Book Review: Borderland Churches

Borderland Churches: A Congregation's Introduction to Missional Living.
By Gary V. Nelson
Chalice Press: St. Louis, 2008

In a previous blog I reflected upon the church in exile and found Borderland Churches to be an incredibly practical and insightful book, but one that is not without its challenge. The challenge for me as a pastor in these changing times, is how to apply Nelson's insights to my church or any church that is struggling with the notion of how to be the church in exile, a church that is no longer the center of the community's life and now finds itself on the edge of civilization or what we shall call, the borderlands.

Nelson makes a compelling argument that the since 1955, the "mainline" churches have been slowly pushed to the edges of society (into the borderlands) for a variety of reasons. Today, affluent people have more choices as to what they can and are able to do and church activities are no longer a first consideration. In the borderlands, there is clearly a lack of support from the community, the schools, the athletic teams, the merchants and community leaders for our churches today. These choices and others that have been made over the the last fifty plus years have pushed our churches to the borderlands.

Early in his book, Nelson makes the following observation, "My experience of ministering to this diverse crew of people often left me wishing it could just be "normal" -- a place where attendance was sure and language, rhythms and ethos recognizable to that in which I had grown up." [Nelson, Page 2] We long for normal. The trouble is that our perception of normal is based upon post WW II structures, institutions, attitudes, and expectations. Nelson goes onto say in Chapter 1 that churches, and especially pastors, who live and work out of this 1955 paradigm will not survive the exile. "How can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?" (Psalm 137:4) And so in his book, Borderland Churches, Nelson helps us find our way through this holy time of living in the borderlands.

Nelson is very clear in his book that the churches today must embrace, joyfully, their new status, churches doing ministry in the borderlands. The author contends that the borderlands is where the church should have always been -- at the edges of society. It is in the borderlands where Christian faith, other faiths, and un-faith intersect. Mission is always lived in the borderlands. Nelson believes that the churches that can embrace a missional vision within the community in which our churches and congregations reside, will survive this time of exile. He believes that the church today has constructed a God of our own making -- a God who is way too safe. [Nelson, Page 5] Nelson believes that God who is unpredictable and "holy wild" is not to our liking, but it is where the church today must be -- on the borderland.

Nelson does not leave the reader to his own vices and his own imagination as to the "how to" of being a borderland church. His book takes the reader through the journey of embracing the "holy wild" of God. There are many, many helpful suggestions that are bound in this book and one could spend many weeks, perhaps years moving from the predictable institution of the church to the wild and unpredictable ways of the Holy Other in the borderlands. However, there are two images that I believe summarize this journey for the church today that I think have some practical ramifications for all of us who are a part of emergent and emerging church. Nelson uses the Hebrew word, h'abar, which translates in English as "crossover" to talk about what must be done if we are to survive this time of change for our congregations and our churches.

H'abar first appears in Joshua, Chapter 3 in the context of the Jordan River and the Promised Land. The people of God are musing over their movement across the Jordan to the Promised Land. They are curious and afraid all at once as they gaze across the great river. Joshua, attempting to encourage and challenge them about their next step speaks out. His words portray great understanding of the mix of emotions they are feeling as they look out into the unknown. [Nelson, Page 27] He even heightens their anxiety, reminding them that they "have not passed this way before." (Joshua 3:4) Once we cross the Jordan River -- to the borderlands -- we can never turn back for from that moment on, our life will be forever changed. This renewal will not emerge from new programs, transformed denominations structures, or creative strategies. This 'abar time will require a re framing of attitudes, assumptions and frameworks long before the finished product emerges. [Nelson, Pages 33-34] Nelson spends most of the book from this point on writing about, helping church leaders, and showing us how we can make that transition to the borderlands where the church is free to do the missional work that God has always wanted from us.

