Meet Holy Spirit, Greensboro
By the Rev. Audra Abt
Formed as a church plant in Northeast Greensboro in the early 1980’s, Church of the Holy Spirit has valued social justice, neighborhood outreach, racial equity and learning to live in unity as a people of diverse backgrounds and abilities.
The three-mile radius around Church of the Holy Spirit at the edge of Northeast Greensboro includes both rural and urban low-income neighborhoods and a significant number of immigrant neighbors from West Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
At Church of the Holy Spirit, we’re excited by the new relationships we’re forming with our neighbors, local churches and community partners. God has been showing up, and moving among us, and opening up possibilities for our ministries of prayer, creation care, and access to health and healing services.
We envision becoming a center for community healing and spiritual life in our neighborhood. We want to be the sort of community where peoples’ gifts, dreams, concerns and struggles can all be met with love and become the basis for new ministries that will bring vitality, healing and liberation.
OPENING OURSELVES TO RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR NEIGHBOR
We began with canvassing and prayer walks to connect with our neighbors in 2017, and, as we got to know neighbors and let them get to know us, we recognized a common concern for health and wellness. Many of our members and neighbors have little or no access to health care, so we were able to organize several health fairs and community events in 2018, thanks to some wonderful partnerships. The tremendous response to these events has led to a partnership with Cone Health and placing a congregational nurse at our site in January 2019. With a nurse in place, we are now beginning to work with bilingual community health workers from the UNC Greensboro Center for New North Carolinians, who will help us reach out to and provide health access for our immigrant and refugee neighbors.
In addition to offering basic physical health screenings and help applying for Cone Health financial assistance, our nurse has experience in mental health and trauma counselling, and being able to offer individual and group sessions on these topics and concerns will be a blessing to our members and neighbors who experience addiction, domestic violence, poverty, persecution and violence in their native countries, bullying, and mental health crises.
God cares about you and wants abundant life for you is the message we want people to know. Your body, your mind, your spirit, your family, your communal life, all of this matters to God! Together, let’s seek this abundant life and the healing that Christ brings when we come together in a Spirit of love and compassion for all.
Dreams our neighbors have shared with us that we’re asking God’s help and guidance toward loving, liberating, and life-giving responses:
1. Space for community activities and opportunities to gather;
2. Spiritual development and learning to walk with God;
3. Learning leadership and entrepreneurial skills;
4. Opportunities for creative expression and mission with young people;
5. Ways to share food, clothes and other items when God blesses us, and ways to receive assistance when we’re going through a tough time.
HOW YOU CAN ENGAGE
Want a partner as you explore how prayer walks and evangelism could open you up to God’s movement where you are? Be in touch! Our lay and ordained evangelists are excited to be in conversation and prayer with you!
We’re looking for people to help facilitate conversations about inclusion or activities around the following themes (not just ‘serving’ people but also lifting up baptismal leadership):
- mental health
- mental and physical disabilities
- sensitivity to class and cultural differences
- examining privilege and power in interpersonal and group interactions
- arts and creative expression (teach something related to visual arts, dance, yoga, singing, whatever!)
We’d love to hear from you, and God bless you.
Find us on Facebook through the link on our website.
3910 Yanceyville St
Greensboro, NC 27405
336.808.5371
Tags: Meet the Church
