serving locally

“Memphis ain’t a bad town.  For those that like city life”.

From the play Light in August by William Faulkner

Individually and congregationally we strive to love and serve our world. And we begin with the part of the world closest to us. For Living Hope, our closest neighbor is the city of Memphis.

Our heart for Memphis is motivated by strategy and compassion. Strategically, we see a consistent theme in the Bible of God’s mission taking place in the urban centers of the known world. Entire books of the Bible focus on cities, many of the Psalms reflect an urban (Jerusalem) reflection, some of the earliest Christian missionaries such as Paul went first to the cities and metropolises of the ancient world. At Living Hope we follow in that tradition, by turning our faces and hearts towards our nearest city, Bluff City, Memphis, TN.

Compassionately, God calls us to care for the poor, the widows and orphans. We find a concentration of the poor and marginalized in the dynamic, yet sometimes disadvantaged neighborhoods of Memphis.

In an attempt to intertwine our lives with the lives of the poor, to learn from them, to share our faith, invite whosoever to join us in following the faithful way of Christ and participate with them in the coming of God’s Kingdom in Memphis as it is in Heaven, we focus on the City.

Practically, from week to week, what this looks like is Living Hope engaged in teaching English to new Americans, building and repairing homes, praying, reading to children, mentoring youth and young entrepreneurs, proclaiming invitations to join us in following the ways of Jesus and demonstrating His love, justice and compassion.