Open Tables

"I've seen you serving food every time I'm here.  I had no idea you could write like that!"
-a member of our new "Arts and Culture" group at Broad Street Ministry said this past Wednesday night.  We were all in tears of laughter after hearing our friend Jack read us a hilarious poem addressed to his former boss.

BSM can be a large place, difficult to navigate and find community within.  As a result, I have been working with Erika and some key members of the community to create groups to address this issue.  We wanted to have opportunities for people to get to know one another on deeper levels, without creating cliques of like-minded people.  What resulted from conversations with members of the community was 3 groups: Movement, Arts and Culture, and Community Activism.  All three backed by fantastic people dedicated to giving room for relationship building and community empowerment.

Judging from the fun we had at the first instance of these groups on Wednesday, there is a definite place for these groups.  We saw glimpses of personality in people that was not often seen during normal events at BSM.  It's amazing what happens when you give room for creative expression.  People's walls come down just enough for transformation.  This is exceptionally true for those who have no other opportunities for creative expression, due to life circumstances, or people/groups in the past who have denied them and their gifts.  Many of us have experienced this, on both ends of the spectrum!

As "community trailblazer" this year, I have had many conversations with amazing people who have come through the doors of Broad Street Ministry.  I have had glimpses of their gifts and personality that are just bursting to be known.   I have heard stories about church and work environments where they are denied room to use these gifts.  I've been excited to see these groups take shape and I truly hope they continue to grow, giving people an opportunity to be known in the large community that is BSM.

Given that Jesus spent most of his time around a small group of disciples, its hard not to realize that Jesus was an advocate for close relationships in small groups.  This setting is where people become known and empowered to follow Christ out into the world.

May we continue to guide people to open tables where they can become known.

Broad Street Ministry: 5th Birthday

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.

Broad Street Ministry: 5th Birthday

landmarks

This coming Sunday is the 25th year anniversary of the Philadelphia Area Disc Alliance (i'm playing in their summer league this year).  Given that ultimate frisbee was invented in 1969, this is kind of a big deal (i'm sure only about 2 people reading this blog will even care about this).  However, my point is...

Landmarks are significant.

This past Sunday, the 16th, Broad Street Ministry celebrated its 5th year of existence.  Now this doesn't seem like much.  However, in the nonprofit world, this is a LONG time.  In the "experimental church" world, even longer.

Sunday was a wonderful celebration.  Even though I was loaded down with grunt work of making sure it ran smoothly, I was still able to experience the joyfulness of the day.  The BSM atmosphere was in full effect among the 400 gathered in that place (3x more than usual).  We had a smattering of every type of person possible, many who have been through the doors of BSM at some point in the past.  The worship service had the usual level of unruliness, fun, and joy, yet multiplied by the high energy in the room.  We had one guest, convinced he is Christ incarnite, who was jumping up and down, dancing to every song, making loud comments during service, and trying for another dose of the Communion.  We had more kids than usual, who found a spot near the back of the room to draw.  We had youth groups who have done mission trips at BSM in the past.  We had elders from churches who have given large sums of money in the past.  We had artist friends, homeless friends, dancer friends, social advocacy friends.  If you don't believe in a thing such as the "Holy Spirit," you may have been convinced otherwise on this day.

Oh yeah, and we had cake.

Capturing this event and the nature of BSM was a photobooth project by artist JJ Tiziou.  It was mostly as you imagine - a giant box where you make faces as the camera fires rapidly.  What emerged throughout the night was a HUGE smattering of people, faces.  The faces that showed up on the screen were ALL beautiful.  The magic was seeing everyone in their true light, whether they be a well-dressed businessman, or a worn down homeless person, they all looked beautiful.  This is the landmark we leave as a church: faces of those who the church encounters.  Faces that may not be captured by society.  Faces that Christ sees and loves.

Landmarks are significant.

Well, more like "watermarks," another significant moment this past week was a goal achieved by TheChurchisAlive blog.  We went with a pretty crazy idea: run an online fundraising drive for charity:water that would basically fund the building of a well in an impoverished area of the world.  We had been running this blog site as a home for those wishing to express a new energy and enthusiasm about the church and its ability to change the world around.  With the momentum we've been gaining, why not build a $5,000 well?

We did it.  In about 80 days we raised $5,250, enough to serve 262 families in a community.

It's amazing to me how people dedicated to giving of themselves can come together like this for such an amazing purpose.  Whether or not they did it for the "church" doesn't matter.  Hearts joined to meet a passion for the world in need.  We, as a churchisalive team, believe this to be the work of the gospel, work that doesn't quite translate these days in church.  Work that is often muffled by the bad media and pessimism about "church."

