Mark Scandrette

Today I started growing out facial hair again for that indomitable and loveable preacher A.L. Withee, who will be spreading revival wild fire with Big Brother Duke and The professor in Pittsburgh in a few weeks at the National Youth Worker’s Convention. This was my favorite photo of the Preacher from the Church Basement Roadshow this summer, when he was giving a whoop and a push and all he’s got.

Tomorrow afternoon I will be flying to Birmingham to attend my 20 year high school reunion in Moundville. My old buddy Moose will be picking me up at the airport and I will be staying with them in their trailer down the road from the house where I lived in high school.

As you probably know, I’m not really from Alabama, but it is an interesting wrinkle in my life story.

The other reason for being in Alabama will be speaking with various groups in Birmingham including the Birmingham Emergent Cohort, Disciples Fellowship, and folks from Journey community at Dawson Family of Faith. I will be telling stories speaking about my book SOUL GRAFFITI.

Last night we launched a city-wide propaganda campaign to raise awareness about human trafficking. Among other things, we distributed 4,000 coffee cup holders to cafe’s with the logo “END MODERN DAY SLAVERY” and a web address for a site that Adam and Tom put up this week. You can view the site here. Our family had a great time walking around the neighborhood chatting with cafe managers– and we distributed 1,000 cupholders in about an hour.

Bryan Allain interviews me on his faith and sports website here. I hope sports fans aren’t offended.

But it’s pretty funny for the 10 of us. Thanks to Paul Soupiset.

SIMPLIFY: A life planning and money management workshop

This course will be followed up by an optional five week Learning Lab on Tuesday evenings (November 4, 11,18,25 and December 2)
Register online here.

Finding a Path Toward Greater Freedom & Creativity
(In an era of scarcity and greed)

Saturday, November 1, 2008 9 A.M.- 3 P.M.
Location: 455 Dolores Street San Francisco 94410 (near 18th St. in the Mission)
Cost: $40-$60 Sliding scale Includes lunch and materials (scholarships available upon request)

With the rising costs of basic necessities (like food, housing, healthcare) and the uncertainty of our current economy, many of us feel challenged to live within our means and pursue our dreams. At the same time, we are increasingly aware of the disproportionate privilege we possess in comparison with most of the worlds population. What does it mean live justly and sustainably in a culture of prosperity and materialism?  How can we apply what Jesus taught about time, money and possessions to our current life context?

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

“A person’s life does not consist in the abundance of their possessions.”

“Sell your possessions and give to the poor.”

“Do not worry about your life… seek first the kingdom… and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Through this one-day workshop we will examine what Jesus taught about time, money and possessions and explore how we might translate important themes into life practices:  Abundance, Gratefulness, Contentment, Trust, Generosity, Simplicity & frugality.

This workshop is designed for people who:

•    Live in fear and worry about not having enough
•    Wish to reduce, minimize or eliminate personal debts
•    Long to have a more simple, sustainable and soulful life
•    Want to rethink life beyond the empire of the American Dream
•    Desire more time for family, relationships and the things that matter most
•    Seek to leverage their life energy creatively for the good of the world

In this applied workshop participants will:

•    Gain insights and tools for transforming your relationship to money– taming consumptive impulses
•    Practice gratefulness
•    Establish time, life energy and financial goals
•    Develop a working budget, debt-reduction strategy and planned giving
•    Learn creative tips about how to live more simply in specific budget areas

Whether you tend to spend too much and find yourself in debt, or you are thrifty and obsessive about saving, this workshop has something to offer because the genesis-dream for each of us is a posture of radical contentment and generosity!

FACILITORS:

Over the past 17 years, Mark and Lisa Scandrette have learned to maximize a modest family income to leverage their time creatively to serve and be of use to others. Through their example they have inspired many to live more simply and generously. Lisa Scandrette is an educator and textile artist who uses the skills she gained growing up on a rural farm to cultivate an organic and creative urban life. Mark is a sought after speaker and author of the book, SOUL GRAFFITI: Making a Life in the Way of Jesus, and he is the executive director of ReIMAGINE! in San Francisco.

Over the past month I’ve been apart of a project called ABOLITION. Together we are learning to take action to address the global and local issue of human trafficking. (Did you know that 27 million people across the world are currently in labor and sexual slavery—including many in the Bay Area). Through this project I’ve been learning about what people like you and me can do to end modern day slavery.

I would love to have you come to an Abolition Art Installation event I am helping host on Thursday October 23. 7-9 P.M. We have a great evening planned with art installations, performance, spoken word, wine and snacks.  We hope people will come out and enjoy the party, art installations and performance and go home with a little more awareness about the issue of human trafficking. The event is free, but we are asking our friends to make a $5-$10 sliding scale donation at the door to help with local and international liberation & recovery efforts (proceeds will go to S.A.G.E. and S.O.L.D.)

I hope you will join me. Here are the details.

Thursday October 23. 7-9 P.M.
455 Dolores Street San Francisco 94110 (near 18th St. in the Mission)
Free with a $5-$10 Sliding scale donation at the door to benefit local and international liberation and recovery efforts—S.A.G.E. and S.O.L.D.)

Installations, Spoken word, Performance Art, Music, Propaganda, Food & Wine

On Monday night our family went to a pre release screening of the rockumentary, Call + Response, produced and directed by my friend, Justin Dillon. This film provides a disturbing portrait of the issue of Human trafficking and a compelling vision of what ordinary people can do to end modern day slavery. Songs by talented musicians are interwoven seamlessly with interviews with experts and celebrity activists. The film is worth watching just to see Cornell West throw down about love, justice, the blues and the funk. Ultimately Call + Response offers a hopeful vision for how all of us can be a part of the movement to bring freedom to the 27 million people currently enslaved globally.