Category Archives: Grant Park

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Mwen Se Atis-Bringing Beauty from Haiti

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This summer Audrey Jones spent several weeks in Haiti, working toward the rebuilding and revitalization of the country….but more importantly, its people. In the camp where Audrey worked there were some 55,000 people, 13,000 of those being children. These families gripped her heart deeply, so deeply in fact that she will return to Haiti soon to continue to love and serve this camp community with creativity and beauty through art. Tonight she is hosting a show here in downtown Atlanta that will bring to life her experiences in Haiti, and the love she has for the people there. If you are in the “A”, I encourage you to attend, and be gripped by this look into the human soul and it’s ability to persevere through tragedy. Friday, September 24 from 7-10p.m in the Mattress Factory Lofts[300 M.L. King Jr DR SE]



Renovation Church-Join the Movement

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This is an info./follow up letter that was sent out by the leadership of Renovation following our vision cast. If you are interested in being added to the mailing list send “add me” to info@RenovationChurch.net.


Thank you for showing interest in Renovation Church, a new church that is putting its roots down in downtown Atlanta, we hope with your help.

Renovation Church began as a calling on one man, Pastor Leonce  Crump Jr, 2 years ago, and has slowly grown by the grace of God, prayers, and the work of its early-adopters to the point where it is now: the Launch Team Training stage.

What this means is that over the next 22 weeks until the end of October, we will be training the people who show an interest and who feel God is calling them to be the architects of this church to use their God-given talents, skills and abilities, to be the ones who help shape this new church, and launch it as a formal church in downtown Atlanta on January 16, 2011.

What does this mean for you? We are praying and hope you will pray with us as to whether God is leading you to come alongside and use your gifts for his glory in his church, in an area of downtown Atlanta that needs more vibrant, healthy, Christ-exalting and socially conscious people.

Last week was our vision cast and informational meeting where Pastor Leonce laid out the basic vision of the church: who we are, where we are going, how we want to get there.

Joining a church plant is not easy…it’s not for wimps. It requires commitment, faithfulness, and heavy lifting. It is not a spectator sport. If you are at a current church and your skills are not being used, come use them here. If you have a strong desire, like us, to see the gospel of Jesus change hearts and lives in an under-served area, this is the place for you. If you are not currently in a church, consider this your invitation to join a movement in the making.

We need musicians, artists, professionals of all kinds, marketers, web and IT, hospitality, trades, writers, thinkers, risk-takers, culture makers and caring hearts.

We will serve and be made up of, young and old, rich and poor, black, white, hispanic, asian and any other race or culture- or we will consider ourselves unfaithful. The book of Revelation describes heaven as a place where all tribes, nations, and tongues come together in one incredible mass of people, all rescued by the blood of Jesus’ death on the cross, his resurrection from the dead, and his being rightly worshiped as the one true God forever. This is who we expect Renovation Church to be.

The next 22 weeks we will be teaching and discussing doctrine, theology, mission, prayer, evangelism, generosity, passion, the new urban, culture and other pertinent topics to prepare our growing community for the task of launching and going public as a new church, in our own building on Sunday mornings.

This is a biblical strategy, based on Timothy and Titus: that the people of God should be equipped for every good work. Renovation is about doing God’s work: renovating hearts, lives, families, neighborhoods, and the city of Atlanta.

Scripture is clear: the church is not a building, it is people. Wherever we go, God’s people are The Church. They must be equipped, and they must do God’s renovating work.

Are you Renovation?

We will meet each sunday evening at 5 pm- 6:30 at The Stoveworks, 112 Krog st, Suite 5 in downtown Atlanta.

Come for food, connecting, teaching, discussion, and prayer.  As always child care will be provided.

At the end of October we will launch Gospel Communities all over the city:  A Gospel Community is not JUST a Small Group, Bible Study, Support Group, Social Activist Group, or a Weekly Meeting. It can involve these sorts of things, but it doesn’t stop there. These are smaller communities of Renovation people gathering by location to grow, enjoy and live out the gospel, mission and community.

Our website will launch on June 1st, just under two weeks from now. Until then Renovations Blog, http://www.UrbanMissionBlog.com, is a great place to connect with the heart of what we are pursuing, as well as track with the story of where we have been and where we are going.

Will you prayerfully consider committing to Renovation Church and learning, growing, and training with others for the good of Atlanta and the glory of God?

