Gotham
Fellowship:
Seeing the City
with New Eyes

By: Glenn Sparico

Being a part of Gotham this year has begun to change the way I view the world. It’s helped me to realize how everything – my faith, career, relationships, pursuits – is interconnected. And this holistic transformation is leading me to become more involved in the world around me.

Before Gotham, it felt like I was staring at a city through a set of stationary binoculars. In the distance, the buildings, each standing alone, their contents compartmentalized. I viewed my life and world in this same way. My job was distinctly partitioned off in one section, in another my faith, in another my leisure time, and so on.

But through the theological training, spiritual formation, and community development emphases of Gotham, I have been able to step back from these bifurcated lenses, and take in the whole of the city. It’s implored me to realize how everything I had seen through the glass is actually incredibly linked together – a skyline that had always been there, but I had never seen it before. As we look through the prism of the gospel at our motivations for work, our relationships at work, and the goals for the work itself, I’ve begun to see things much differently.

Now I can see how the Bible is much more than a collection of individual stories. Now I can see how a minor, yet sinful, reaction in the workplace is rooted in destructive desires.

The curriculum has been instrumental in helping process these realizations. I’ve been introduced to readings, concepts, and theologians that have expanded the understanding of my faith. Daily devotionals bring to front and center the yearnings of my heart. And the Gotham community has experienced these changes with me, and encouraging one another each step of the way.

The last few months in Gotham have been a blessing, and yet the transformation is still ongoing. I’m no longer content to view the brokenness of our city at a distance, now I’m drawn towards it to engage it. When I’m reminded that Christ wasn’t content to view the brokenness of this world at a distance, but physically entered in to bring renewal, I’m encouraged and find myself asking – how can I be salt and light in this city, and particularly in the work to which I’ve been called?

The Gotham Fellowship is a 9-month intensive leadership development experience focused on faith & work integration.