take and eat (part 2)

I've had my follow-up reflections to Sara Miles' "take this bread" on my backburner for weeks now.  Finally getting around to finishing it up!  (I kind of cheated - used a lot of text I had already written for a school report - apologies for it reading that way, just figured I'd share...)

Earlier, I reflected on Sara's experience of the mystery of the Eucharist as what drew her in.  Now I want to reflect on her experience of church leading out from that moment.  I call this experience an "exercise in prophetic imagination" (not directly related to the Bruggeman book, which I haven't read but am sure it's awesome.)


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Drawing In (Chapter 8 – Histories)
Mainline Protestant churches often get so preoccupied with programs and liturgy that they don’t often notice the new people that can walk through the doors searching for something that speaks anew. Even current church members can get locked into the "same way" of doing things, where the prophetic imagination is lost.
Sara was drawn into the church because of a vibrant and expressive liturgy. She explains that the pastors of the church she started attending saw themselves as “messengers and prophets, with a call to save the church from its mindlessly rote worship, its autopilot traditions, and deadening clericalism” (77-78). The liturgy was led by a mixture of laypeople, giving a great visible symbol of the priesthood of all believers. Detailed explanations preceded all elements of liturgy, so that newcomers and outsiders would not be lost. Above all of these elements in liturgy is intentionality with the Eucharist focusing on radical inclusivity and focus on feeding strangers. This weekly practice is what drew Sara in and what she sees as a focal point for the church.

Discovering Prophetic Imagination (Chapter 11 – Good Works)
Prophetic imagination means seeking out the need in the community and the proper response of the congregation. Seeing the poverty and hunger in her community, Sara felt a call to create a food pantry out of the church. She believed this was an extension of the centrality of the Eucharist. With this vision, the next step was communication with the congregation. Sara found it frustrating that a church so open to unique liturgy was so resistant to actually living out such a project at first (109). She found support in another church member who became frustrated that the church was terrified of people who were not like them, opting to only do church meals for those currently in the church (110). They crafted a vision for the program, explaining it as “another way of being church—though one that didn’t demand belief or expect people to pray. It wasn’t a social service program but a service, modeled on the liturgy of the Eucharist,” (113).
The process became messy once Sara tried to draw the congregation into the idea. She met a lot of resistance from staff and church members after proposing the idea, largely centered around the dangers of homeless people in a sacred church building (117).

Navigating Prophetic Imagination (Chapter 14 – Gleaners)
Sara’s church became a vibrant place for ministry for the first months of its existence. Her prophetic imagination was becoming a reality. However, growing pains emerged soon as the pantry sought identity and its relationship to the congregation. Sara speaks of the constant struggle of offering a safe refuge versus maintaining a small community of the church (141).
Sara received several emails from congregants and church staff who were growing more and more uncomfortable with the effects of homeless people hanging around (150). There were also issues with the growing numbers at the pantry and thus growing frustrations and problems. They decided to press onward with the trust that God would provide. A defining moment comes at the anniversary of the food bank as volunteers and guests gather for a celebration of the Eucharist. They gather and sing in a moment that gave a lot of encouragement and hope for the food bank.
Radical visions of church can often get lost in conversation. We forget the calling to take risks for the sake of being prophets of Christ's love.

Prophetic Imagination in the Church (Chapter 18 – Manna, Chapter 19 – Misfits)
The food pantry began to grow as new days of the week were added to feed more people. Sara’s calling into this new ministry led her to work with congregational development to help churches look at creating food pantries. She explains frustrations with the constant unwillingness to take on new ministries: “It was as if the very habits of churchgoing had stripped away people’s capacity to take authority and do things on their own.” (204).

Sara had initially discovered church because of the willingness of the church to accept something new, her drive to create something new, and the growing community of volunteers and guests that were creating this new vision for church. A new community had been built alongside the church through the people Sara encountered. She describes their vision for church: “They wanted, in fact, church: not the kind where you sit obediently and listen to someone tell you how to behave but the kind where you discover responsibility, purpose, meaning…where they could find community.” (214).