Some Clarifications on Renovation Church Part 2

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Our residency is coming to a close on June 1, and we were officially accepted as full members in the Acts 29 network about 2 weeks ago, you can read more about what we are trying to accomplish  here. The reason I share all of this is because since we were announced as full members I have noticed a dramatic increase in blog traffic, and if, like many of you have, someone goes to older post under the label “Renovation Church”  you will find some limited information about Renovation that is now outdated because of the partnership and time-line changes mentioned in Part 1. So I thought it important to make some clarifying remarks about where we are, what we need, and how you can partner with us in downtown(Grant Park).

Currently we are re-initiating  our gathering phase. We need people who love the city, live in the city or would pray about moving here, and want to serve the city and the church by becoming a partner in the building of this church. WE NEED ARCHITECTS! WE NEED PARTNERS! WE NEED PRAYER PARTNERS! So if you are interested please contact me. We are working with a time-line that goes as follows:

Milestones to launch(s)

  • February 1-May 2: Vision Casting/Recruiting Architects Team
  • April 25: Community bible study ends
  • May 16: First official Vision Cast/Architects team meeting
  • May 5: Begin weekly prayer gathering
  • May 16-November 28: Train Renovation Architects in: Gospel-Mission-Community-Vision-Values-Missionality-Incarnating-Culture Making-Hospitality-Mercy-Justice & How Gospel Communities and Fight Clubs will Function
  • August-December: Intentional and strategic missional engagement in our community through:
    • Weekly Parties
    • Back to School kickoff/concert and give away for our adopted schools
    • Community clean up
    • Cause initiatives to fight/raise awareness of sex trafficking crisis in Atlanta
    • Strategic and genuine serving through various social organizations
  • September 26-October 2: Launch Gospel Communities and Fight Clubs
  • October 3: Gathered Worship for Launch teams/Gospel Communities begin
  • November 14 & 28; December 12 & 26; January 9: Preview/Preparation Gatherings
  • December 1-January 15: Media build up/strategic story leaks surrounding our reason for launching on Dr. Kings birthday
  • January 16: Launch Renovation Church’s public worship Gathering

Give | Pray | Join for the Glory of Jesus, and for the sake of the city!

You can contact me at:

m 770.655.4822

e Leonce@RenovationChurch.net

Some Clarifications on Renovation Church Part 1

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With Renovation coming into full membership with the Acts 29 network recently, I felt I needed to write a clarifying blog post about a few things that may answer some questions you have about the church, our time line, partnerships, story, etc.

In the fall of 2008 after many conversations, and much prayer my wife Breanna and I left Tennessee to move to Atlanta in hopes of living as missionaries to the city, loving the city, and loving our neighbors as an implication of the gospel. We also hoped that through this time we would get a clear vision for planting a church here that would be in the city, for the city, and founded on the gospel.

Atlanta was not actually our first choice, but through untold “coincidences” and God speaking clearly in many ways this is where we have planted our hearts, family…our life, for the sake of Christ, His church, and this city.

In February of 2009 we were invited into candidacy with Acts 29, and began there to work towards building a community of architects that would help me, through God’s Spirit, build a viable, Spirit-led, gospel centered church community in downtown Atlanta. At this time we had no real contacts, no real financial support, or any real resources. We parachuted in with a dream and a vision, and prayed God send us people to help make it a reality.

About 2 weeks after becoming Acts 29 candidates, and through another seemingly endless maze of “coincidences” I met Bob Cargo, church planting director for Perimeter Church, which is a large PCA church located in the suburbs of metro Atlanta. After many long conversations and a government styled background check Bob offered Perimeters partnership and oversight to the work of Renovation Church, with one stipulation, we were required to do a one year residency with Perimeter to learn their best practices, and about their DNA. One year I thought, that was a long time to put of this plant, but after prayer, and counsel from my brothers in A29, and my father, we decided it was best for us and this church in the making, Renovation. At the time I was working about 70 hours a week, going to school, and trying to plant a church…not a good situation, and so I took the residency prayerfully, hoping not to lose the vision God had given me for Renovation in the process.

Because we were now putting off the starting of Renovation for over a year, we dismissed the team we’d already gathered, and transition who remained into an open community bible study, and we have functioned as that since August of 2009.

