Participants:
Series Code: IAADD
Program Code: IAADD000012A
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00:27 Welcome to Issues & Answers.
00:29 Say, have you ever pastored church? 00:31 And said, you know, what are they doing? 00:33 Are they involved in the community? 00:36 You kind of see the building, 00:38 but you wonder what the people are up to. 00:39 Is the Church actually called 00:42 to be involved in the community? 00:44 We are gonna talk about that today 00:46 with Pastor Fred Batten. 00:48 Pastor Batten received his Bachelor's degree 00:52 from Middle Tennessee State University. 00:54 He has a Master's degree from Vanderbilt University 00:58 and he is currently working on a doctorate 01:00 in urban ministry from Andrews University. 01:03 Wow, we gonna really hear some good things today. 01:06 Welcome to the program. Thank you. 01:08 So glad, you could make it to Issues & Answers. 01:10 We are glad to be here. 01:12 I am glad to be of your service today. 01:14 Praise God. So-- 01:16 A lot of people said that, you know, 01:17 they see churches and they kind of wonder, 01:20 "Are they really involved in the community? 01:22 What's the church's calling? 01:23 Is it called to be able to minister to people 01:26 and then baptize folk or is it actually supposed to 01:29 get out into the greater community? 01:30 What's your take on that? 01:32 Well, Karen, I think that the church is called 01:35 by God, initially. 01:37 The people of God are called-- 01:38 it goes back into the book of Genesis. 01:41 In the book of Genesis, the church, the people of God, 01:45 Adam and Eve, were called by God. 01:47 Even after they had messed up, they sinned against God. 01:52 But God called them again. 01:55 He called them to existence, created them. 01:58 And He then He called them again because actually, 02:01 God is a missionary God. 02:03 And we see in Genesis 3, 02:05 that "God came looking for them in the cool of the day." 02:09 And so we see that theme 02:13 playing out through out scripture. 02:15 Matter of fact, he called Abram, 02:18 who later became Abraham. 02:21 But he called Abram 02:23 and to leave his comfort zone of his natural habitat. 02:28 Family. 02:30 His family and friends 02:31 and go to a place where God was sending him. 02:34 And so as he was able to follow God's instruction, 02:39 Abram, later Abraham, became a wonderful, great leader. 02:45 And a blessing to others-- 02:47 as a matter of fact, Genesis 12, 1, 2and 3, 02:51 the emphasis there is that God said, 02:54 "I am going to bless you, 02:56 so that you can be a blessing to others." 03:00 And so the church as we think about it, 03:03 the church is not just a building or four walls, 03:08 where people running to it on the weekend. 03:11 But the church is a place where we receive God's call. 03:17 Because actually, the Greek word 03:19 for "church" is "Ekklesia," which means, "called out ones." 03:24 We are called out from the world if you will, 03:28 and we are called to be about God's business. 03:32 And that business is just not about coming to church, 03:37 sitting in a pew, singing a song, 03:40 clapping your hands and going home to eat dinner. 03:44 But the church is called to do service. 03:49 So it's not a church club? It's not a church club. 03:52 Also-- although the church is also called to fellowship. 03:57 Fellowship, being with one another, 03:59 encouraging one another-- 04:01 you see that in the Book of Acts. 04:03 Acts Chapter 2, 04:04 when the beginning of the New Testament church, 04:07 the people came together, they prayed together, 04:09 they laughed together, 04:10 they ate together, they fellowship. 04:13 But all of that, that canonnier, 04:15 that fellowship, was to help not only 04:18 the church to come together, to bond and grow together. 04:22 But that was also evident in church growth. 04:26 Because in Acts 2:20-- 2:47, 04:30 we see there that the text says, 04:32 that the church did grow 04:34 after all those elements of praying, 04:37 and learning, and receiving instruction, 04:40 and fellowship, and having things in common 04:43 that the church was able to grow. 04:45 In other words, the people around them 04:48 were able to see something different, 04:51 something unique, something they, 04:53 perhaps wanted to have. 04:55 And so the church was able to grow 04:57 even by being called into fellowship. 05:01 So something that when you say the church was able to grow 05:03 and people were able to look in, 05:05 were you just talking about people 05:06 inside of the church we are looking in 05:07 or you are talking about the greater community 05:10 was looking in and seeing the church growing? 