Participants: Karen Thomas (Host), Pr. Fred Batten
Series Code: IAADD
Program Code: IAADD000034A
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00:27 Welcome to Issues & Answers.
00:29 Say, have you ever passed a church and said, 00:31 "You know, what are they doing? 00:33 Are they involved in the community?" 00:36 You kind of see the building but you wonder 00:38 what the people are up to. 00:39 Is the church actually called 00:42 to be involved in the community. 00:44 We're 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's currently working on a doctorate in Urban Ministry 01:01 from Andrews University. 01:02 Wow! 01:04 We're gonna really hear some good things today. 01:06 Welcome to the program. Thank you. 01:08 So glad you can make it to Issues & Answers. 01:10 Oh, very glad to be here 01:12 and glad to be of service today. 01:14 Praise God. 01:15 So, a lot of people said that, 01:17 you know, 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 01:25 to people and baptize folk, 01:27 or is it actually supposed to get out 01:29 into the greater community? 01:30 What's your take on that? 01:32 Well, Karen, I think that the church 01:34 is called 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. 01:54 He called them into existence, created them, 01:58 and then He called them again 01:59 because actually God is a missionary God. 02:03 If we see in Genesis 3, 02:05 that God came looking for them 02:08 in the cool of the day. 02:09 And so we see that theme 02:12 playing out throughout scripture. 02:15 Matter of fact, He called Abram, 02:18 who later became Abraham. 02:20 But He called Abram 02:22 to leave his comfort zone of his natural habitat. 02:28 Family... 02:30 His family and friends, and go to a place 02:32 where God was sending him. 02:34 And so as he was able 02:37 to follow God's instruction, 02:39 Abram, later Abraham, 02:41 became a wonderful great leader 02:45 and a blessing to others. 02:47 A matter of fact, Genesis 12: 1, 2 and 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 03:07 where people run into it on the weekend, 03:10 but the church is a place 03:13 where we receive God's call. 03:16 'Cause, actually, 03:18 the Greek word for church is "Ekklesia, 03:21 " which means called out once. 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, 03:36 sitting in a pew, singing a song, 03:40 clapping your hands, 03:41 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? 03:50 It's not a church club, 03:52 although, the church is also called to fellowship, 03:57 fellowshipping with one another, 03:59 encouraging one another. 04:00 You see that in the book of Acts, Acts 2, 04:04 when the beginning of the New Testament church, 04:07 the people came together. 04:08 They prayed together, they laughed together, 04:10 they ate together, they fellowshipped. 04:13 But all of that, that koinonia, 04:15 that fellowship was to help 04:17 not only the church come together to bond 04:21 and to grow together, 04:22 but that was also evident in church growth. 04:26 Because in Acts 2:47, 04:29 we see there that the text says that the church did grow. 04:34 After all of those elements of praying and, learning, 04:38 and receiving instruction, and fellowship, 04:41 and having things in common, the church was able to grow. 04:45 In other words, the people around them 04:47 were able to see something different, 04:51 something unique, something that 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. 05:00 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 05:06 people inside of the church were looking in 05:07 or you're talking about 05:09 the greater community was looking in 05:10 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 05:18 were growing spiritually on the inside 05:20 because they were receiving the Lord's Supper, 05:23 the communion, they were eating together, 05:25 they were fellowshipping together, 05:27 they were praying together, 05:29 and received the apostle's 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, 05:50 that the church was reaching to the community 05:53 by the love they were showing one to another, 05:56 and that love was able to reach out 05:59 and to diffuse in the air, 06:01 if you will, 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, 06:13 whereby we come to gather to worship God. 06:17 We are called to come to worship Him. 06:19 We are called to receive His word. 06:22 And we're also called to service. 06:25 The church is actually called to service. 06:28 I know sometimes we think about, we say, 06:31 "we are going to a church service," meaning, 06:34 we're going to a building. Right. 06:36 We're going to do all the liturgy 06:38 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 has 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?" 07:02 Wow. Wow. 07:05 So let's say that my church 07:08 is not particularly community-oriented, 07:11 that they've really gotten into that fellowship thing 07:14 and the pot-luck thing, 07:15 you know, getting to know each other. 07:17 That's comfortable. 07:19 What, 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 and the doors? 07:29 Well, I think one way is to, 07:31 again, go back to what we were called to be. 07:36 God called, Jesus calls us to go and make disciples. 07:41 Disciples are learners of God. 07:44 Disciples are persons 07:45 who are following 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. 08:27 That is what we are trying to do, 08:30 implementing at the Word of Life 08:32 Seventh-day Adventist Church in Memphis. 08:34 Yes. I bless. 