Some Lesson’s Learned from Ministry on the Margins

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1. These are people. God’s image bearers, and as such they should be treated with love, kindness, dignity, and respect. Even if they are disrespectful to you or themselves, show them the gospel in the way you respond.

2. But for Grace, there go I. We are not better than them because of our physical, mental, or emotional state. In fact, we may be worse off in our self-righteousness.

3. Do NOT give to pan-handlers. I have failed at this many times, but actively try to not do it. We can do so much more for them if they submit to coming and being a part of the body of Christ. It would benefit them greater to come and hear/see the gospel, and the implications of it by how we serve them, rather than giving them a couple bucks to assuage our conscience.

4. Homeless men need to be taught basic skills to re-enter and thrive in society. This requires more time investment and reprogramming than giving them a blanket and a hot cup of soup. Though giving them soup and a means to keep warm is good and right, it will only sustain them for a day, a week at most. Taking them off of the streets, or sending them to a Church/organization that can and teaching them how to function in society, if successful, could sustain him for a life time.

5. Many of them have stories, of a life before (insert: drugs, alcoholism, spouse leaving/cheating, job loss etc.) ask them to hear their story, and you will most often gain their hearts.

6 Many people living on the streets suffer from mild to severe mental illness. Finding creative, no-governmental ways to serve this population could be vital to the renewal of any major city.

7. If you feel safe in doing so, if someone tells you they are hungry, invite them to dine with you at a nearby restaurant, rather than sending them off with a few dollars to “buy food”. If they are truly hungry, most often they will go. This is a great time to share your life and the gospel.

8. There are entire homeless families. Find ways to love and serve their children, and you will often find a way to reach the parents.

9. If they are hustlers, they have been to multiple churches/social/government organizations in the area. Call other local churches to find out who and what they know.

10. In some cases there is a measure of entitlement, as though they are owed what they are asking you for. Overcome this with the love of Christ, and the gospel.

11. There is little greater than seeing someone restored spiritually, physically, and culturally.

There is much I am still learning, but knowing these things has helped me a great deal in loving the poor, marginalized, and homeless as well as they will allow.

Culture Clash: Where Gentrification and ‘Hood Meet Pt. 2

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Take for example the shopping center 1.2 miles from my home where we do all of our grocery shopping. There is a Target, Barnes and Noble, Kroger, Carribou Coffee, Best Buy, Lowes, Rue Sans(Sushi), Wachovia (Bank), and a Smoothie King, not to mention several upscale ($200 or more a pair)shoe stores, shops, and boutiques. It possesses all of the qualities of the “rough” areas of Seattle, so by my general definition, it is no longer a depressed area…except, because of gentrification and trend changes, for this situation, my definition is blown…why? The liquor store three blocks from this shopping center was robbed, and the clerk was shot to death just two month’s ago. Just this past Sunday, a shoot out between two vehicles occurred in that same shopping center just a few hours after my family and I finished buying groceries there.

The point to this discourse is that the dividing lines between rich and poor, safe and dangerous, ‘hood and hip are no longer so clear. This is a changing landscape that as a Pastor to this city I am going to have to carefully examine to understand, so that we can most effectively and faithfully engage and reach this entire area that does not in anyway lend itself to homogeneous ministry, if we are being true to engaging the whole of the community. How we will reconcile our culture clashes, I do not fully have an answer to yet, but for anyone else seeking to move into and work for the welfare of any major city through Gospel transformation, this is a question that has to be answered.

Culture Clash: Where Gentrification and ‘Hood Meet Pt. 1

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I went to Seattle recently to visit my boy’s at Mars Hill and get my retrain on, and me and Mike Anderson had an interesting conversation. We were talking about crime, impoverished neighborhoods, and the gospel. He then told me about the “ghetto” in Seattle, and some of what are considered the “rough” areas. You may notice that I have placed both ghetto and rough in quotations, it is indeed to show sarcasm, because what I discovered in seeing these areas made me come to the conclusion that if these were the rough areas of Seattle, then Seattle truly had no ghetto.

You see, in true ‘hood areas, there are things you find and things you don’t. Banks, Grocery Stores, Coffee shops, Sushi Bars, Target, Barnes and Noble etc. you do not find in the ghetto…why? Because these businesses generally do not feel they can be profitable in depressed area’s of the city. What you do find in depressed areas of metropolitan cities are Liquor Stores, Pawn Shops, Corner Stores (that charge 80 cents for one pack of Kool Aid, true story, a couple blocks from my house), Burned out or Abandoned Buildings, and masses of people standing on street corners. The “rough” area’s of Seattle had all of the former and none of the latter.

