Jonathan Brooks on Completing the Narrative in Your Neighborhood

The Embedded Church Podcast

In this episode Sara Joy and Eric interview Jonathan Brooks of Chicago, currently co-pastor at Lawndale Community Church and the former pastor of Caanan Community Church in Englewood and author of Church Forsaken: Practicing Presence in Neglected Neighborhoods. Jonathan tells how his attempt to get out of Englewood by pursuing a career in architecture, led him right back to his old neighborhood where he had to learn to see it with different eyes. "Pastah J" shares about becoming a pastor in the neighborhood where he grew up and discovering that God was very much at work in this neighborhood of Chicago. Turns out that the narrative of Englewood involved much more than violence, drugs, and brokenness, and Jonathan found a lot of goodness and beauty throughout as he stuck around and got to know his neighbors.

What makes Jonathan’s story particularly interesting is how he learned to ‘see’ his neighborhood while serving as a pastor at a local church. He learned that a local church could tip the scales towards the hopeful side of the narrative by engaging local residents and empowering them to make positive changes in the neighborhood. Jonathan’s insights about completing the narrative are not only for churches in under-resourced neighborhoods, but are relevant for middle and even upper class neighborhoods as well, where the tendency is sometimes to hide the pain and suffering within the neighborhood behind a façade of wealth and privilege. In those neighborhoods, completing the narrative involves being more honest about the brokenness.

Whether your neighborhood feels rich or poor, this episode can help you and your church practice God’s faithful presence right where you live.

Access more Show Notes with pictures and resources related to this episode.

More information about this podcast and helpful church and urbanism resources can be found on The Embedded Church website.

Related Resources

Jonathan Brooks

Englewood Rising

Christian Community Development Association

Church Forsaken: Practicing Presence in Neglected Neighborhoods by Jonathan Brooks

Making Neighborhoods Whole: A Handbook for Christian Community Development by Wayne Gordon and John M. Perkins

The New Parish: How Neighborhood Churches Are Transforming Mission, Discipleship and Community by Paul Sparks Tim Soerens, and Dwight J. Friesen

Everywhere You Look: Discovering the Church Right Where You Are by Tim Soerens and Walter Brueggemann

Find these Key Terms on The Embedded Church website:

- Eyes on the Street

- Food Desert

- Gentrification

- Parish

- Placemaking

- Social Determinants of Health

- Third Place

Show Credits

Hosted and Produced by Eric O. Jacobsen and Sara Joy Proppe

Edited by Adam Higgins | Odd Dad Out Voice Productions

Theme Music by Jacob Shaffer

Artwork by Lance Kagey | Rotator Creative