05:12 Well, if you look into the context of the text, 05:15 you will find that the people were growing spiritually 05:20 on the inside because they were receiving the Lord's Supper-- 05:24 the communion, they were eating together, 05:25 they were fellowshipping together, 05:27 they were praying together 05:29 and received the apostles, instructions. 05:32 But then you find that the text says 05:35 that the numbers were growing. 05:38 So that means to me that there was something 05:41 that was happening with that church. 05:44 And the community being able to see what was going on. 05:48 And perhaps, I believe that the church 05:51 was reaching to the community 05:53 by the love they were showing one to another. 05:57 And that love was able to reach out. 05:59 And to defuse in the air if you will, 06:02 and touch some other people. 06:03 So are you saying that the church is the epicenter? 06:07 You know, it's a center that then goes out. 06:10 I believe that church is at center, whereby, 06:14 we come to gather, to worship God. 06:17 We are called to come to worship Him, 06:20 we are called to receive His word 06:22 and we are also called to service. 06:26 The church is actually called to service-- 06:28 I know sometimes we think about-- 06:30 we talk, we say, "We are going to a church service." 06:33 Meaning, we are going to a building, 06:36 we are going to do all the liturgy 06:39 and the litany of a church activity. 06:42 But I believe that the church should be more engaged 06:47 in its local community. 06:50 The church-- as one man had said, 06:53 "If your church disappeared from the corner 06:57 where your church is located, 06:59 would the community miss your church? 07:03 Wow. Wow. 07:05 So let's say that my church is not particularly 07:09 community-oriented, that they really gotten 07:12 into that fellowship thing and the potlucks 07:15 and, you know, getting to know each other that's comfortable. 07:19 Where is the place to start to be able to be, 07:23 to change that within the church first, 07:26 to think in terms of beyond the church walls 07:28 and the doors of the church? 07:30 Well, I think one way is to again go back 07:33 to what we were called to be. 07:36 God calls, Jesus calls us to go and make disciples. 07:41 Disciples are learners of God. 07:44 Disciples are the persons who are following 07:47 the principles of Christ. 07:49 And Jesus is the ultimate missionary. 07:54 When you see the life, and study the life of Christ, 07:58 you will see Him reaching out to people. 08:01 You will see Jesus praying for people. 08:05 You will see Him befriending other people. 08:08 You will see Him listening to other people. 08:11 You will see Jesus even eating with other people. 08:15 You will see Jesus serving them. 08:18 And then sharing with them, the story of salvation. 08:22 And I like to call that, "I bless." 08:25 I bless. I bless. 08:28 That is what we are trying to do, implementing 08:31 at the Word of Life Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Memphis. 08:35 Yes. I bless. 08:36 We are blessed by God. 08:39 We are called, we are blessed by Him. 08:42 And then, we are called to be a blessing to others. 08:46 So we have intercessory prayer. 08:48 We are praying for our friends, and neighbors and loved ones. 08:51 As a matter of fact, I use the-- 08:54 an acronym bless in other way, for prayer inferences. 08:57 We pray for the-- B is for, 08:59 we're praying for persons' body, 09:01 their health and their physical well being. 09:04 The "L" is for "labor" asking God to help them 09:08 with their finding the job, 09:10 employment and financial security. 09:13 "E" is for their "emotional state." 09:17 And there are a lot of people who are dealing 09:18 with the emotional concern. 09:19 We want them to be able to have 09:21 some peace that God can only bring. 09:24 And then we also talk about their social activity, 09:27 their relationships, love 09:29 and their family, and marriages. 09:31 We are praying for people in these ways. 09:34 And then finally, we pray for their salvation. 09:37 So we are blessing them with prayer. 09:40 We are asking God-- and we begin. 09:42 You ask how to begin? Begin with your own family. 09:45 Begin with your friends, your co-workers, 09:48 those that you run across, that you come across everyday. 09:53 You know, God is not asking us. 09:55 Even though society tells us and research tells us 09:58 that America is the new missionary field 10:01 with all kinds of people coming to America. 