Something interesting seems to be taking place in recent years though in some major cities. As Young Professionals, and Urban Hipster’s are moving back into cities, and gentrification is happening in once depressed area’s, we are starting to see some light and some severe culture clash. Example…I live in Grant Park (Downtown Atlanta) Atlanta’s oldest and most historic neighborhood. I live off of MLK, and everyone I know who doesn’t live here or isn’t familiar with what has taken place here always asks me, “you living in the hood now?” Well technically, yes, but conventionally, no. I live in what was once an abandoned warehouse turned chic overpriced loft space, with gated parking. More directly, I am living in what I would consider a mostly gentrified neighborhood. And it is diverse by race, ethnicity, culture and class. It is amazing to me to see $40,000 BMW’s drive past homeless guys pissing in the street, and yet, I see it everyday. We have what is now a culture clash, and it is starting to spill over in more severe ways.

to be continued

Full Transcript from Dr. Kings, “I have a dream” speech

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I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”2

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day – this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!3

Dr. King, His Dream, Grant Park, and our Vision

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Dr. King grew up less than a mile from my home, and Grant Park, the neighborhood where we are planting Renovation. He has had a profound influence on my life, as well as this area, and there is little I can say that hasn’t been said. Every year I watch/listen to this speech to remind me of what he fought for, and what we are still fighting for through the gospel.

Yes the gospel reconciles men to God, but it is big, vast, and beautiful, reconciling men to one another as well. This was Dr. Kings dream, a world made right, equal, and just. The gospel does this, and Christ said the Kingdom has come, and we have to live in that reality. As Dr. King had a dream, we borrowed from that language, and we too have a dream of Renovation being a church that would in our lives, fully embody, express and extend God’s values to shape and guide us in joining Jesus in His mission to see Atlanta become a beautiful city: restored physically, culturally, and spiritually through the gospel.

I can only hope that our dream will continue to build on the one Dr. king so passionately presented to a torn nation 47 years ago. And that I can lead a people to serve this community, his community, the way he once did….full of grace and truth.

Ignorant Georgians: Your Context, and What’s Around it

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Cleburne statue unveiled in Ringgold
by Mark Andrews
Cannons go off behind the Gen. Cleburne statue during the Sat., Oct. 3 unveiling ceremony. (Catoosa News/Mark Andrews) Citizens, history buffs and members of the community came to Ringgold’s confederate park on Saturday, Oct. 3, to witness the unveiling of a bronze statue commemorating Gen. Patrick Cleburne. The first annual Ringgold Gap Civil War festival followed for the rest of the day on Robin Road.

Cleburne and the statue

On Nov. 25, 1863, Cleburne used the Ringgold Depot as an anchor to conceal men and cannons, waiting for Union troops. He was charged with the task of holding off approaching Union troops so the Confederates could safely withdraw.

When the line arrived, the Confederate troops fired on them until their retreat. Cleburne then moved his troops to his flanks and stalled the advance of Union troops with 4,100 men versus 12,000.

“This event will put Ringgold on the map,” said Stephen McKinney, a civil war historian and event coordinator.

Cartwright said Cleburne was one of the “few ‘true’ heroes of all time.”

“I believe the most important day of (Cleburne’s) life was on the Battle of Ringgold Gap,” Cartwright said.

This celebration took place less than an hour from my home…from dowtown Atlanta, where we are planting a multi-cultural, racial reconciliation seeking church, Renovation.

This statue unveiling for them was a joyous occasion, celebrating the South’s “stand” against the aggression of the North in trying to alter their “way of life.” To me, and many others this celebration represents the ignorance of a people holding on to a time that I am fighting to dissolve the remnants of through the gospel.

Though you wouldn’t think so, what happens here, an hour from my home, affects everything we do downtown because of how it influences the thoughts, lives, and actions of those downtown in fueling seeds of deep hurt and resentment already present. It is also necessary to consider the children of the individuals who participated in this celebration who now live in the city, and bring with them the roots of this mentality.

All this to say that as a pastor, it is not only your context to consider in how and who to engage with the gospel, but also the context around you and possibly oppressive and divisive forces inherent within them.