Faith Based Coffee

When it comes to partnering with schools in your community, it's never easy. But there are schools in America who are desperate for help, and they are asking the faith community to partner with them to meet the students' needs. But what would that even look like for schools and churches to work together?

Here in my own community of Vancouver is one example of such an occurrence. It is called the Faith Based Coffee. The administrator of the Family and Community Resource Centers recently shared with me how the partnership between our schools and the faith community evolved into what it is today.

Faith Based Coffee (FBC) originally began as a networking opportunity between [our school] and faith communities to support youth in foster care. In 2011, [we] identified faith communities and brought them together to find out how they could engage the larger community around them, and the faith community expressed that they were interested in partnering with their neighborhood schools to have their greatest impact.

FBC launched in Jan 2015 and began with a Faith-School Partnership Breakfast with an invitation from the district Superintendent to attend to learn more about the challenges which are experienced by our students and their families.

FBC is held once a month and invites anyone that is interested to come together - faith partners, social service agencies, school staff, community partners, etc - and provides a space for networking, and the opportunity to learn about a topic, and then discuss ways to support the efforts, bring information back to a group or congregation to discuss further.

FBC has provided an opportunity for [our school] to deepen our existing church-school relationships as well as create new ones. We have seen an increase of partnerships between our schools and churches, resulting in an influx of volunteers and resources. Our faith-based partners are able to provide resources and services to our schools that we wouldn't be able to provide otherwise. Volunteers are mentors to our students, as Lunch Buddies, Reading Buddies, Teach One to Lead One mentors, playing basketball with high school students during lunch, and more. Church partners provide financial support to families in crisis - paying for hotel nights so families aren't sleeping outside or in their cars, utility payments to avoid power shut-off during cold winter months, rental assistance so families can avoid eviction and homelessness. Church partners provide resources and in-kind donations - clothing, shoes, food for family events and pantries, bicycle helmets, toiletries, furniture, and so much more. They provide services to our families - English speaking classes, parenting classes, clothing swaps, the list goes on and on. We would not be able to provide the resources and services we do to our families without the support of our faith partners, and FBC has played an integral role in how we connect and stay connected to our faith partners. It's been an amazing journey these past few years, and it's incredible to see the investment of our faith partners in our schools and community.

I hope this example inspires you to connect to your local schools. My encouragement is straight from Matthew 5:14-16. If we're to be the light of the world, where better to shine Christ's light than in our public schools? There may be many challenges and opposition from both school personnel and your own church leadership. But when you partner with willing school staff, your church will have greater impact in pointing your community toward Christ and schools will recognize the vital part church can play in keeping your community growing together!

If you'd like to take steps in this direction - check out School Partnership 101.

Matthew 5:16 - In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Phil Ball is NNYM's North West Coordinator of Engagement and Training. Phil loves connecting with youth pastors and youth workers to mentor and encourage them to make a greater impact in their lives of students and their communities.