Neighbors from Suburban to Urban

By Nelly Patterson '10 for The Clarion
Issue 16 | Spring 2009

Bethel students and recent graduates are stepping out of comfort and into discomfort by living in urban communities.

A fifth grader in the Phillips neighborhood recently left a gang. His father was part of a gang as well, but the boy was tired of getting into trouble and didn’t want to go out late at night any more.

This story and others like it come from areas such as the Phillips neighborhood where Bethel students and alumni are living and ministering in an Urban Homeworks environment where they are the minority.

Urban Homeworks is a program that sets up housing in low-income, urban areas. The goal is to partner people of different backgrounds so they can develop relationships across racial, political, and socio-economic dividers.

In the past 13 years, approximately 100 out of about 300 participants in Urban Homeworks have been Bethel alumni or students, said Cody Schimelpfenig, the 2001 Bethel Seminary graduate and community development director of Urban Homeworks.

Schimelpfenig said Bethel students come and plant seeds and then return to see and live what they previously learned about.

Bethel junior Kelci Schedler wanted to challenge herself with something different, and is now living with Urban Homeworks in Frogtown on St. Charles Avenue. In this environment, she considers herself a minority.

“There are old and young, Muslim and Christian, and black and white and Asian,” said Schedler.

Matt Wenell, junior, is living in the Phillips neighborhood. He is discovering how to minister to people by being present in daily interactions at gas stations, grocery stores, banks, and shops. Both Caucasian, Schedler and Wenell are learning what it feels like to be the minority.

“You are stared at because you are the minority. But it’s a good thing that helps us understand that’s what certain groups live in all the time,” said Wenell.

Urban Homeworks requires members to serve in the community by networking with another ministry, holding community meetings in their home, and possessing a desire to be a learner, said Schimelpfenig.

“I think a lot of Christian ministry among the poor is often charity, handouts—maybe putting Band-Aids on issues and not necessarily addressing major issues, systemic issues,” said Schimelpfenig.

By removing themselves from what’s comfortable, these students are challenging the systems that can be detrimental to society.

“If you look at it from a ministry perspective, we all take risks to follow Jesus and love people, and He loved people in some of the worst situations,” said Wenell.