, we can replicate this event at another site. Can you imagine if we had 10-15 of these ministry events happening all across the city, taking the church to the people who need it, from the very places the church has left?

Here are the teams:

• Sound team (brings the sound equipment, sets it up, turns on background music for event).
• Food team (preps food).
• Publicity (pre-event team; passes out flyers all week, networks with local groups for coverage).
• Helps (meeting physical needs of the people who come).
• Communication / follow-up (is a post-event team).
• Stage (provides music and message).
• Prayer (during the week, as well as being present to minister to people at the event).
• Logistical (permits, planning, organizing all equipment for pick-up, etc.)

There is more info on these teams, too, in that PDF that I mentioned earlier. The first few pages outline the teams that are needed fairly well, and describe the event in more detail. You can get that PDF right here: Park Place overview : plan

Here’s what I am asking you to do:

1. Click the links above and “check out” the event- both the written info I’ve linked you to, as well as the video (it will show you what it all looks like).

2. Pray about your involvement in this. We don’t want you to pull off the entire event. We’re asking you to pray about a specific piece of the event that fits your gifts and abilities- and consider doing it- whether it be running logistics, passing out clothes to those who need them, praying for people who come to the “prayer tent,” or cooking for 300 people on a massive grill.

3. Share this with others who may be interested. We always need additional team  members. And, remember, we can duplicate this in other areas as we grow the team. This means that if you are drawn to a specific area of the city, we can help expand.

4. Let me know your thoughts!

Here’s the plan: Park Place overview : plan (note, this will pull up a PDF document. Depending on your browser, you may need to “right click” and “save as.”