Fancy Field Trips

March 2010

“It’s all so clear to me now!” Thus uttered a recent guest on the ‘Fancy Field Trip.’ It took us 13 years, but we’ve finally figured out a clear-and-compelling way to ‘show and tell’ what SLF does. More importantly, it’s a powerful tool for demonstrating how churches are working with schools, neighborhoods and myriad partners to help Salem-Keizer become the healthiest community in Oregon. Remember, SLF doesn’t run any programs. Our job is to 1) build bridges and 2) showcase partnerships, especially those involving the faith community. There are 200-250 congregations in our community, and we’re hoping each one will engage in meaningful servanthood to kids, families and neighborhoods. So far there are more than 90 . . . at least by our latest count. We’re always looking for more examples of ‘faith in action’ and we love to gather the stories.

Let’s do some more math: There are 67 public schools in our district, which means each school could have three church partners. There many ways a congregation can help a school; just a few are cited on Page 2. Bottom line: there’s capacity for more. Not only in our schools, but in our neighborhoods. More mentors and reading buddies. More block parties and carnivals. More English classes. More hospitality for the homeless. More food and clothing (and job training!). More health screenings. More after-school programs. More community gardens. More recovery from drugs and alcohol. More foster-family supports.

But there I go again, talking. May I encourage you to take a Fancy Field Trip? We are scheduling at least one per month, sometimes two. There’s a trip for each of the Six Keystone Areas (see Page 2). Each trip is a crisp-and-lively 90 minutes from the SLF office to the highlighted site and back. See a neighborhood-serving church. Meet a real, live Lightning Rod. Get the creative juices flowing for how you, your business, your agency, your congregation can make an impact. Megan Eagleson is doing a great job organizing the trips and she will make all the arrangements if you’d like to join us ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). All aboard!