Smart Zombie: Smart Mob in Action!

This is my friend LeRoy King. He rocks. Seriously. He's leading a group of people at our Monroe Circle Community Center (MC3) on a weekly basis called The Gathering. The Gathering meets on Tuesday nights and currently has about 50 members from the Monroe Circle Community plus volunteers from GCC and members of the One Spirit/One Body small group (another group that LeRoy leads that is dedicated to racial and ethnic diversity and reconciliation). To date,
The Gathering engages in worship and teaching garnered (and edited by LeRoy) from GCC weekend series services, and also facilitates relational community within the people who gather. The purpose of this community is mutual support, edification, advocacy, strength and awareness... all the great hallmarks of a budding Smart Zombie community.

But a week ago, something particularly "Smart" occured, and i am anxious to to explain. During one of the last meetings, one of the community member's car was vandalized by a group of community teen agers. The damage to the vehicle totalled about $200, and is beyond the realm of what the owner could conjur immediately to repair. She asked if GCC's liability insurance would cover the damage, and our current rider does not allow for such. Undeterred, however, LeRoy turned the opportunity into a lesson in Leadership 101 and at the next meeting, explained to The Gathering what had happened. He then gave the community (keep in mind that the average annual income at Monroe Circle is $9,600) an opportunity to contribute anonymously to the damage. Not sure what to expect, The Gathering members started to come forward. "I kept expecting the clink of coins," LeRoy explained later, laughing, "but none came. It was all bills. In handfulls." By the end of the evening, nearly $90 had been raised, and LeRoy was able to present it to the member whose car had been damaged. "She was absolutely dumbfounded," LeRoy said, "she had never experienced anything like that before!"

It's that kind of self-resourcing community that can truly become the heart of what it means to be a Smart Zombie. We look forward to seeing how The Gathering continues to mobilize!