08:36 We are blessed by God, we are called. 08:40 We are blessed by Him. 08:41 And then we are called to be a blessing to others. 08:45 So we have intercessory prayer. 08:48 We are praying for our friends, and neighbors, and loved ones. 08:51 Matter of fact, I use an acronym "blessed" 08:55 in another way, for prayer inferences. 08:57 We pray for the, 'B' is for, 08:59 we're praying for person's body, their health, 09:02 and their physical well-being. 09:04 The 'L' is for labor, 09:06 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. 09:16 You know, there are lot of people 09:18 who are dealing with emotional concern. 09:19 We want them to be able to have some peace 09:22 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're 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 did you begin? 09:43 Begin with your own family. 09:45 Begin with your friends, your coworkers, 09:48 those that you are, that you run across, 09:50 that you come across every day. 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. 10:04 We must understand that 10:06 God gives us a missionary field right around us. 10:09 It's located in our own neighborhoods 10:12 and in 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 in Memphis, Tennessee. 10:23 What kinds of things are you guys doing, 10:25 in regard to the community? 10:27 Correct. 10:28 Well, what we're doing to go out into the community 10:31 is various things. 10:33 Number one, I like to suggest that we are able to, 10:38 we're able to connect with a local school in Memphis 10:42 where we are located. 10:44 The school system is struggling academically. 10:48 The children are struggling. 10:50 Matter of fact, some of the schools 10:51 had to be taken over by the state because of poor... 10:53 What area of Memphis is the church located? 10:56 The church is located in the Frayser Community 10:58 in the city of Memphis. 11:00 And that's in northwest Memphis area. 11:04 The schools were taken over by the state, several of them. 11:08 But we, 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 adopted that elementary school. 11:22 We've 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 throughout the year our community service team, 11:37 they go in, and they help 11:39 with other various things there. 11:40 Matter of fact, we had an opportunity to serve 11:44 that school 11:46 by painting their parking lot, 11:48 that hadn't been painted in a while. 11:50 We striped their parking lot. 11:52 Those kinds of things that the community will know, 11:55 that we're doing these things because we love God 11:58 and we wanna show His love in the community. 12:01 Pastor, let me ask you. 12:03 Can you paint a picture for those 12:04 that are not as familiar with Memphis 12:06 or the particular area, Frayser? 12:08 You know, what's the population there? 12:10 What are some of the needs of the community 12:12 in the Frayser area and this particular school? 12:16 Well, Memphis is located in the west part, 12:23 corridor of Tennessee, 12:25 right on the Mississippi River. 12:27 The area of Frayser is a, 12:29 is a place where there's 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, 12:42 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. 12:57 We're trying to build them up. 12:59 They're 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're there in that part 13:09 of the city of Memphis 13:10 trying to be a blessing to the community. 13:15 If I may add, another thing that we are doing, 13:18 the guys, they let us to do, to help our community, 13:21 not only do we provide school supplies, 13:25 but we have a back-to-school block party 13:27 at the beginning of the school year. 13:29 And we provide the school supplies, 13:32 but we also have our health ministry's team. 13:35 They are providing blood pressure checks 13:38 and doing all those kind of things 13:40 for the community at that time as well. 13:44 One other thing, if I may add. 13:45 Oh, put it, no, no. That's what we're doing here. 13:47 We are adding. We wanna hear all your examples. 13:49 You go right ahead and tell us about it. 13:51 God has led us through some other activities 13:56 and because there are some people 13:58 who are specially, elderly, 14:01 who are not able to get out as much 14:03 or they may be vulnerable to, how can I say? 14:09 Some people like to take advantage of them 14:10 doing tax season. 14:13 Really? What are they doing? 14:15 Well, some people are charging 14:20 exorbitant amount of fees 14:22 to do your taxes. 14:24 To the senior citizens? To the senior citizens. 14:26 So they call them up and it's 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. 14:36 They're taking 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 income, 14:47 and our team thereby assisted, 14:50 you know, Glenda Green. 14:52 They are doing a very positive job, 14:55 it's called VITA, 14:56 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, 14:59 and we work in partnership 15:01 with The 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 and we saved them over $50,000 worth of income tax. 15:18 That's a 'I Bless' right there. 15:20 I Bless. Yes. 15:22 Wow. 15:24 So how did you organize some of these, 15:25 like you've got the school, 15:26 how was it that you approached your local school? 15:29 What did you guys do? 15:30 Well, we went to them, 15:33 'cause I went to the principal and went to the school, 15:36 just visiting, making myself known in the community 15:39 when I first came to Memphis. 15:41 And the Lord just impressed me to go 15:43 and talk with the principal. 