The "crossover" to the Promised Land, the Border Land, is the first step of faith for Church today. In addition to this inspiring vision of the church, I also share with you another vision of the Border Land Church. This helpful image of living in the borderlands, comes to us from the prophet Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 29, the Hebrew people find themselves captive in an unwanted world. They are void of familiar rhythms and themes and the psalmist cries out through the ages, "How can we sing the the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?" (Psalm 137:4) In Jeremiah 29, God still responds to our cry. In chapter 29 from verse four through eleven, the prophet informs the exiles how to behave in exile. Although frustrating to us, these words state a critical truth for those of us who are fearful of the future, angry at the present, or simply paralyzed to do anything about the reality of a broken world. God's answer to the Hebrew exiles and to us comes with a pragmatic command to live in these days. We did not choose to live in these times and God most certainly does not call us back to a previous time where all appeared predictable, sterile, and safe. No, God calls us to live in these challenging times and to believe that if God put us here in this time and place and under the very circumstances that confound us, God will most certainly deliver us to new heights, new places and bring us to a deeper, more abiding faith that can endure life in the borderlands. God commands the Hebrew people to "...Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters...Increase in number there and do not decrease."(Jeremiah 29:5-6)

In summary, let it be said that for various reasons the Church today is at a point where radical decisions must be made. The past is no more and in essence, the prophet Jeremiah says to the Hebrew people, to you and to me that we must deal with this new reality -- this reality that we did not choose to embrace, but now must. Although the prophet may seem harsh, he leaves us with good news. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11) Let it be said and let us believe that we will not be left alone along this borderland journey. For as God has been with the faithful throughout the ages, so will God be with us today, leading us through the borderlands to the Promised Land where things cannot return to what was, but can become an even more perfect gift. Welcome to the borderlands!

People of Passion

"We are not alone. We are not alone. Deep in my heart I do believe that we shall overcome some day." Having now completed a weekly cycle with Open Door Community, I have observed volunteers, both residential and weekly, who are passionate about serving the homeless and the marginalized. Deep in their hearts the volunteers believe that no one should be alone. Each person should know justice and each one we serve on a given day is worth more than the time spent preparing and serving our friends. The ministry of Open Door Community is more than a bowl of soup, a sandwich, a warm shower, a new pair of shoes or badly needed foot care. The ministry of Open Door Community is about restoring dignity, treating the stranger and the marginalized with respect and honor, mindful that among the homeless today, Jesus Christ will be fed.

Each day, before we invite our guests in from the street, the community engages in Bible Study and prayer and we explore the role of servant, radical hospitality, and the meaning of gratitude, gratitude, not for the things we have or even for our family and friends, but the privilege to serve our Savior -- the one who is homeless, cold, dirty, and humiliated. Each day one of the least of these express their gratitude for the kindness we have shown them in sharing a bowl of soup. Each day we need to remind ourselves that it is not what I have done for you, it is what you have done for me -- you have given me an opportunity to provide hospitality, to serve God's children by providing a warm meal to carry you through the long days and longer nights. Your decision to come to Open Door today is not about what we have provided, but rather what you have provided for us, the joy of serving one of God's children. This is the passion of Open Door Community.

Besides a passion to serve the homeless and the marginal, Open Door Community has been a significant partner in the group, "Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty" (GFADP) Last night, Open Door Community joined GFADP for the 3rd Annual Mary Ruth Weir Memorial Dinner. Mary Ruth Weir died an untimely death to cancer, but until the day she died, Mary Ruth Weir was a passionate advocate to end the death penalty and gave up a fulfilling job, many material blessings to begin a partner community, Jubilee Partners, that believed in a simple life, passionate people open to the Spirit's leading and advocating for equality and justice for all.

As I reflect on Open Door Community and courageous leaders in social justice such as Mary Ruth Weir, I am remembering other courageous people who put their lives on the line time and time again. "One Day, after Moses had grown up he went out to his people and saw their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptians and hid him in the sand." (Exodus 2:11-12) Although Mary Ruth and the members of Open Door Community would not advocate violence to others, they like Moses, are passionate about justice. They, like Moses, will put their life on the line in order that justice will be done. "Deep in my heart I do believe that we shall overcome some day."

