Hyde Park Festival: Sept 8 2012

We are all so excited about this year's Hyde Park Festival. It's so crazy that we first got involved by simply serving 3 years ago, and now this year we are organizing and sponsoring the Festival.  We've been planning since last year, and have been trying to get as many people on board as possible. We've got some great stuff lined up for the festival, including free kids' games, great music, door prizes, excellent food, and other fun stuff. The festival will be Saturday, September 8, 10am-8pm in Hyde Park, which is just 2 blocks off I-70 at the Salisbury exit. You can also check out the Hyde Park Festival website.  Here's a rundown of what to expect this year.

All day music!!!

We've got a great lineup, including bluegrass, hip-hop, soul, and acoustic. Headlining is GRITS, Dove Award-winning national hip-hop duo!

Cumberland Gap Band

Performing at 10:30AM

Since the beginning Cumberland Gap has stayed true to its roots. Their acoustic renditions of classic folk, blues, and bluegrass along with their inspired list of original songs have gained a steadily growing enthusiastic audience. They were named as the best bluegrass band in St. Louis by the Riverfront Times in 2004 and again in 2009. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch named Cumberland Gap one of the "17 local bands you ought to know about" and had this to say about their live shows: "With their three-part harmonies soaring over strong, inspired string work, Cumberland Gap captures the soulful, upbeat side of American folk and bluegrass."

Reformation Sound

Performing at 1:00PM

This is our band. Made entirely of Sun Ministries missionaries, who are also all residents of Hyde Park. Features an interesting blend of guitar, banjo, hand drums, bass, dulcimer, and many voices. We write music to testify to what God is doing. Our sound is somewhere in the mix of folk, indie, rock, with occasionally a bit of blues.

Andre Williams

http://www.dre-dre.com/

Performing mid afternoon

Excellent jazz, soul, gospel, etc. Remarkable musicians, and great friends of us here at Sun Ministries. Andre can shred with the best of them, and has a fantastic falsetto.

Bingham Family

Performing mid afternoon

Soul and gospel

Commission Heirs

Performing mid afternoon

These guys are committed to using the gift that God gave them. They refer to it as "flip-hop", because they used to use it for the things of the world, but now they've turned it around and are preaching the gospel through rap. They are not full-time performers, as they are balancing their music in the midst of lives spent following God.

GRITS

Performing at 6:00PM

A personal favorite of many of us at Sun Ministries. Fantastic hip-hop duo from Nashville, recording since 1995. They've won several Dove awards, have songs on many soundtracks, and have toured extensively.

Free Kids' Games provided by Life is Good

Last year, Jake's on Main in St. Charles, MO lent us the games used for the Life is Good festival. They're letting us use them again this year. The games are free, and we've got some great prizes.

Historic Walking Tour

historic Divoll branch Library

Hyde Park is a registered historic district.  There is fantastic brickwork and architecture.  Most of the buildings are over 100 years old.  And we have some notable places, such as Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, two stand-pipe water towers, a stop on the undergroung railroad, historic public school and library, old barracks, and of course, the Bremen Theater.

Beep Baseball

A version of baseball for the blind and visually impaired. The bases buzz and the ball beeps. There are some rule differences, which the website explains. They will be doing a demonstration. Sighted people are welcome to participate, but they have to wear a blindfold.

Attendance Prizes!

We will be raffling off several attendance prizes at the festival, all FOR FREE!

Here is a sampling of the prizes

• Life is Good T-Shirts - donated by Jake's on Main and Life is Good
• 4 tickets to the Missouri Botanical Garden
• Gift Certificate to Jazz at the Bistro - donated by Jazz St. Louis
• Signed St. Louis Rams picture - donated by the St. Louis Rams
• Boutique gift items donated by Looking Glass Desings in Lafayette Square

St. Louis Police and Fire Department

The police will be bringing out the helicopter and swat vehicle. The fire department will have a hook and ladder. While you're at the festival, be sure to check out the historic firehouse at the corner of the park.

Pottery Demonstration and Lesson

Tim and Christy Sawyer have been making pottery for years.  They make a wide variety, from historic recreations to modern, artistic pieces.  Not only will they be selling their wares, but they will have a portable turning wheel and will be teaching kids, and whoever else is adventurous enough, some pottery basics.  And the kids get to take home their creations!

Other Fun Activities

3-on-3 Basketball

Bounce Houses

Sack Races

FREE Face Painting

Awesome Food!

Jubilee Community Church - They will be selling fantastic, eclectic rice dishes, including Indian, Mexican, and Chinese

Mi Hungry - Jamaican and American Barbecue

La Mancha Coffeehouse - A local coffeehouse located just to the south of us in the Old North neighborhood. Serving tasty cafe sandwiches

Faith Hope and Love Ministries - They will be serving some great grilled items as well as a few pasta dishes

Our Partners

ND Consulting

AmerenUE

Alderman Freeman Bosley, Sr.

