Rediscovering Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
Doug
Come on, be honest. How many of you grew up watching Mister Rogers? I did. I loved the show. Don’t you remember going to the land of make-believe and having Mister McFeeley come to the house with a speedy delivery? How bout’ the theme song? I bet some of you know it by heart.
It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?…
After reading most of Randy Frazee’s book called Connecting Church I was struck with how Fred Rogers understood back then what many of us have forgotten in our culture today, namely, the importance of building community in our neighborhood. Frazee argues in his book that the only way we can attain the characteristics that produce authentic community is by rediscovering a common place or neighborhood where Christians can build on their common purpose in Christ. Part of why the early church moved into the lives of others is that every day they continued to meet together and had everything in common. Granted, much has changed since the days of the early church, but Frazee urges Christians to use their neighborhoods for building community and initiating ministry opportunities with others.
So I need your help. What are you doing to invest into the lives of those in your neighborhood? How are you building community with believers and initiating ministry with unbelievers? It’s convicting for me because it’s so much easier to live in my own private world and forget those whom God has placed right in front of me where I live. Maybe I have some things to learn from you and good ole’ Mister Rogers.
Written by Doug Wolter - Visit Website
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April 18th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
doug,
your site looks great!
i am glad you are sharing your thoughts with a broader audience. we will all be better for it.
grace and peace to you,
-stephen
April 19th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
we are just getting started, but we are borrowing lawn mowers, having folks over for dinner, stoping by one another’s homes, plan to take cookies to our neighbors with our kids and just introduce ourselves, and just started a discussion group.
most importantly we are praying for the neighborhood with two other christian couples….
April 19th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
I like your ideas Jonathan, especially praying consistently with others for your neighborhood. What does the discussion group look like?
April 19th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
I will email you what I have so far, but it is designed around Wright’s simply XN.
Since you are the Bonhoeffer man, I’d love you r comments on my recent blog entry
April 20th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
[...] Rogers had it right. He understood “what many of us have forgotten in our culture today, namely, the importance of building commu… What are you doing to invest into the lives of those in your neighborhood? How are you building [...]
May 30th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
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