10:03 Yes. 10:05 We must understand that God gives us 10:07 a missionary field right around us. 10:10 It is located in our own neighborhoods 10:12 and the neighborhoods where our churches are located. 10:17 So under the "I bless" program, 10:19 at the Word of Life Seventh-Day Adventist Church 10:22 at Memphis, Tennessee. 10:23 What kinds of things you guys are doing, 10:25 take it out of the community? 10:27 Correct. 10:28 What we are doing to go out 10:30 into the community is various things. 10:33 Number one, I like to suggest that we are able to connect 10:39 with a local school in Memphis where we are or we are located, 10:44 the school system is struggling academically. 10:48 The children are struggling, matter of fact, 10:51 some of the schools had to be 10:52 taken over by the state because-- 10:53 Where area of Memphis is the church located? 10:56 The church is located in the Frayser community 10:59 in the city of Memphis. 11:01 That's in north-west Memphis area. 11:04 The schools were taken over by the state. 11:07 Several of them. 11:08 But what-- God allowed us and directed us 11:10 to reach out to a particular school 11:13 that is about 1.5 miles from our church location. 11:19 And we have adopted that elementary school. 11:22 And we have had some men go in 11:24 to mentor some of the young people, 11:26 some of the young men there. 11:28 And we also provide school supplies 11:31 at the beginning of the school year, 11:33 and even through out the year, our community service team, 11:37 they go in and they help 11:39 with other various things there. 11:41 As a matter of fact, we had an opportunity 11:43 to serve that school by painting their parking lot. 11:49 They haven't been painted it in a while. 11:50 We should stripe their parking lot. 11:52 Those kind of things about that the community would know. 11:55 That we are doing these things because we love God. 11:58 We want to show His love in the community. 12:02 Pastor, now let me ask you. 12:03 Can you paint a picture for those 12:04 that are not as familiar in Memphis 12:06 or the particular area, Frayser. 12:09 You know, what's the population there? 12:10 What are some of the needs of the community 12:12 in the Frayser area? 12:14 And this particular school. 12:17 Share with us that, please. 12:18 Well, Memphis is located in the west part of corridor 12:24 of Tennessee, right on the Mississippi river. 12:27 The area, Frayser is a place where there is a lot of crime. 12:33 There is low income. 12:36 Persons who are struggling financially. 12:39 The unemployment rate is rather high there. 12:43 Some statistics say around 16% 12:46 in terms of unemployment there. 12:50 And so we have a lot of single parents 12:52 in that particular area as well. 12:54 And of course, I mentioned the schools 12:56 that are struggling, were trying to build them up 12:59 and they are trying to do some things economically-- 13:01 excuse me, educationally, 13:03 to get the schools back on to par. 13:06 And so we are there in that part of the city of Memphis, 13:11 trying to be a blessing to the community. 13:15 If I may add-- another thing 13:17 that we are doing, the guys that let us 13:19 to do to help out community. 13:21 And not only do we provide school supplies, 13:25 but we have a Back to School Block Party 13:28 at the beginning of school year. 13:30 And we provide the school supplies, 13:32 we also have our health ministry's team. 13:35 They are providing blood pleasure checks 13:38 and doing all those kind of things for the community 13:41 at that time as well. 13:44 One of the things, if I may add... 13:46 Oh, please. No, no. That's what we are doing here. 13:47 We're adding, we want to hear all your examples. 13:49 You go right ahead and tell us about it. 13:52 God has lead us through some other activities. 13:56 And because there are some people 13:58 who are especially, elderly, who are not able to get out 14:02 as much or they may be vulnerable to-- 14:07 how can I say. 14:09 Some people like to get advantage in during tax season. 14:13 Really. What are they doing? 14:15 Well, some are-- some people are charging exorbitant 14:21 amount of fees to do your taxes. 14:24 To the senior citizens. To the senior citizens. 14:26 So they call them up and is it a scam kind of thing? 14:28 Well, there are some entities that are taking advantage. 14:32 And I think I will kind of leave it at that. 14:34 Okay. They take advantage of them. 14:37 But we have been a part of a service-- 14:41 helping to provide tax service 14:45 for the community for those low incomers. 