15:45 And we talked with her. 15:46 And we were asking about how we could adopt the school. 15:51 And they shared with us the process 15:53 going through the school district, 15:56 the procedures there. 15:57 And so we were able to adopt that school in, 16:01 through those procedures. 16:02 And we just had a wonderful time. 16:05 A matter of fact, 16:07 each year, 16:09 we have a winter carnival for the kids at that school, 16:15 that elementary school, 16:16 Westside Elementary School. 16:18 And the kids come out on a Saturday night, 16:21 they come out and we are there inside the school, 16:24 inside of their cafetorium 16:26 'cause they don't have a gymnasium 16:27 at their particular site. 16:29 Right. 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 16:36 in a non-threatening way 16:38 to let them know that we are called by God 16:42 to be a blessing to others. 16:45 So when you have the Winterfest, 16:47 about how many people come to that? 16:49 Well, approximately over 100 to 120 come out. 16:54 Matter of fact, we, 16:56 the other event that we do have, 16:58 because we are trying to reach the community 17:02 without the traditional ways... 17:06 In other words, instead of just coming to the church. 17:08 It's not that you guys are coming out of your church 17:10 and using or using the school, kind of, 17:12 as a base to go into the community. 17:14 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 get to know other parents. 17:23 Matter of fact, I go to the school now 17:26 and some of the kids know me as Pastor Batten 17:31 or Pastor B. 17:32 And so we go, and we try to just reach the children, 17:36 reach the kids, and reach the families 17:39 by just being a blessing to them. 17:41 There's something else, you know, you're kind of slim, 17:44 you're tall, Pastor Batten. 17:46 If we had you stand up, you'll be like, way tall. 17:49 Now is there something that you do with a net 17:52 and a ball as well, 17:54 with the community? 17:56 I do play basketball. 17:57 I love basketball. 17:58 I played it for quite some time. 18:00 We do have a program called Basketball Extravaganza. 18:04 A matter of fact, my wife was instrumental 18:08 in helping to pull that together some years ago, 18:12 before we came to Memphis, 18:14 we did it in another district, another church. 18:16 And explain what is Basketball Extravaganza? 18:18 Basketball Extravaganza is a time where, 18:20 it's another community event, 18:22 where about we invite the community, 18:24 we have them to come out and we play. 18:27 We have three-point shoot out. 18:29 We have obstacle course games for the little, 18:31 smaller kids inside the gym just having a good time. 18:34 Matter of fact, one of the things 18:36 that we do to draw the community 18:38 is we have pastors in the community 18:40 to play basketball against 18:42 some of the youth in the community. 18:44 Wow. That should be exciting. 18:45 It is exciting but sometimes for us, 18:48 who are pastors and who are a little older now, 18:50 it's time for binge after the game. 18:55 So that brings the people out 18:57 and they have concessions and everything? 18:59 The whole nine yards, a matter of fact. 19:01 This last time, we had over 250 community guests to come, 19:06 and it was a great time. 19:08 That is awesome. 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 19:16 is that we want the people to know that we love them, 19:18 and that we want to share the love of God with them. 19:21 And so we also have opportunities 19:23 to invite them to things 19:25 that we're having at the church 19:28 to small group Bible studies as well 19:30 as to other events that we have at the church. 19:34 Now do you have evangelistic meetings as well? 19:37 Do you have, you had some of those as a follow-up, 19:39 maybe, to some of these other outreach efforts? 19:42 Yes, we do. 19:43 We understand that the church 19:45 is called to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. 19:48 And that gospel is not only the 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 20:01 and God has blessed us 20:03 as we have been able to touch souls 20:07 in a practical manner 20:08 but also touching them in a spiritual manner as well. 20:12 Wow. 20:13 So the church is called to go beyond its community doors. 20:18 What are the some things, 20:19 how about the health practitioners 20:20 in your congregation? 20:22 Have they organized any events, 20:25 walks, or health events that's been going on? 20:28 We do. 20:29 We have, also have a walk. 20:34 We've done it for two years. 20:37 A 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 and walk. 20:47 For some reason, that particular event 20:49 has not been as successful 20:51 in terms of community participation, 20:54 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 coordinate 21:02 that with the community. 21:04 But we do have the other activities for, 21:07 as the blood pressure checks, and the weight, 21:11 the exercise class. 21:12 I forgot about the exercise class. 21:14 Tell us about the exercise class. 21:15 That is a very healthful. 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 the... 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. 21:32 So one week during the summer, we have the Be Smart camp. 21:36 And the Be Smart camp, 21:38 it provides information in a fun way for the kids. 21:43 They get to move around to some upbeat music, 21:48 I will say, 21:50 that they are perhaps more accustomed to hearing. 