Time for God

Here's an article about Time for God from our field officer, Chrissie Mayer (Westmont Grad)...explains more of why I'm in London. :)

2012 – Time For God

I want to take this opportunity to teach you a new word, olympify. While the Urban Dictionary is yet to post an official definition olympification is commonly recognized as the spreading phenomenon whereby organizations across Britain from massive banks to local charity shops are taking the excitement generated by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and channelling it for particular purposes. It may be surprising to some of you that the church is proactively engaging in this phenomenon. When I say church I do not mean just the large well known churches in London or the Archbishop of Canterbury. I mean the church, Christ’s body and bride made up of diverse, other-centered, sometimes overlooked, people with sheep-like tendencies. Christians are joining together in unprecedented ways and across entrenched boundaries to respond to the 2012 Games through local outreach, hospitality and service. You may also be surprised that six Westmont alumni are presently spending their days helping shape the church’s response.
When groups seek to olympify it is best that they keep to what they are passionate about and know best. In that spirit, Time For God, a long-standing volunteering organization handed me, Chrissie Mayer (’07), the task of recruiting both full-time volunteers and projects with vision to respond to the Games and matching them up. Similarly, churches came forward seeking a volunteer to come and live among them and help with their Olympic outreach plans centering on their community’s passion and ongoing ministry. Together we looked at these churches’ ideas for everything from faith-based art exhibitions and children’s holiday clubs to prayer walks and street parties. At the same time as volunteer applications were coming in I had to smile as more than a few Westmont alumni were applying. They say that it is all about who you know and that word of mouth is the most effective advertisement, but I would say that God uses places like Westmont to connect people in exciting ways.
During the interview process it was clear that all of our 2012 volunteers had a unique way in which they wanted to be part of the church’s grassroots response to the Olympics. Just over a year ago Kathryn Kong (’10) moved to Newham, one of London’s Olympic Boroughs and most deprived areas to help a small free church grow its many community development projects. On an ordinary day she can be found serving tea in Cornerstone the church’s community cafe and chatting to Irene one of her regulars. Soon after Annie Slattum ‘(10) set up residence in Walthamstow, another incredibly diverse part of East London, to help a group of Anglican churches build their Olympic outreach projects and contribute to their on-going youth ministry. Annie herself is a regular at Daisy’s, one of the only local cafes where she often meets with one of her youth for informal mentoring chats. Last spring Breanna Taber (’10) moved into a vicarage also in Walthamstow and had to hit the ground running as she began helping the Church of England’s National Olympic Coordinator and East London Area Adviser to inspire and equip its leaders to respond to the Games. As Breanna drops in on various events and meetings she is always adding new names to her email contact list ready to update them with good news stories of how church communities in London are uniquely engaging with the Games. In September Josh Tengan (’10) found himself in Newcastle and filling a key role in an exciting arts project set up by a local Methodist church partnering with the largest independent gallery in the UK. Josh can be spotted in all weather cycling round to studio visits and interviews with local artists for upcoming exhibitions at the Holy Biscuit Gallery. Lastly, Josie Haugh (’11) also came in the fall to help coordinate Olympic projects for an East London Anglican church that is well equipped to serve and reach families in the local community. Josie can often be found sharing ideas in meetings to plan upcoming local events including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee street party or the open-air screening of the Olympic opening ceremony. Aside from the Olympics, she mentors young people in the youth group and started a girl's Bible Study meeting every other Saturday.

At every level of Britain’s society groups seeking to olympify their work over the coming months will have different ways of measuring the results of their engagement with the Games. As a staff member of Time For God I will weigh outcomes against our mission of creating volunteering opportunities through which God changes lives. I am already enjoying the fulfillment of seeing this fleshed out both in the lives of the 2012 volunteers and those they serve. Our volunteers have their own hopes for the Olympic season. For example Kathryn’s goal is to see outsiders visiting her local community actively welcomed by the church and for the stigma Can anything good come out of Newham? to be challenged. Helping to facilitate projects across a variety of churches, Josie and Annie both hope to see the power of unity displayed through their parishes in East London. During the Olympics and Paralympics churches across Britain expect to be joined by 3,000 mission volunteers from around the world coming to help. Whether you are a big fan of the Olympics or a sceptic of benefits it can bring, please be encouraged by those giving time for God on the ground to make a positive and lasting impact.