Thursday, March 29, 2007

Marathon

IMG_4336
A less crowded moment during the recent marathon. 400 & 500 blocks of H Street (taken outside Sidamo).

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello, I'm a regular reader of the blog :) This is probably the wrong post to be on, but wanted
to see if you could recommend some folks for me to get in touch with. I work at National Community Church (We do the big Eggstravaganza @ Lincoln Pk, built Ebenezers on 2nd & F) and
I live on 4th & L. This is our 5th year painting a single mom's house on mothers day. It's been really neat to bless a single mom in our
community each year, as well as help to improve the community's look.

Anyway, I'm looking for a candidate this year (we don't have one right now).
The requirements are: A single Mom & a house in need of painting. Would
you be able to either recommend a single mom in this position or some folks
who would know of someone? Thanks for your help,

Joel Schmidgall
Joelschm@aol.com

Anonymous said...

Great mission you guys have. Help her while improving the neighborhood. She should be the owner of the house, right? If she's a renter it would be the owner's responsibility to paint their tenate's home. I don't really have anyone in mind, but let us know when you select someone so we can volunteer.

Anonymous said...

I think that's a great mission as well. I do have to ask, though, is National Community Church anti-gay? That's kind of my reading looking over your website and I know others have had the same interpretation.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the National Community Church is both anti-gay and anti-choice. This is why I never go to Ebenezers.

Mike said...

Inked - is there any way to delete this comment and the one immediately before it (anonymous 4:17)?

I don't know about the National Community Church's core beliefs as I'm not a member, but most Christian churches (including the majority of Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, and many Protestant faith traditions) have taken stances against abortion.

While the previous anonymous poster chose to describe that stance as "anti-choice," there are those who would call it "pro-life." The presence of that post (by someone who is also not a member of the NCC, apparently) is inflammatory toward a group that came here looking for recommendations from the community for a positive service project.

inked said...

Mike,
I'm going to leave the comments. I think most people are sophisticated enough to understand how these two issues play in our society. If we get a million comments on the post that are just fighting over the policies of this particular church (or hashing out gay rights or abortion) I'll probably close the post (because it's not directly related to the neighborhood). If you don't like this church's policies, you don't have to support their coffee shop. If a particular business is associated with a certain cause and that fact isn't immediately apparent, I don't see a problem with someone pointing that out. But I also think that it's great that this church wants to do a community service project like this one. So, if you know of a good candidate, go ahead and get in touch with this Joel guy. I've done a lot of community service projects over the years, and sometimes your group works with a group whose ideas you dislike. But as long as you can remain civil and do the job, that house still gets painted, and everyone feels good about that.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for letting us think for our selves Inked.

Mike said...

I hate to think that my suggesting that an anonymous comment (which was critical of a group that came here looking for input on a positive service project) was inflammatory was taken as an attempt to influence how someone else thinks. Think what you want.

I'd just hate to be Joel coming back here and seeing that his request for help was met with such a charitable response.

Anonymous said...

mike-

drop it. it's a free forum. you can speak your mind, just as others can speak theirs.

why don't you start your own blog?

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry but if Joel chooses to knowingly belong to an anti-gay and anti-choice organization he has to expect negative comments. I think many people are unaware of NCC's positions. I know I didn't realize it when I used to get coffee at Ebenezers. I don't want my money going toward an organization that works against my rights. I think it's more than fair to point that out on a neighborhood blog. Especially in a neighborhood with so many gay, lesbian, and pro-choice residents.

Anonymous said...

Despite the fact that man-for-hire Jeff Gannon (of dubious White House Press Corps distinction)was a (may still be?) a parishoner?, National Community Church is abosultely, without a doubt 100% Anti-Gay. Here's what NCC founder, Rev. Rob Schenck has to say about the gay community, in protest to WorldPride 2006:

"When it comes to militant homosexual activists, there are always two rules: one for them, the other for the rest of us. If anything is going to inflame anyone, it's this kind of public decadence."

NCC should understand that we will be tolerant to the extent that their religious beliefs are not damaging to members of the greater community. Until they change their postion on an essential Civil Rights issue, I encourage the Capitol Hill community to boycott Ebenezers Coffee House. I've started spreading the word among my friends and would encourage everyone else to do the same.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to see that this church's position on these topics was posted somewhere. I was planning to stop by a coffeehouse this weekend, but like the other anonymous individual, I don't want to support a place that works against my rights. I only searched for their position on this b/c it's run by a church. Everyone has a right to their own view, and I respect the church's view but just don't agree with it.

-Thank you.