Our campaign started near the beginning of lent, hit a midpoint at East, and concluded right before Pentecost.  Our goal was met and we continue pressing onward.  I think that speaks for itself.

Landmarks are significant.

 

looking back - looking forward

"I'm so sorry," the young girl kept saying after hearing the words "this church just closed down."

This past Friday I took a road trip with our "hospitality enforcer," aka "big Mike," to pick up some chairs for BSM.  I had no idea it would be from such a beautiful old church.  I had also been unaware that this church recently closed, and with the Presbytery's approval, we could basically claim whatever we wanted from there for BSM.

As we we hauling chairs and tables out the back door to the rented Penske truck, a couple of young girls who lived down the road decided to say hello.  They were both between 4-6 years old I'd assume.  They were very curious as to what we were doing.  When I told them the story, she kept saying "i'm so sorry." She also explained that she used to go there to eat meals here and they hosted girl scouts among many other things for this impoverished area.  She kept apologizing to me as if this was my church, as if this closing was affecting me personally.

a prophet...

All year, I've been plugging away with church revitalization.  I've been working in two environments where church had basically "closed down."  I've had the unique opportunity of helping to create a new church environment for the 21st century without having to fight through the existing church cultures that exist in most places.  Being so caught up in this has left me unappreciative of the past, of the great history of churches, of the pain that comes with closing down.

The thought is that the more you look back, the more you'll be held back from charging forward with new ministry.  This is true to some extent.  However, where is the grace in this?  Where do we sympathize with our brothers and sisters whose ministry has failed?  Do we blame them?  Did they get what they deserved for not running an effective ministry?

I should be sorry...

Walking through a place that carried hopes and dreams of many many people is a sobering reality that reminds us how difficult it is to live faithfully as a church community.  Amidst all the work a church does, being in relationship with one another is at the core.  When a church closes, the opportunity for this closes.  We should seek ways to reach out to those who are losing their place of hope, whether it be a church community, a family, friends, etc...

In the meantime, I look forward greatly to the final couple months I have here at BSM, moving forward, hopefully in the direction of new ministry that serves the kingdom of God.  May the knowledge of the saints, the great cloud of witnesses, who have gone before guide us in this direction.  May we continue to be grateful.

BSM celebrates its 5th birthday today which is a HUGE deal.  They have survived this long as a radical new ministry and deserve to celebrate with those who have been there along the way.  Despite all the new things this place has brought, the sanctuary walls continue to peel, the ceiling continues to crumble, the building continues to deteriorate.  However, the walls still stand.  Those who have gone before us continue to support ministry in this place, even though they are long gone now.  May the ministry carry onward as the Spirit leads!

Happy Birthday Broad Street Ministry!

small crowd

If I told you that the lowest-attended worship service of the year at BSM was Mothers' Day, would you believe me?  Now I'm not sure if this is exactly true or not, but since I've been here at least, this was one of the lowest attended days of the year.

In other churches, the sunday after Easter may take this award.  For others, it's some day in June or July when people are on vacation.  However, BSM happens to be on Mothers' Day.  This is strange to me because I am used to the culture of Mothers' Day being the day you go to CHURCH and LUNCH with your mother/grandmother/aunts/etc., complete with cards and flowers.

Perhaps it was the evening service that made attendance so low.  Perhaps it is the fact that many of our usual attendees are young adults, most not yet mothers who were able to travel away for the weekend.  However, this doesn't quite explain the drop in our homeless guests, right?  Why would they have anywhere else to go?  Aren't they rejects that have no "home" to go to?

One thing I've learned a lot about from the guests we meet is that this stereotype is far from the truth.  Most of our guests have very large families in the city, whether it be their parents, their own children, or siblings, that love them very much.  Some may be isolated and alone, others may be alienated from these families, some may refuse to re-connect.  However, the absence of our guests from dinner tonight made me think that the connection of family is difficult to break, no matter what the circumstance.

Our guests go through trauma every day.  Being treated as sub-human will do this to you.  However, at the end of the day, they've got mothers or motherly figures out there to love and accept them.  This Sunday showed that this love is real and they are willing to make room to spend time with these families.  

Church is realized in these moments as well when you see who does show up for service.  They show up because they may be far away from family.  They may not have family.  They may see BSM as their family.  Either way, being in each other's presence is the true realization of the body of Christ.

Blessings on the love of Mothers and Motherly figures out there.
...and blessings on those without either in their lives, that they may find that love within community.

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Apologies for the long posting drought, I have them from time to time!  I p

I am working hard as usual at BSM/ASPC.  I will remain here through early August, doing most of the same work, with a few new opportunities that I will explain soon.  Broad Street Ministry will celebrate it's 5th birthday this upcoming Sunday, so we've got a lot to work on!