2012) about the church’s opening the park, describing the church’s “legacy of family service.” The response has given Wes opportunities to talk to non-believers. When he was invited to a community college class to debate an atheist, Wes’s explanation of what the church was doing challenged the atheist’s stereotype of what churches do, and he said to Wes, “I do not believe as you do, but I approve of what your church is doing.” A city park is not the church’s only effort for its community. When the State of Florida issued an unfunded mandate for all schools to provide character education, school districts in Lee County contacted Cape Christian and asked for help. Working with Chick-fil-A Family Services Curriculum, Cape Christian developed a character curriculum for local schools, and each month public school teachers in those schools present a lesson on a virtue created by Cape Christian. More than 100
churches in Lee County now sponsor a school and help with the character education effort. Alarmed at the high number of homeless children in Cape Coral, Cape Christian conducted a lengthy assessment of community needs and assets and then used those results to develop and launch Not in My City, an effort to meet the real needs of the city. (See the sidebar for more information about Not in My City.) “If we truly want to see God change the city through us, the church realized that it must meet the needs of families,” explained Wes. Cape Christian’s approach to changing its community began with prayer, Wes said. “We began to pray collectively: ‘God, renew the healing ministry of Jesus in your church. Give us your heart for people and help us see what you see.’”
Not In My City—An effort to change a community from the inside as part of the effort to mobilize the Cape Christian congregation to be a Gospel presence in Cape Coral, the church initiated “Not iN My City,” a partnership with city agencies, city government, school districts, and hospitals. it focuses on three initiatives: 1. Children will realize their God-given potential and have every opportunity to attain it. 2. Couples will have the resources they need for their marriages to succeed. 3. People will know where to turn for help in times of crisis.
For children Member churches developed partnerships with a local elementary school and provide mentors to students, character education for teachers, school supplies for every classroom, food for low-income families through other local organizations, and a monthly character assembly.
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For couples The Great Date Night is an event for couples, who can drop off their children for three hours of childcare a month in order to have a “great date.” Member churches provide marriage mentoring and will host a city-wide marriage conference this fall.
For crisis care Research about the needs of Cape Coral and about resources available to help people resulted in the production of the comprehensive Cape Coral Community Resource Guide. The first printing of 8,000 was distributed throughout the city by various non-profit organizations and government offices. The church launched a program to train community chaplains to provide ministry care in local businesses; the group will soon launch a comprehensive community support network which includes a care line. After launching the Not in My City Campaign, Cape Christian offered to help other churches that wanted to implement this campaign in their areas. Early this year the Not in My City Program had expanded throughout Lee County, and more than forty churches expressed interest in being involved on different levels. Now many churches of many denominations are connecting with schools and are working with many large non-profits to help meet real needs in the area.
Treveccan Fall 2012