A few years ago I attended a workshop on “Fresh Expressions” of the church conducted by Bob and Mary Hopkins.  It was the first time I began to connect what was happening through the ministry of Embrace Richmond with a movement of God that was far bigger than us. I started my ministerial...

As a 40+ year old, suburban, middle class, white,  female, many would find my new fascination with Hip Hop a bit puzzling.  Honestly, if you had told me a month ago I would be writing a post affirming Hip Hop music, I would have thought you were nuts.  Prior to last week, the only things I...

Richmond Virginia – the capital of the confederacy.   It is one of the most beautiful cities with one of the ugliest histories in our country.  As I share in my book, the racial divide in this city was one of the most shocking things to me when I first moved here. It is funny, most...

As the debt ceiling debate was raging a few weeks ago, I posted a request for a crystal ball on my Facebook status.  Sadly, no one would share their future-seeing-ball with me.  While the future for AmeriCorps, a federally funded program that makes up 70% of our Embrace Richmond funding,...

  In an article titled The Church – A ‘Presencing’ Body For Advancing Sustainably?, Gail Plowman states “that actions don’t create relationships, but relationships often create actions.”  In my post “The Power of We”, I shared my belief that the core of any effective...

Every time we teach Unity Works, I think I learn more than the participants.  For those of you who do not know, Unity Works is an 8 week interactive workshop series designed to address some of the most challenging issues facing our city. Our goal in facilitating these workshops is to help...

Over the past few weeks I have been blogging through the book When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert.  The authors point out that how you go about alleviating poverty is the result of how you define your end goal.  If you define poverty purely as a lack of material things, you...

One of the basic premises of the book “When Helping Hurts”, which I have been blogging through this past month, is that poverty is really a breakdown in relationships; relationships with self, others, God and creation.  The authors state, “While poor people mention having a lack of...

photo © 2008 Melissa Goodman | more info (via: Wylio)Embrace Richmond grew out of the intersection of the dreams of my suburban neighbors who wanted to help those in need and the dreams of a homeless woman who wanted to give back.  So every year around this time, I spend time dreaming about...

photo © 2007 Scott Maxwell | more info (via: Wylio)Life is filled with hard issues.  Every day we are confronted with feelings of grief, anger, sadness, guilt, shame and disappointment.  This week I have been dealing with a lot of grief and anger over the loss of my nephew.  One of the...

I am currently blogging my way through the book “When Helping Hurts: How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor and yourself.” As I shared in my first post, the author starts by asking foundational theological questions.  How you answer these questions will shape how you approach...

I grew up completely unchurched in the heart of the bible belt.  I did not attend any church until my late twenties when a series of miscarriages launched me on a spiritual journey. In my early years as a Christian, it was as if a whole new world opened up for me, a world of possibilities...