71% of Americans have a positive opinion of Jesus, while 47% of Americans have a positive opinion Churches in their community.

What's the disconnect?

Since our mission is to advance human flourishing through the Church - this stat from the Barna Group really stood out to us. Why don't people have a positive opinion of Churches? What can the Church do about it? What can we do about it? Do our churches not reflect Jesus?

All these questions led our team to turn the podcast mics on and hash it out. We want you to join in the conversation - so head on over to instagram or youtube and let us know what you think - what could help change people's opinion of churches?

Notes:

Barna Study (Nationwide)

Faith and Flourishing Study (Local)

Earlier this year, the U.S Surgeon General released a report titled "Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation."

Isolation seems like a problem for individuals, but it actually affects every aspect of our community.

In this episode, the For Evansville Staff sat down to discuss points in the report we found relevant to our work.

We wanted to answer the questions:

1. What can our listeners do about it?

2. What can the local Church do about it?

3. And how to change the question from "How do we get people connected?" to "How can we get people to connect with each other?"

Show notes:

U.S Surgeon General's Report: "Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation."

"When you bring people together around food, you create community - you create love."

Our guest this week is Robin Mallery, former Executive Director of ⁠Urban Seeds⁠. Her passion is food. Not just eating it, but bringing food justice into our community. That can mean a lot of different things - so she helps us unpack ideas from seasonal eating to local farmers to fighting for food equality for people whose nearest food source is a gas station.

A flourishing person and a flourishing city has access to healthy foods, so if we want to make Evansville a place where everyone flourishes, we have to look at the healthy food gaps in our area.

Sometimes we hear stories happening in Evansville that we had no idea were happening. So we bring in the people involved to share them with you. This episode is no exception as we sit down with Sergeant Josh Brewer and Officer Mario Reid.

They're involved with a number of programs in our community like mental health, homelessness, and addiction. Together they sit down and talk about the idea of Community Policing - what is it, who is involved, and does it work?

"If we know our neighbors better, think how much stronger our community would be." - Mayor Winnecke

When you have a podcast about being for Evansville, it's pretty much #goals to get the Mayor of Evansville on. Well, we're excited to announce we've achieved our goal with this episode featuring special guest Mayor Lloyd Winnecke.

As he wraps up over a decade of service to our city, we sat down with him to talk about what he's learned, what he's proud of, and what makes Evansville stand out from other cities.

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Follow for more content every other week, and join the conversation on instagram or facebook or reach out to us at [email protected]

At For Evansville, we inspire, align, and empower Christians to pursue common good in our city. So what happens when those Christians need to work alongside others that practice different faiths, or don't have a faith at all?

Today, we sat down with Zac Parsons from Honey Moon Coffee Co. to talk about pursuing common good together. What does it look like to bring your whole self to something and feel like you don't have to compromise your beliefs?

Thanks for listening! As always, like, subscribe and leave us a comment! Catch us for more conversation on our instagram account @forevansville or reach out to us directly at [email protected]

For Evansville has a strong history of uniting the Church for the flourishing of the city. Last year, 81% of Church leaders we surveyed said they began addressing a community need because of For Evansville. 53% said they did so in collaboration with another church.

Now we're adopting an even more focused and hands-on approach to advancing human flourishing through the Church. We see this updated vision, mission, and strategic plan as a more focused expression of the change we've been pursuing from the beginning and the natural next step for For Evansville.

In this episode, Jonathan Boettcher, Sarah Inman, and the For Evansville Board Chair, John Benton, talk about where this new language came from, and how we hope to pursue it within our city in this exciting future.

You can read the updated language here:

https://www.forevansville.org/aboutus

Get connected with Neighborhood Revitalization

"We believe that to be a good, valued member of the community, we can’t just sell pizza. We have to give back. We have to contribute in ways that are tangible and make a difference." In 2021, Evansville voted for Azzip as not only the best pizza in town, but also the best business that gives back. We’re always looking to celebrate and share stories of people and organizations that are for Evansville.

As personal fans, we wanted to sit down with Andy Niemeier, Co-CEO of Azzip, and talk about their continually growing reputation. Not surprisingly, we were met with a story about the mutual relationship between the community and a local business. 

#azzip #pizza #Evansville #community #business #supportlocal #eatlocal #localbusiness #innovation #employeedevelopment

"We're not going to change their life. We're going to give them tools to change their own life."

Have you ever noticed that you see homeless men a lot more than homeless women? Yet on any given day, Evansville averages about 300 homeless men and 200 homeless women. Why don't we see them?

In this episode, we sit down with Katrinka, the campaign manger for the future Susan H. Snyder Center for Women and Children. We talk about everything from why we don't see women and children as often as the men, what wrap-around care for women looks like, and who needs to get involved to make it work.

Show Notes:

Support the Susan H. Snyder Center for Women and Children: email Katrinka

Evansville Rescue Mission

State of Evansville Report