21:53 But the message behind the music, 21:56 the message is helping them to learn to brush your teeth, 22:00 go to bed, to eat right, 22:02 good fruits and vegetables. 22:04 So it's called Be Smart and that is a program 22:07 that has come to us from two individuals 22:10 who developed this program from Ocala, Florida. 22:14 Grace Daley, a former WNBA basketball player 22:18 and Ann Burnett, 22:19 they have developed this particular program 22:22 called Be Smart. 22:23 So they've come to help us 22:25 to share that in the community. 22:26 Really? It's 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. 22:37 Yeah, I'm sure everybody does want to have 22:38 more information about that. 22:40 Yes. Okay. 22:41 So, and we'll cover that again later on in the program. 22:44 So I wanna ask you about how expensive was it? 22:47 For example, this camp, did you have, 22:49 how did you feed the kids? 22:50 Well, we fed the kids by donations. 22:53 We solicited some individual businesses 22:56 and persons in the community to help sponsor 22:59 and to help provide those kinds of things. 23:01 So we are, the church is a place, 23:06 is a organization and organism, 23:09 a living organism, 23:10 whereby we are seeking to help the community. 23:14 And also get the name of God's Church in the community, 23:19 to be able to 23:20 make not only transactions buying stuff, 23:23 but build friendships. 23:25 And build rapport 23:26 and relationship with the community 23:29 in such a way 23:30 that we can help them in times of need 23:34 and they can help 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, they wanted to, 23:51 perhaps, you know, slim down a bit 23:53 or have some more 23:56 healthful activity in their own life 23:59 and so we have an exercise class 24:02 that meets on Thursday nights from 6:00 to 7:00, 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 were coming into Memphis 24:19 and coming into your congregation, 24:21 did you have any kind of, 24:23 what challenges did you face, 24:26 maybe, 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. 24:35 I was... 24:36 You're very, very, very active. 24:38 Well, I will say that 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 wanted to add to that, amplify that. 24:48 And some members will say, I've amplified it a lot, 24:52 but we want to make sure 24:54 that we are being engaged in the community. 24:57 So we added to what was already being done. 25:01 Built upon it. Built upon it. 25:02 Okay. 25:03 You know, in any place that you go, 25:05 there are always some struggles. 25:07 Sometimes that we, 25:10 you may feel that the pastor is moving too fast or, 25:16 you know, those kinds of things. 25:17 Right. 25:19 However, by God's grace, 25:20 we were able to move in a way 25:22 that was beneficial not only to the congregation, 25:25 but to the community at large. 25:27 And I must say that we still have much more to do 25:30 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, 25:37 but the most important thing is that we want to touch them, 25:41 want to bless them 25:42 with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 25:45 Well, it's very, very exciting. 25:47 I mean, the idea of the church moving beyond from, you know, 25:51 it being more social, to being social and community. 25:55 Sometimes I think, we think, have to do one or the other. 25:57 But you're saying we can do both. 25:59 It is a balance. 26:01 We must do both 26:02 because if we just stay within the four walls 26:04 of the church, 26:06 then the church will never grow, 26:08 never meet the people. 26:11 I believe that Jesus said that the church 26:13 is called to be salt and 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 to. 26:27 So we, in order to preserve the meat, 26:30 the salt must get into, 26:32 must touch the meat. 26:34 So are you available to travel and to be able to train people 26:39 or do you have some resources that you can leave with us 26:41 here at Dare to Dream network 26:43 that we can follow-up with people on? 26:45 I do have some material that we are working on 26:49 as we are continuing to work on our dissertation process, 26:54 demand process. 26:56 We do have information that we have available. 27:00 And we will be more than happy to come and share 27:03 the little we do know to others who may be interested. 27:06 Wow. 27:07 How have your other pastors, 27:10 you know, have you had any opportunity 27:12 to share this story with other pastors 27:14 and other church members 27:16 beyond your immediate congregation 27:18 in Frayser area? 27:19 Yes, we have, a matter of fact, 27:22 we have a strong coalition of pastors 27:25 in the city of Memphis, 27:26 and we meet kind of regularly, 27:28 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 27:36 and being more community-focused 27:38 and mission-driven. 27:41 Well, I wanna thank you so much, Pastor Batten, 27:43 for coming to the program. 27:44 Thank you so much for coming. Thank you. 27:45 We're gonna continue to keep in prayer your entire ministry 27:48 that you have there in Memphis. 27:49 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 27:56 to be able to become more community-oriented. 27:59 And it's a challenge, you know, 28:00 'cause the church consists of us. 28:02 We are the members, right? 28:03 And sometimes we say, 28:05 "Well, the pastor needs to be the person 28:06 that leads the group." 28:08 But we could be that person as Pastor Batten said, 28:11 that is the salt on the earth 28:13 and our community to make a difference. 28:15 Let's do that today. God bless you. 28:17 Thanks for joining us. |
Revised 2017-02-21