‘I learn on the porches of my neighbors’: How Jay Height has done life and ministry for nearly 3 decades
Jay Height was working in Cincinnati in early 1995 when the leadership of...
This Shepherd volunteer is on a fantastic journey
From stuffing envelopes to coaching students, this Shepherd volunteer is...

Loving our neighbors: Why relationships are at the core of Shepherd’s assistance and education programs
In Luke, Jesus is asked, “Who is my neighbor?” He responds by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, a man who went out of his way to help a stranger in desperate need. When Shepherd was launched 35 years ago, its mission was to be a good neighbor to people on the near Eastside of Indianapolis. That mission hasn’t changed. And it’s at the...
Podcasts
Why is it so hard to break free from poverty?
Jay Height explores misconceptions and myths about poverty in the United States.
How a bag of groceries made an eternal difference
Shepherd Community Center Executive Director Jay Height discusses how doing ministry...
Why Christians and the church are still essential in our society
Shepherd Community Center Executive Director Jay Height explains why churches and...
Columns by Jay
How do we respond as the church in America declines? Get back to the basics of being salt and light.
An important thing to remember about surveys is that one in isolation is of limited value. Are the numbers accurate? Is it showing us an anomaly, or does it signal something wider and deeper? But a cluster of surveys, pointing in the same general direction, can help us accurately identify emerging trends. And there’s little doubt that the Christian church in America is trending downward. Consider these data points: A Gallup survey in August 2019 found that only 36% of Americans said they have...
From gas to food to childcare, prices are soaring. And my neighbors feel the pain.
From gas to food to childcare, prices are soaring. And my neighbors feel the pain. The numbers just don’t add up for my neighbors. As inflation soars at the highest rate in more than 40 years, many families on the near east side of Indianapolis are struggling a bit more each month to pay the rent, feed their children, buy gas to get to work and back, and even to purchase necessities like soap and laundry detergent. One mother recently told me she now washes her family’s clothes less often at...
The Great Unsettling: Fast pace of social change leaves us uncertain and uneasy.
The Great Unsettling: Fast pace of social change leaves us uncertain and uneasy. Here’s how we can cope. Journalist Shams Charania accurately summed up modern life in 18 words: “The world we live in now is totally different than it was five, six, seven, eight years ago.” Charania was speaking about his specialty – he reports on the NBA for The Athletic. Yet, he could have been describing how our world has changed in the past two years as the COVID-19 pandemic radically altered how we live,...

Loving our neighbors: Why relationships are at the core of Shepherd’s assistance and education programs
In Luke, Jesus is asked, “Who is my neighbor?” He responds by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, a man who went out of his way to help a stranger in desperate need. When Shepherd was launched 35 years ago, its mission was to be a...
‘I learn on the porches of my neighbors’: How Jay Height has done life and ministry for nearly 3 decades
Jay Height was working in Cincinnati in early 1995 when the leadership of...
This Shepherd volunteer is on a fantastic journey
From stuffing envelopes to coaching students, this Shepherd volunteer is...
Podcasts
Why is it so hard to break free from poverty?
Jay Height explores misconceptions and myths about poverty in the United States.
How a bag of groceries made an eternal difference
Shepherd Community Center Executive Director Jay Height discusses how doing ministry...
Why Christians and the church are still essential in our society
Shepherd Community Center Executive Director Jay Height explains why churches and...
Columns by Jay
How do we respond as the church in America declines? Get back to the basics of being salt and light.
An important thing to remember about surveys is that one in isolation is of limited value. Are the numbers accurate? Is it showing us an anomaly, or does it signal something wider and deeper? But a cluster of surveys, pointing in the same general direction, can help us accurately identify emerging trends. And there’s little doubt that the Christian church in America is trending downward. Consider these data points: A Gallup survey in August 2019 found that only 36% of Americans said they have...
From gas to food to childcare, prices are soaring. And my neighbors feel the pain.
From gas to food to childcare, prices are soaring. And my neighbors feel the pain. The numbers just don’t add up for my neighbors. As inflation soars at the highest rate in more than 40 years, many families on the near east side of Indianapolis are struggling a bit more each month to pay the rent, feed their children, buy gas to get to work and back, and even to purchase necessities like soap and laundry detergent. One mother recently told me she now washes her family’s clothes less often at...
The Great Unsettling: Fast pace of social change leaves us uncertain and uneasy.
The Great Unsettling: Fast pace of social change leaves us uncertain and uneasy. Here’s how we can cope. Journalist Shams Charania accurately summed up modern life in 18 words: “The world we live in now is totally different than it was five, six, seven, eight years ago.” Charania was speaking about his specialty – he reports on the NBA for The Athletic. Yet, he could have been describing how our world has changed in the past two years as the COVID-19 pandemic radically altered how we live,...