14:47 And our team led by Sister Glenda Green, 14:52 they are-- doing a very positive job. 14:55 It's called VITA, volunteer income tax assistance. 14:59 And we work in partnership with united way in that area. 15:05 And we provide that service free of charge. 15:07 And many people have come, 15:09 last year alone we serviced 69 families. 15:12 Wow. 15:13 And we saved them over $50,000 worth of income tax. 15:19 That's why "I Bless." Right there, "I bless." 15:21 Yes. Wow. 15:23 So how did you organize some of this, 15:25 like you got the school. 15:26 How was it, that you approached your local school? 15:29 What did you guys do? What did you do? 15:30 Well, went to them because I went to the principal, 15:35 and went to the school just visiting, 15:37 making myself known in the community. 15:39 When I first came to Memphis-- and the Lord just impressed me 15:43 to go and talk with the principal. 15:45 And we talk with her, and we were asking about 15:48 how we could adopt the school. 15:51 And they shared with us the process 15:53 going through the school district, 15:56 that the procedures there. 15:58 So we were able to adopt that school and-- 16:01 through those procedures. 16:03 And we just had a wonderful time 16:05 and as a matter of fact, there, each year 16:09 we have a winter carnival for the kids at that school, 16:15 that elementary school, Westside Elementary School. 16:18 And the kids come out on the Saturday night, 16:21 they come out and we are there inside of the school, 16:24 inside of their cafetorium. 16:26 'Cause they do have a gymnasium at that particular site. 16:30 But we go in, and we have games 16:32 and we just have a fun night for the community. 16:34 Our way of reaching the community 16:37 in a non-threatening way to let them know 16:39 them we are called by God to be a blessing to others. 16:45 So when you have the winter fest, how about, 16:47 how many people come to that? 16:49 Well, approximately over a 100 to 120 come out. 16:55 Matter of fact, we-- the other event that we do have-- 16:59 because we are trying to reach the community 17:02 without the traditional ways-- 17:06 Assisted just coming to the church. 17:08 In not like you guys guys are coming out of your church. 17:11 And using-- you're using the school kind of as a base 17:13 to go into the community? 17:14 Yes, the school is a base where we go in 17:17 and seek to bless the community, 17:20 the school community, 17:21 the parents getting other parents. 17:23 Matter of fact, I go to the school now 17:26 and some of the kinds know me as Pastor Batten or Pastor B. 17:33 And so we go and we try to just reach the children, 17:37 reach the kids and reach their families 17:40 by just being a blessing to them. 17:42 Well, there is something else. 17:43 You know, you are kind of slim, you are tall. 17:46 Pastor Batten, if you have to stand up, 17:47 you'll be like, way tall. 17:49 Is there something that you do with the net 17:52 and a ball as well with the community? 17:55 I do play basketball. 17:57 I love basketball played it for quite some time. 18:00 We do have a program called Basketball Extravaganza. 18:04 As a matter of fact, my wife was instrumental 18:08 in helping to pull that together. 18:12 Some years ago, before we came to Memphis, 18:14 we did it in another district, in another church. 18:17 Explain what is Basketball Extravaganza? 18:18 Basketball Extravaganza is a time where-- 18:20 it's an other community event. 18:23 Whereby we invite a community, 18:24 we have-- and then they come out and we play. 18:27 We have three-point shoot out. 18:29 We have obstacle course games 18:30 for the little, smaller kids inside the gym, 18:33 just having a good time. 18:35 Matter of fact, we-- one of the things that we do 18:37 to draw other communities, 18:38 as we have pastors in the community 18:41 to play basketball. 18:42 Again, some of the youth in the community. 18:44 Wow. That should be exiting. It is exiting. 18:47 But sometimes for us who are pastors 18:49 and who are little older now. 18:51 It's time for being gain after the game. 18:55 So that brings the people out and they can have sessions 18:58 and everything. 19:00 At the whole nine yards. 19:01 As a matter of fact, this last time, 19:02 we had over 250 community guests who'd come. 19:06 And it was a great time. That is awesome. 19:09 That sounds like a lot of fun. 19:10 You guys are having a lot of fun. 19:13 The fun is great. 