All those involved with the food pantry found Sara’s church to be their church. Although many were not members, they still saw the initiative Sara’s prophetic imagination formed as their church. The ability to seek out new ways of expressing church to outsiders was the initial move that led to this exciting new ministry.
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The Holy Spirit breathes through the church constantly.  When we fail to acknowledge the new opportunities God is putting in our path, we are failing to take risks for the working of the Holy Spirit.  A church should remain open to transformation.  A church should be radically hospitable in drawing in those with the power to lead the church in prophetic imagination.  May we be willing to risk and hope for the new things God is calling us to in the church and beyond!

roots

As mentioned in my earlier post, I had the opportunity to join a BSM volunteer group this past week as they went out to West Philadelphia.  It was refreshing for me to experience a different part of Philadelphia, particularly other areas of deep poverty.  There's kind of a lot of it in this city.  We volunteered through a group called WePAC (west philadelphia alliance for children), serving an elementary school in a really rough part of town.

Their statistics are staggering.

As you can imagine, these were difficult kids, even though we only worked with k-2nd grade.
Capturing their attention was difficult, and when given the chance, they would run EVERYWHERE.  The teachers were simply amazing - their commitment to these kids and the respect they maintained were highly impressive.  Teachers out there, I salute you.  This brief experienced reinforced to me how much the home life negatively affects these kids.  The signs can be suttle, but SO informative about how kids grow up to have so many problems.

1. Parents brought their kids in to school throughout the day.  There was no sense of punctuality.  This was a reflection of greater issues of little to no parental involvement in the school.

2. A popular game of kindergardeners at recess was robbing a bank.  They really enjoyed having "shoot outs"

3. I observed a project that was posted in the hall from a class writing about whether they would have a whale or a cat as a pet.  A vast majority selected a whale because a cat "would not hurt them."

I use these examples NOT to say "shame on them for being bad," but to remind you all that you are born into systems.  To those of you who wonder why poor people can't "climb out" of poverty and "stop getting arrested," take some time to visit schools such as these.  You will come to realize that the roots of these problems lie in how kids grow up.

Think of your own life.  The fact that you are reading this post right now means you've had a wealthy enough upbringing to have a computer and most likely GREAT access to thinks like education and...HEALTHCARE.  "Being grateful for what you have" is so much more than being thankful to your mom and dad.  It should be about recognizing that you are born into your situation and life should be about giving ALL people EQUAL opportunity.

Check out the link to WePAC above again and think about the statistics.  Schools in impoverished areas have VERY SMALL amounts of funds to spend on their schools.  Do the research.  Realize the poison in the roots.  Realize the calling we have to work toward equal opportunities for kids such as these.

helpless

"Know what the sin of the Pharisees was?  They didn't take action."

This was an intial reaction to one of the most difficult situations I've found myself in since being in Philadelphia this year.  It happened on a trolley going towards West Philadelphia.  This week, I've been helping with a college group that has given up their spring break to volunteer at BSM and around the city.  The past few days we've been going to a rough elementary school to volunteer.  Stories to come about that experience later...

So anyway, THIS story takes place before we even get to the school today.  We're heading westward on the trolley when all of a sudden we all smell something that assails our nostrils in the worst way possible.  We soon realize that it's coming from a man who just entered the back door of the trolley, not paying the fare.  A group of 4-5 boys sitting in the back of the bus immediately get up and move towards the front.  The old man mumbles something unintelligible, though it sounds like he says something about "hurt my feelings."

After a couple more stops, the driver stops the trolley, stands up, looks towards the back and says "You gots to go!" Snickers erupt from the trolley.  The man continues to mumble, and is defiant about not getting off the trolley.  Another driver who was riding with us gets off the tram, yelling, "you stink" to the man from outside.  Another man on board gets very upset, saying that if the guy doesn't get off, he's going to make him get off.  Someone hails a nearby policeman, at which point the defiant man finally gets off the bus.  The riders hail insults at him as he gets off.  We continue to be glued to our seats, dead silent.

I check in with the group once we get off the trolley.  We're all a bit rattled after the horrible display of hate we just witnessed.  Despite the man's demeanor and appearance, there was NO reason for him to be treated the way he was.  And we felt crummy for not stepping up. We felt like those who passed by the guy attacked by robbers on the side of the road.  We did not take action, did not care for the least of these in that moment.

Situations like these are extremely complex.  A perfect response is impossible.  Intervening can only agitate already unstable people and make situations worse.  If we weren't in such shock, we could have engaged the defiant man and invited him to get off the trolley WITH us, lying down to suffer with those under ridicule and hate.

We're not perfect.  We do the best we can.  This is an unfortunate reminder of our human condition and our need for a deeper hope and love among one another.  Saying the right thing to do is easy.  But making it happen is so much more difficult.  We've all got a long way to go.