You may have seen the news that we have a new location established for us to be able to get back to having our monthly Community Partner luncheons and hopefully have more of a presence in the city. I have got to be part of coming up with the design concept for this new location. It's been really exciting to think about how to portray our mission and create a sense of what we're about through our decor and design.
As I've thought about it, the idea of needing to be grounded to the earth came to mind. I pondered on that for awhile, trying to figure out what it is about that idea that makes me think - yeah, that's what City Connections is about. Then one day it hit me: it is from dust we came and to dust we will return; our life here is temporary and as God says in His word, like a breath to Him. I want to be reminded of that every day, so that every day I am focused on serving and furthering the Kingdom in whatever way possible; I do not want to miss any opportunity for how God wants to use me, life is too fleeting!
And that, that is what we are about at City Connections; we make ourselves available every day to be used in furthering the Kingdom here in Little Rock. Won't you come serve with us, don't let this moment pass you by!
City Connections - Little Rock, Arkansas
Friday, August 30, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
Finding a place in the city
Since
starting City Connections, I have pursued the goal of creating a “financial
engine” that would enable us to “earn our way” and not be solely dependent on charitable
donations. To that end, we’re actively in pursuit these days of business owners
and managers who (1) are accustomed to outsourcing some of their job functions
to contractors or temporary staffers that gives them a more flexible work
force; and (2) who are socially-conscious of needs in our city and who are inclined
to think creatively about outsourcing to a non-profit organization like City
Connections.
We’ve
built a wonderful relationship with Gold Star Couriers to do just this, and are
working on a possible venture with Children’s Hospital as well. We have some wonderful relationships with a
variety of community partners who have individuals available and motivated to
come and give their best in work.
If
you are a decision maker, or know of one, to whom this is appealing, we’d love
to have a conversation with you about such and we’ll be glad to provide you
some references from the organization with whom we have piloted this unique
endeavor so you can get their feedback and recommendation.
We
also see a growing need for non-profit organizations to partner with real
estate developers in utilizing space available for Kingdom work. If you are one of the real estate developers
in our city who has some vacant office space, let me encourage you to consider
reaching out to us and letting us know about your willingness to bargain with
some of our non-profit community partners looking for space. This represents
good stewardship and provides you a wonderful way to use your “gift of giving” to
help meet a critical need facing several of our non-profit community partners
at this time.
I’d
be amidst to not reference that many of our community partners have real estate
needs other than office space, so if you have other spaces that fit one of the
following, we’d also love to hear from you:
·
Warehouse
/ distribution space;
·
Retail
space;
·
Residential
houses;
·
Large
meeting space;
·
Pre-school
or after-school space;
·
Entrepreneurial
space for multiple enterprises;
·
Etc.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
City Connections Collaborative Event
To All of our Community Partners:
This past weekend, I had the good fortune to observe and
participate in a “Strategic Planning Session” for the State-Wide C.A.L.L. Board
of Directors facilitated by my colleague, Mike Ferguson. While I was grateful
to have been invited to be a participant and offer input for their board . . .
I must tell you an even greater benefit was the opportunity to see my colleague
at work in his element! Mike’s life and professional experiences have brought
him to this kingdom work and even this week, it’s been rewarding to hear him
speak of the joy and fulfillment he is experiencing these days in this work
with City Connections!
As I sat in the room this past Saturday, it was a joy to
look around and see the C.A.L.L. group so engaged and energized by the
discussion and we’re confident action steps will be developed in short-order as
a result of the valuable “group-think” from the day! But all of that had
been carefully orchestrated . . . beginning with the prayers that had been
offered for the day, the individual participants, the agenda, and the desired
outcomes . . . a design team which had labored over the details; the
sequence and flow of information; the grouping of participants on very specific
and critical organizational priorities; creating the right atmosphere for all
of this to happen; etc.
But beyond the day’s experience for our friends with the
C.A.L.L., I couldn’t help but think about how valuable this would be for many
of our other non-profit community partners . . . and for many of our church
partners. Having spent most of my career on a ministerial staff, I couldn’t
help but think about the value of a church leadership team dedicating the time
to go through a similar process and allow for an outside, neutral, and trusted
partner to come alongside of them in this way and facilitate a forward-looking,
open and honest, strategic, prayerful, and action-oriented discussion.
I’ve said all of that to say that if you are a leader in a
non-profit organization or a church community and you’ve already been thinking
about your leadership team needing to have such an experience, Mike or I would
welcome having a conversation with you about how we could come alongside of you
and help in this way!
Jeff Spry
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