Cultivating Neighborhood Shalom

Cynthia Wallace, Executive Pastor of Bible Center Church, Executive Director of The Oasis Project

Episode 7 - Cynthia Wallace on holistic neighboring

In this episode, Eric and Sara Joy interview Cynthia Wallace about the providential birth of The Oasis Project, a community and economic development initiative led by Bible Center Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Heading up the church’s The Oasis Project she has actively responded to the call to 'seek the shalom’ of the Homewood neighborhood. Guided by the slogan, “the church has left the building”, the ministry to the neighborhood started small by simply picking up trash. As the church members noticed what they were seeing and listened to their neighbors, they began to see concrete opportunities to seek the welfare of their community.

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Image credits: Bible Center Church - The Oasis Project website, Oasis Farm & Fishery Instagram

Links to resources and terms from this episode:

Articles, Books, Media, & organizations

The Oasis Project

Bible Center Church

Hope in Homewood – article about the Everyday Cafe

Key Terms

Third Place

Adaptive Re-use

Gentrification

Food Desert