19:14 But the most important thing is that 19:16 we want the people to know that we love them, 19:19 and then we want to share the love of God with them. 19:21 And so we also have opportunities to invite them 19:25 to things that we are having at the church, 19:28 to small group Bible studies as well as to go 19:31 at other events that we have at the church. 19:35 Now do you have evangelistic meetings as well? 19:37 Do you, have you had some of those as a follow up maybe 19:40 to some of these other out reach efforts? 19:41 Yes, we do. 19:43 We understand that the church is called 19:46 to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. 19:49 And that gospel, not only good news of salvation, 19:52 but it is also helping others in their day to day living. 19:57 And so we have the evangelistic series 19:59 that we do from every year. 20:02 And God has blessed us 20:03 as we have been able to touch souls 20:07 in a practical manner, 20:09 but also touching them in a spiritual manner as well. 20:12 Wow, so the church is called to go beyond its community doors. 20:18 What if the-- some things-- 20:19 how about the health practitioners 20:21 in your congregation? 20:22 Have they organized any events, 20:25 or walks or a health events that's been going on? 20:28 We do-- we have, also have a walk. 20:34 We have done it for two years. 20:36 And we've-- two mile walk, 20:39 that's at the Ed Rice Community Center. 20:42 They have a track there. 20:43 And so we encourage our folks to get out in walk. 20:48 For some reason, that particular event 20:49 has not been as successful in terms 20:52 of community participation. 20:55 But by God's grace we'll go back 20:57 and look at those things and re-evaluate them. 20:59 And see how we can better co-ordinate 21:03 that with the community. 21:04 But we do have the other activities 21:06 for as the blood pressure checks 21:09 and the weight, the exercise class I-- 21:12 forget about the exercise class that. 21:14 Tell us about the exercise class. 21:15 That is, that is a very helpful. 21:17 Well, the exercise class is a spin off of something else 21:20 that we did in the community at a local gymnasium. 21:23 What was it that you did at that? 21:25 It is called The Be Smart Camp. It's during the summer. 21:29 During the summer, the kids are out of school 21:31 and don't have a lot of things to do so. 21:33 One week during the summer, we have The Be Smart Camp. 21:37 And the Be Smart Camp is-- it provides information 21:41 in a fun way for the kids. 21:43 They get to move around to some up-beat music, 21:49 I'll say you, that they are perhaps 21:51 more accustomed to hearing. 21:53 But the message behind the music, 21:56 the message is helping them to learn to brush their teeth, 22:00 go to bed, to eat right and good fruits and vegetables. 22:04 So it's called Be Smart Camp. 22:06 That is a program that's come to us 22:09 from two individuals who developed this program 22:12 from Ocala, Florida. 22:14 Grace Daley, a former WNBA basketball player 22:18 and Ann Burnett, they have a-- they have developed 22:20 this particular program called Be Smart. 22:23 So they have come and to help us 22:25 to share that in the community. 22:26 Really. It is awesome. 22:28 It is a very awesome opportunity. 22:30 And if you, if you ever-- want some more information about it, 22:34 I can get that information to you. 22:36 Okay, good. That they-- 22:37 I am sure everybody does 22:39 want to have more information about that. 22:40 Yes. Okay. 22:41 So we'll cover that again later on in the program. 22:44 So I want to ask you about how expensive was it? 22:47 For example, this camp. 22:49 Did you have-- how did you feed the kids? 22:50 Well, we fed the kids by donations 22:53 that we, we solicited some individual businesses 22:56 and persons in the community to help sponsor 23:00 and to help provide those kind of things. 23:01 So we are, we are-- the church is as place 23:06 is a organization and organism, a living organism 23:10 whereby we are seeking to help the community. 23:14 And also get the name of God's church 23:18 in the community to be able to make not only transactions, 23:22 buying stuff but build friendships, 23:25 and build rapport and relationship 23:27 with the community in such a way 23:30 that we can help them in times of need. 23:34 And they can us to provide services 23:37 for the community as well. 23:39 Now you said that the Be Smart program 23:41 that you spun off from that and did another program. 23:44 What was that program? 23:45 We had an exercise program at the church. 23:48 And some of the members got involved. 