Who Killed Indy’s comprehensive smoking ban? or a Sad day for Indy

 

Terrible.  Indy politicians have once again missed an opportunity to improve the health of our community.  There’s a lot of blame to go around about why the city council has once again failed to pass a [nearly] comprehensive public smoking ban.

Mayor Greg Ballard is one person to hold accountable.  Matthew Tully in today’s star writes that the mayor  walked into a closed-door meeting with council Republicans and made it clear he didn’t want the ordinance to land on his desk.” Tully points out that as a canidiate for Indy mayor Ballard approved of a comprehensive smoking ban.

Democrats aren’t blameless either.  First of all, if council Democrats had made a stand during the Peterson era about smoking (or anything, really), this would be a mute point. Indy would have long ago joined the 21st century when it comes to public health.  But Peterson and the council back then weren’t about taking bold stands.

And on the city council, Democrats should feel embarrassed.  Council member Dane Mahern abstained from the vote because, as Tully reported, his father is a lobbyist for the tobacco industry. Heaven forbid, you take a stand that might bump against your father’s business interests.   More so, Mahern had his father host a fundraiser for him within a week of the scheduled smoking ban vote.

This was a chance to be a truly bipartisan and  other Democrats didnt’ show up.  Council member Doris Minton-McNeal, Monroe Gray, and, already mentioned Mahern, abstained from voting.  Their abstentions helped kill the bill and  Minton-McNeal didn’t even bother to show up.

Whatever the reasons, other Democrats who voted against the bill include Duke Oliver and Vernon Brown.

Thanks should go to  Democrats Jose Evans and Angela Mansfield and Republicans Barbara Malone and Ryan Hunter for taking a strong stand for making Indianapolis a better place to live.   And don’t forget to thank Smoke Free Indy.

 

http://www.indystar.com/article/20091028/NEWS08/910280381/Tully++Ballard+threat+helped+kill+smoking+ban

Filed under: Broad Ripple, Indiana, Indianapolis, Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis politics, POlitics, city council, community, community organizing, economy, progressive , Indianapolis, POlitics, Greg Ballard, Indianapolis Star, city council, Indianapolis politics, Bart Peterson, Jose Evans, smoke free indy, smoking, ban, smoking ban, angela mansfield, ryan hunter, doris minton-mcneal, monroe gray, vernon brown, duke olliver, barbara malone, dane mahern, mayor, comprehensive smoking ban, matthew tully

Indianapolis Food Independence Day Wrap UP!

Food Independence Day 2009 flyer

On Thursday, July 2, Earth House and Lockerbie Central United Methodist hosted Food Independence Day here in Indianapolis.  It was the first of what will hopefully be an annual event.   Mark your calendars for Thursday, July 1, 2010!

Indianapolis City Council member Jose Evans (left) talks with Slow Food Indy members Todd Jameson (middle), and Ed and Theresea Stites at Indianapolis' Food Independence Day Celebration. July 2, 2009

It was just a great night.  We had fifteen different sponsors, an Indianapolis city council member show up, Jose Evans,  and over 250 people come through the door.  We screened  the film THE GARDEN and the movie’s director Scott Kennedy was in attendance.  He left impressed with what Indianapolis food activists were trying to do.

We got two great write ups in the local papers.  Here is the article from Metromix and from Nuvo.  I really liked this line from Metromix/Indianapolis Star reporter Jenny Elig:

[Scott] Hamilton comes at the invitation of Mike Oles, Lockerbie Methodist lay leader and founder of the Earth House Collective Film Series — which is quickly becoming the city’s premiere showcase for screenings and discussions of socially conscious films.

The question and answer session with Scott Kennedy was also great. I will post footage from the Q and A when it gets online.  But, here is Scott answering questions.  The movie got a standing ovation.

Oscar nominated filmmaker Scott Kennedy answers questions about THE GARDEN. July 1, 2009, Indianapolis, IN.

Filed under: Christians, Earth House, Food Independence Day, Indiana, Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, POlitics, Thursday Night Film Festival, agriculture, church, city council, community, community organizing, economy, emergent church, facebook, film , Earth House, Earth House Film Forum, film, film reviews, Food Independence Day, Indiana, Indianapolis, Indianapolis City Council, Indianapolis Star, Jose Evans, layleader, lockerbie central united methodist, Metromix, Mike Oles, MIke Oles III, NUVO, Oscars, Scott Hamilton, Scott Kennedy Hamilton, Slow Food, Slow Food Indianapolis, socially conscious films, The Garden, Thursday Night Film Festival

Does Church Marketing Suck?

One of my favorite websites is ChurchMarketingSucks.  Their mission is “…to frustrate, educate and motivate the church to communicate, with uncompromising clarity, the truth of Jesus Christ.”  Good stuff.

As an United Methodist, we have launched a new marketing campaign called “Rethink Church.” Much has been written about it.  I like it in theory but, ultimately, I think the theme is a problematic. I don’t see that many UMCs that are truly rethinking church at a time when church definitely needs to be rethought.

But that’s not the point of this post.

I am the layleader of Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, a small church with a big old church building in downtown Indianapolis.  Its an all volunteer church; we got great musicans but they don’t get paid; we get great pastoral support from a UMC pastor  but he doesn’t get paid, etc.  A lot of what we do now happens through our community collaborative Earth House Collective.

We have  a long way to go but we have captured the imagination of our community a bit.  Despite qualifying as a “nano-church,” we were voted by the readers of  Nuvo Newsweekly, the alternative free weekly newspaper here in central Indiana, as the best house of worship.   I talked to one of their advertising sales people and he said it wasn’t even that close.  We won in a landslide.

We had a debate at our church gathering on Tuesday night.  How do we celebrate this victory?  Or is  it even a victory?

I wanted to put a sign out front that says:

Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church

Worship 6:00 PM Sundays

Voted Best House of Worship by the readers of Nuvo

And then run some ads in Nuvo thanking their readers for their support and thanking NUVO for their support.  They have been very generous in covering the going-ons of our community and our partner Earth House.

When I proposed this I got a bit of a cold stare from a few of our church leaders.  They had a good point.  Church Marketing sucks.  And evangelism mostly sucks too.

I thin the point of contention can be summed up on this blog post by  UMC pastor Taylor Burton Edwards on EmergingUMC:

Probably many of us in the emerging missional movement have given up on institutions doing anything helpful toward real transformation, personal or social. Representational evangelism is thus something we’re more likely to critique than to do, much less endorse. And as for the marketing and seeker service models of passive evangelism, I think most of us have ruled that out on principle long ago. “Attractional is not missional” might be the way we put it.

Burton-Edwards goes on to talk about the oft qouted St. Francis “Preach the Gospel, use words if neccessary.” He warns that “The cultural supports remaining that could interpret actions without words as any sort of proclamation of the good news of God’s reign are in a jumbled shambles at best.”

He concludes,

Evangelism requires of us, at the very least it requires both lives that correspond to the way of Jesus AND a way of telling others, for whom few if any coherent cultural supports exist, why we live as we live and inviting them, personally, to follow Jesus with us.

He is absolutely right.  We have to to find a way of telling others about why we seek to walk in the way of Jesus and why it might make sense to join up and become part of this community.

Thank you for listening.

Filed under: Earth House, Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, bible, city council, emergent church, theology , Indianapolis, Indiana, Earth House, Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, united methodist church, lockerbie central, NUVO, jesus, rethink church, Taylor Burton Edwards, Church Marketing, Church Marketing Sucks, Jesus Christ, Nuvo Newsweekly, alternative press, small church, all volunteer church, best house of worship, nano-church, Emerging UMC