Church expands outdoor play area for inner-city children

On April 30, 2011, members of Tuxedo Park Baptist Church, Indianapolis, gathered with community members to prepare previously abandoned land for use as an expanded play area for neighborhood children.

Until recently, the children of one inner-city Indianapolis neighborhood had only a 20-by-20-foot grassy space in which to play—just outside Rev. Tom Jackson’s window at Tuxedo Park Baptist Church. Since participating in the Missional Church Learning Experience (MCLE) of American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS), the church has expanded the outdoor play area by obtaining nearby abandoned properties from the city.

“It’s the only place for the children to meet. They’re out here every day with soccer balls and baseballs—Haitian children whose mothers and fathers are Muslim, Hispanic kids, Caucasian kids and black kids,” says the church’s pastor, the Rev. Tom Jackson. “They don’t always speak the same language, but a soccer ball transcends that. We have an opportunity to minister to those kids and their moms and dads.”

The city demolished four buildings whose facades had collapsed, creating additional open space of approximately 100 by 200 feet. On April 30, 2011, approximately 125 individuals from the church, three other churches and the community gathered to clean and prepare the area for the children’s use.

“What a blessing it is now to be able to triple the size of the space,” notes Jackson.

The church received a $10,000 grant from the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee’s Legacy Project, which seeks to revitalize the city in time for its role as host of Super Bowl XLVI. In addition, the nonprofit Keep Indianapolis Beautiful organization provided funds for project materials and leadership.

Marveling that the children feel safe in the church’s space despite the neighborhood’s high crime rate, Jackson recalls a visit from an affluent man. “I was showing him the crime statistics on my computer, and I asked him to look out the window,” Jackson recalls. “As he watched the children playing, I asked him how many of the parents from his community would let their children play outside with the crime so bad. His answer was, ‘None of them.’ I replied, ‘Here, at Tuxedo Park Baptist Church, Christ has given us all a beautiful mission opportunity that we celebrate.’”

The MCLE program urges churches to look beyond their own walls to aid their communities. For more information about MCLE, contact the Rev. Glynis LaBarre, ABHMS transformation strategist, at glynis.labarre@abhms.org or 800-222-3872, x2412.

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