Third Ward Housing Corporation

Jake's on Main/Life is Good

Jubilee Community Church

Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church

Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Ballwin Baptist Church

Faith Hope and Love Ministries
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department

St. Louis Fire Department

More Pews

The organic nature of our ministry offers some unique opportunities for creativity and collaboration. We heard that Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church had some old pews taking up space in their soon-to-be-demolished shed. The church has been in the neighborhood since 1848, and we've worked with them on the Hyde Park Festival and gardening. We already have some experience making furniture out of recycled pallets, so we were interested in getting the pews. So we called them up and checked them out, and they looked usable. Everyone agreed that the craftsmanship on the old pews was too good to waste. Plus, they were a great piece of history (although no one's sure on the exact age, they're at least 80 years old). But we didn't have a place to store them, or a product to make with them. Also, I was getting married and wanted to use the pews for my outdoor wedding in Hyde Park. So Holy Trinity held on to them for a few weeks. In that time, they also invited us to sell our products at their trivia night fundraiser. We decided to build a custom piece out of the recycled pews and sell them at the trivia night, giving half the cost to Holy Trinity (plus a portion of our other sales).

After some thinking, we decided on a hall shelf; something a little more unique than a bench, and a little smaller, too. The construction is pretty basic, but sturdy, and retains the original, aged finish of the oak. So after the pews did their time at the wedding, we broke them down, denailed them, cut the seats to our shelf sizes, and assembled it. After scrubbing them down with some Murphy's oil soap, the wood shone wonderfully.



The finished product.  The photo on the left shows it in action!




What else have we made of pews? Well, we've made a conference table. One lady custom ordered a bench.

Pretty much just a short pew, but with a shelf added to the bottom.

I made a storage bench for my wife.



The seat lifts up to reveal a storage area.



And, we've made a pretty fantastic candle holder.

Actually made from the same pews as the conference table.  It's the base of the end of the pews.

B.U.M.P. Ministries Work Day

In late July, we were contacted by our friend Donna Bradley at Jubilee Community Church about a group she had visiting that was looking for a chance to serve in the neighborhood. Of course we said yes and had the opportunity of serving with a group from B.U.M.P. Ministries along with some youth from Village Church in Dire Indiana. The group was able to come for two work days over the course of the week and was a huge blessing to us in their service.

While they were here, the group was able to help us finish the final clean out of the remaining two units of our five family unit that will be turned into housing for our Narrow Gate project.

They also helped us do some dirty work on what is going to become out Sun Market and the offices for our Sun Staffing agency.

Without the help of groups like this, our lives would be much more hectic and a lot more work! If you would like to help us out or if you know somebody looking for an opportunity to serve, please feel free to contact us!

Mark@sunministries.org or 636-544-2153 (Mark Goodwin)

The Intern Report - Week One

Hannah Groves - Internship Summary Week 1 - July 26, 2012

The first chapter in John’s Gospel, talks about the Word, the Logos becoming flesh and making his dwelling among us. This same verse is said this way in the Message translation, “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood” (John 1:14 Message). This verse came to my mind several times and serves as an encouraging, summative statement for my first week of interning with the group of missionaries that live and work in North St. Louis.

Getting ‘into the neighborhood’ occurred in a variety of ways. First, it was important to learn, through conversations, videos, etc, some of the history of the area in which I was living and the dynamics and issues currently present because of that history. I learned briefly about the Pruitt-Igoe situation—where a literal road (named division) separated black and white people. I learned briefly about the effects of generational poverty and racism.

One of the most helpful learning tools was the film “Second Chance” in which a rich, comfortable, white Christian struggles to learn about life in the inner city. I was reminded again of the complexity of many urban issues and that no formulaic process can ‘fix’ the problems, but only the power of Jesus Christ, many times working through his people— the Church. I was also reminded that often ‘issues’ don’t fit into neat, even categories (like suburban, urban, black or white), but rather that issues stem from broken relationships with Jesus in a fallen world.

Another way that I ‘moved into the neighborhood’ was by spending time in various locations quite literally in the neighborhood. A Saturday evening concert (put on by the missionaries) and the Sunday morning church service were both held in the local park. I spent time most every morning working in a sewing center a couple blocks from the house. As we walked past neighbors we would stop to talk to them and hear how life was going. One evening we walked the streets, picking up trash and praying for the area. We witnessed a shooting and had the opportunity to walk kids home, report and discuss the incidence with the local police, talk to the nearby residents and share the story with others in the neighborhood.

This specific incidence serves as a profound example of the final way that I got ‘into the neighborhood’—that being, through learning about and witnessing the lives of the missionaries themselves. Unlike many organizations or church groups that spend only short amounts of time with the people of this district, these missionaries are committed to living in this area and becoming part of the community. Unlike many organizations or church groups that try to provide immediate relief or care for what they see to be a ‘need’ in the community, these missionaries are committed to truly getting to know their neighbors and discover and provide for their actual needs. They do this through one-on-one discipleship and providing holistic resources that care for the whole person.

I told the group from day one that I was there to be a learner and that is exactly how I would summarize my first week – one learning experience after another. Learning history and background, learning demographics and neighborhoods and finally learning about the people of the community and the missionaries themselves. I am excited to continue learning and to one day translate what I am experiencing now into ministry for my own life.