23:50 They wanted to perhaps, you know, 23:52 slim down a bit or have some more helpful activity 23:58 in their own life and so. 24:01 We have an exercise class. 24:02 It meets you on Thursday nights from 6 to 7. 24:06 Just one hour for those who are interested in exercise. 24:10 And we have some community, persons coming to that as well. 24:14 Oh, wow. That's really awesome. 24:16 So did you face when you coming into Memphis 24:19 and coming into your congregation. 24:21 Did you have any kind of -- 24:24 what challenges did you face 24:26 may be with your own congregation 24:28 to bring them to the point? 24:29 Were they already very, very, very active in the community 24:31 when you came? 24:33 Well, you said, very, very, very active. 24:36 You're very, very, very, sounds very active 24:38 there at the churches. 24:40 We were somewhat active in the community. 24:42 We had some things that we're already doing. 24:44 But we just want to add to that, amplify that. 24:48 And some members will say I have amplified it a lot. 24:52 But we want to make sure that 24:55 we are been engaged in the community. 24:58 So we added to what was already been done. 25:01 Built upon it. Built upon it. 25:03 You know, in any place that you go, 25:06 there are always some struggles. 25:08 Sometimes that we-- you may feel that the Pastor 25:13 is moving too fast or, you know, those kind of things. 25:18 However, we, by God's grace, 25:20 we were able to move in a way that was beneficial 25:24 not only to the congregation, but to the community at large. 25:27 And I must say that we still have 25:30 much more to do for the kingdom of God. 25:32 Because not only do we want to touch the people 25:35 with the activities, with the events, 25:38 but the most important thing is that we want to touch them, 25:41 we want to bless them 25:43 with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 25:45 Well, it's very, very exciting. 25:47 I mean, to the idea of church moving beyond 25:50 from, you know, being more social, 25:52 to be in social and community. 25:55 Sometimes I think, we think, we have to do one or the other. 25:58 But you're saying we can do both. 25:59 It is a balance. We must do both. 26:02 Because if we just stay within the four walls of the church, 26:06 then the church will never grow, 26:09 never meet the people. 26:11 I believe that Jesus said that the church is called 26:14 to be salt and the light. 26:16 Amen. 26:17 In order to be salt, and to be effective salt, 26:21 the salt must touch 26:23 that which it wants to bring salt too. 26:27 So we-- in order to preserve the meat, 26:30 the salt must get into, must touch the meat. 26:35 So are you available to travel 26:37 or be able to train people or do you have some resources 26:40 that you can leave with us here at Dare to Dream network 26:43 that we can follow with people in? 26:46 Well, I do have some material 26:48 that we are working on as we are continuing 26:51 to work on our dissertation of process, the main process. 26:56 We do have information that we have available. 27:00 And we will be more than happy to come 27:02 and share the little we do know to other 27:05 who may be interested. 27:07 Wow. 27:08 How have your other pastors, you know, 27:10 have you had any opportunity to share this story 27:13 with other pastors and other church members 27:16 beyond your immediate congregation in Frayser area? 27:19 Yes, we have, as a matter of fact, 27:22 we have a strong coalition of pastors 27:25 in the city of Memphis. 27:27 We meet, kind of regularly and we fellowship together 27:30 and we bounce ideas off each other 27:32 and we share various things with each other, 27:34 regarding ministry and being more community focused 27:38 and mission driven. 27:41 Well, I want to thank you so much, Pastor Batten 27:43 for coming to the program. 27:44 Thank you. Thank you so much for coming. 27:45 We are gonna continue to keep in prayer 27:47 the entire ministry that you have there in Memphis. 27:50 Thank you so much for joining us today. 27:51 We hope that you will take some of these principles 27:55 that have been shared to be able to become 27:57 more community oriented. 27:59 I know it's a challenge, you know, 28:00 'cause a church consist of us. 28:02 We are the members, right? 28:04 And sometimes we say, 28:05 "Well, the pastor needs to be person that leads a group." 28:08 But we could be that person as Pastor Batten said that is, 28:11 the salt on the earth 28:14 in our community to make a difference. 28:15 Let's do that today. 28:16 God bless you. Thanks for joining us. |
Revised 2016-03-30