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Downtown Augusta Mural Guide

This year has been difficult to say the least. Redemption Church started holding our worship gatherings solely online on March 15th. In August, we made the difficult decision to not hold our regular Sunday worship gatherings throughout the Fall. We have missed one another, and we have missed gathering to worship, serve, and fellowship together deeply. 

So, although we can’t gather in our traditional sense this season, we have started a weekly rhythm of gathering for communion, fellowship, and serving that we are calling Sundays on the Porch. This compliments our weekly Home Worship Guide which is found on our website each week and continues to host our worship through music, prayer, and preaching. 

Each week we wash our hands, put on our masks, and gather on our porch at 930 Broad Street in downtown Augusta for a walk-through liturgy. We then send the church into the neighborhood with some way to get to know or serve our city together.

Last week we decided to take a downtown mural tour together. Augusta is blessed with many talented artists whose paintings have been popping up on buildings all over downtown. They are stunning to look at and fun to take pictures with. But what I love about these many creations most is that our neighbors made them, and their creations reveal the passions, dreams, and heart of people who live, work, learn, and play alongside us everyday. 

I encourage you to go see these murals for yourself. We made an Augusta Mural Guide to help you take your own tour. 

What I see in many of these paintings is a love for Augusta. I hope they serve to inspire us all with a love for this place and for the people, the image bearers of God, who live here.

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Spotlight: Downtown Augusta

It is not by accident that Redemption Church is located on Broad Street. Since our beginning we have had a heart to spread the gospel to those who live, work, and play in downtown Augusta. That is why we jumped at the opportunity to have a permanent location in The Doris Building a couple of years ago. We love it here, and we want to be a blessing to this neighborhood very intentionally and in very tangible ways.

There have been a lot of really great developments lately toward continuing to make downtown a fun destination for locals and out of town guests. So this week I thought it would be helpful to share a few ways to stay connected to what is happening, support the businesses and organizations that are making it all happen, and to show up to bless our city.

 

5 Downtown Augusta Resources:

 

Downtown Development Authority

Visit the DDA website for a video that highlights some the great places and things that downtown has to offer. While you are there look around the site to become more informed about the direction we are headed.

Support Downtown Augusta

Claire Riche, my wife, operates these Facebook and Instagram accounts that are geared toward encouraging locals to spend time and money downtown. There are a lot of businesses that have planted in downtown because they want to see it thrive, and they hope to serve toward that end. They could use our support. Support Downtown Augusta highlights special events, restaurants, shops, art galleries and much more throughout the week. Follow them for great date ideas, gift ideas, or to even to connect with service opportunities.

Operation Clean City

After a weekend of nightlife there is often a good bit of trash blown through the streets that leaves the area looking less than desirable. Operation Clean City meets regularly, often on Sunday mornings before church services begin, to clean up the mess. This is a great way to meet people in the area and serve the city and our neighbors in a very tangible way. Follow them on Facebook and on Twitter

Downtown Lowdown

This Facebook group allows downtown businesses and stakeholders to post their events and news to the page. It is a great way to hear about all the new developments and events that are taking place.

Westobou

Westobou is an excellent addition to the downtown scene. They are terrific neighbors and advocates for making our city a truly great place to live and visit. The festival that they put together every year brings amazing talent to our area, but they also have a home office and gallery on Broad Street that you can usually visit during the day to check out their featured artists. Visit their website for more information on the festival and upcoming galleries. They also put together a monthly list of 10 things to do each month that they publish on their Facebook page and Twitter feed.

 

This is by no means an exhaustive list of resources. However, I am sure that many of these will lead you to connect to other great resources.  If you know of something that is worth taking a look at feel free to leave a comment. Downtown is really a fun place with a wide variety of people. Get out, get involved, get to know people and find a way that you can support and bless downtown Augusta.