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[Y]ou’ll meet the McGarry family, founders of More than Carpentry. The McGarrys are planning a move to Wellston, a St. Louis neighborhood known for burned-out buildings, drug houses, overgrown lots, and junk piles. And they’re moving for one reason: to train craftsmen who can change the city. “Apprentices won’t make birdhouses,” Jim McGarry told us. “They’ll learn how to make custom cabinets.” The McGarrys will soon take up residence in a restored warehouse where, they hope, apprentices and mentors will come and go surrounded by the sounds of saws and hammers, all proclaiming God’s work of restoration.

Full announcement below…

Causing Our Cities to Thrive

In Jeremiah 29, God instructs His exiled people to seek the peace and prosperity of an alien home. And He tells them to pray for it, because if it prospers, they too will prosper.

In the coming issue of byFaith, you’ll be introduced to Christians who cause their communities to thrive—educationally, artistically, vocationally, politically—and always spiritually.

Pastor Jason Dorsey and members of Redeemer Presbyterian in Indianapolis are, writer Carolyn Curtis tells us, “up to something risky”: renewing public schools. For Dorsey, it’s personal. “Seeking renewal for the public schools is,” Dorsey says, “my personal area of social justice and responsibility.” Christians involved in public education…? That, many of us would agree, takes strength and courage.

You’ll read about Christian musicians, including several from our denomination, who’ve been called to perform outside the Christian sub-culture, who, according to writer Reid Davis, “carry a gospel groove into clubs, theaters, and festivals with uplifting songs…” bringing beauty and truth to venues that don’t see much of either. And they do it for the good of the city.

And you’ll meet the McGarry family, founders of More than Carpentry. The McGarrys are planning a move to Wellston, a St. Louis neighborhood known for burned-out buildings, drug houses, overgrown lots, and junk piles. And they’re moving for one reason: to train craftsmen who can change the city. “Apprentices won’t make birdhouses,” Jim McGarry told us. “They’ll learn how to make custom cabinets.” The McGarrys will soon take up residence in a restored warehouse where, they hope, apprentices and mentors will come and go surrounded by the sounds of saws and hammers, all proclaiming God’s work of restoration.

These stories, along with articles about our political speech, our responsibility to the fatherless, the need for a theology of animals, and the path to confident faith—all remind us that we live in the world for the sake of the God’s kingdom.