TheMinistryCafe

Billy Graham.  Albert Einstein.  John F. Kennedy.  These men, whose names echo with larger-than-life reverberations, have had a profound impact on the 20^th century and on our lives today.  The key to their success: an extraordinary vision accomplished through reliance on other like-minded individuals.  Think about people that inspire you and encourage you to make a difference in the lives of others.  Whether artists & entertainers, leaders & revolutionaries, heroes & pioneers, scientists & thinkers, or builders & titans, all influential leaders must partner with other people to accomplish their vision.Recently, several members of WPH had the privilege of attending the Maximum Impact Simulcast, a leadership seminar where we heard eight inspirational leaders.  Each speaker had valuable information to share, but all of us felt the profound impact of one particular person, social innovator Bill Strickland. 

Bill grew up in a rough, poor neighborhood, Pittsburgh’s gritty North Side.  Because his art teacher made a difference in his life, he wanted to give back to the community he called home by giving the people of Pittsburgh a place where they could be educated, trained, and in turn, give back to their community.  He organized the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and the Bidwell Training Center around some basic, identifiable human characteristics: 

1) Our expectations and the way we treat people drives their behavior 
2) People are a function of their environment 

Inspired by the quality of light and water at Falling Water, a house Frank Lloyd Wright designed in western Pennsylvania, Mr. Strickland crafted a state-of-the-art facility for his students, children from the inner-city.  Spaces are decorated with bright, cheerful colors.  The high-class environment, which stimulates all of the students’ senses with the sound of music, visually pleasing art work, and fresh flowers, speaks of the superior expectations that the school has for its students.  Light and water inspire growth, and growth is exactly what happens at the Bidwell Training Center, with an astonishing success rate.  We learned that 80% of the “at-risk” kids who attend the school’s free programs get into college.  Also, 90% of the adult graduates from the training center are placed in full-time jobs.  The initial endeavors of the training center to teach ceramics, photography and jazz music were so successful that additional education was added in the fields of culinary arts, horticulture, technology and medical coding. 

How did one man from Pittsburgh build a school that provides a powerful, positive, influence for 3200 schoolchildren and 500 adults annually?  He built alliances with people that would share in his vision.  Bill says: 

You’ve got to engage the people in positions of power… You go to a community’s business leaders. You speak their language. You don’t go in asking for a sponsorship. You look the man in the eye, explain this is what you can do for him — you offer a partnership…With that kind of attitude you can build a center in a year, instead of 10 years. And man, with 100 centers like Pittsburgh, you can change the planet.

Bill Strickland would like to see high-class training centers like the one he has created in every city in the country.  Perhaps your church would consider involvement with this vision – bringing Jesus, as well as education, to the poor, inner-city neighborhoods of America.

As church architects, it has been our privilege to partner with churches to create facilities to enhance the worship experience for those who come to meet with The Living God.  In turn, these churches partner with their communities in order to spread God’s word.  Mr. Strickland has inspired us to continue designing spaces for churches that reflect the beauty of creation and our Creator. 

In the fall of 2007, a book entitled Making the Impossible Possible will chronicle Mr. Strickland’s incredible story.  Doesn’t this title capture exactly what the Body of Christ is called to do?  We too need to see the value of each human being and call them into their God-given destiny through encouragement and an environment that imparts hope. 

Additional Reading:
What One Man Can Do 
Can One Entrepreneur Save The World?
Genius At Work
Top 50 cultural Forces in Pittsburgh with a twist: No. 1 Bill Strickland

 

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