Just Say “Propane”
Now you can pronounce Sara Joy Proppe’s last name.
Despite enduring many mispronunciations over the years, she lives up to the “Joy” part quite well.
We had had some correspondence in the past, and it turns out we also share a bunch of common acquaintances.
En route to our Airbnb in St. Paul, a little birdie whispered in my ear that she lived in the Twin Cities. So I emailed her, unsure of the validity of my source.
And sure enough, St. Paul is her home away from Texas (where she is from).
As a bonus1 she lives walking distance from where Becky and I were staying! That made it convenient for meeting her at breakfast on our way to Milwaukee.
New friends, you might call us, but our time flew by as if we were old pals. It’s funny how common connections and passions will do that.
We ate at a fine corner cafe with decent coffee in a mixed-use, vibrant downtown neighborhood. It was the perfect backdrop for talking new urbanism, Christian stewardship of properties, and community building.
The Proximity Project
One of my study leave goals is to connect with folk like her.
In 2014, she started The Proximity Project as a way to integrate her faith with her work as a private real estate developer, place-maker, and educator.
Her web site says, “She desires to equip churches to be strategic stewards of their properties for the common good within the contexts of their neighborhoods.”
Along with Eric Jacobsen, she hosts the “Embedded Church” podcast and has developed The Redemptive Placemaking Tool Kit for churches.
Six Days a Week
Think about the typical church building on a Thursday. Often, the place is idle, save for staff members or the odd meeting. This is particularly true for facilities that are removed from the bustle of a town or city, unless they host a school.
Sarah steps in to consult with churches to think of how God has uniquely equipped them geographically to serve others nearby.
Churches like mine, Wheatland Presbyterian, find themselves uniquely poised to serve their community, located on the borderline between Lancaster Township and City.
We host a top notch ESL program, share our worship space with a Burmese congregation, host weddings, and provide for all sorts of ad-hoc community meetings.
I’m very heartened that our leadership is now in a long-range plan to leverage our historical and future campus buildings not only for our growing congregation, but also “for the life of the world.”
This is Sara Joy’s bread and butter: Consulting with religious groups to utilize their physical plants to bear more fruit.
Cooking With Proppe
Hopefully, within a few years, The Row House will host Sara Joy in Lancaster.
I’d love to hear talk about her passion for an embedded church. I could also see her consulting with our church leaders and resourcing other groups as well.
Combining her presence with our architectural tours, particularly the religious heritage walk we sponsored with Gregg Scott, it’d be fun to recognize what’s already happening in our fair city through houses of worship.
It would be inspiring to her too, I imagine. So would those maple and bacon Achenbach long johns at Central Market. Now, that’s a breakfast!
Right up there with tartar sauce on a hand-crafted walleye sandwich at The Grand Avenue pub which I experienced firsthand in that city.