Moses was passionate about justice. There is another story of passion that comes to us from the gospels. "Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned tables. he told those who were selling the doves, 'Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" (John 2:15-16) Once again we witness the passion of another example of faith and once again Jesus reminds each of us who set up our tables to buy and sell that this is not a value of God's Realm. People are not a commodity, animals are not butchered for our indiscretions and burned on the altar to fulfill a pagan ritual of reconciliation. This is not justice and it is not what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

The work of justice, equality, dignity and integrity of all of creation requires passionate people. None of us can fulfill all of what needs to be done, but together this community and the communities of our world have made a difference. In the midst of the abuse, the insults, the name-calling, and the hard work of social justice, we are called to remember Jesus command, "Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my passionate disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:33-35

So it is with Mary Ruth Weir and the passionate people of Open Door Community. "Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." John 21:18. And so I babble on about justice, I babble on about radical discipleship and my soul sings with gospel choirs throughout the ages, "We shall overcome. We shall over come some day. Deep in my heart, I do believe that we shall overcome some day." Whether we are doing justice from behind a pot of soup, sharing in the grief and pain of family members visiting loved ones at the Georgia State Prison, or participating in a candle-light vigil on the day of an execution, people of passion must find strength and courage in what we know is right and one day, we shall overcome.

Broken

Prior to serving our guest, it is customary for Open Door Community to engage in a time of Bible Study, prayer, and preparation to give hospitality. A week or so ago, as part of this time of preparation, the community was led in a foot-washing experience where the focus was on being a servant -- taking the place of a lowly slave to wash the feet of the guests who would soon arrive for food and hospitality.

During that week several students from Memphis Theological Seminary were present at Open Door Community to work on their final project for their class, entitled, Urban Immersion. Most of these were young people who may have for the first time actually participated in such radical discipleship. As a part of their experience they were asked to create an art project and reflect upon their time at Open Door Community. So my blog today is not the work of my hands or my reflection, I am printing with permission from Open Door Community, a photograph of one of the art projects and the reflections of Camille Bradley.

First, let me describe the project. Its beauty and mystery is not well represented in this photographer's skill. The project is three dimensional. With heavy wire, you are able to see the shape of bare-feet. A towel is placed down the center of a broken bowl and continues to move upward like the flame of the Holy Spirit reaching up to God. A bar of soap rests on the broken shard and a wire hand, placed strategically at the center of the display brings all the parts together. From this image comes the following reflection:

"Jesus come to a broken world full of broken people and surrounds himself with them. Loving his own who were in the world, he loves them to the end. Knowing his time is near and soon he too will be broken; he wraps a towel around his waist and pours water into a bowl to wash the the feet of his beloved community. Jesus lowers himself and washes the feet of all who are present. He washes the feet of Peter who's feeling a little anxious. He washes the feet, as well, of the the one who will betray him. Then Jesus says: 'I have set an example that you also should do as I have done to you."

Jesus calls us to action and so we prepare to wash each others [sic] feet at the Open Door. We circle together, each one of us broken, much like the eve before Passover. Feeling anxious and humble, broken and weary, my feet are immersed in the basin. Ira [a resident volunteer] kneels down and with his strong brown hands gently and lovingly washes my white feet. No words are spoken. Yet, out pours the Spirit and I breathe deep while my eyes well up with water. After drying my feet, Ira rises and so do I. Two broken people embrace for a moment in the peace and wholeness that comes, from being together in a beloved community, right here at the Open Door.

We reflect all together to try to understand what has happened and still I'm not sure if I do. We talk of the poor and homeless outside and we're about to open the house to them. Somehow we're transformed into people of love, hospitality, and mutual respect. We are able to welcome to the beloved community other broken and anxious souls. Who for a moment at least feel the love and the peace that flows back and forth through all our our cracks. Our world is transformed as all of us who are broken come together in a diverse and beautiful whole. All because Jesus said: "For I have set for you an example, that you also should do as I have done." (Adapted, Luke 13:1-19, NRSV)

And so it is the kind of ministry that happens at the Open Door Community. There are no barriers here. there are only broken people picking up the pieces and through radical discipleship strive to bring life, dignity, grace and wholeness together again. And so I babble on with thoughts of the beloved community, the role of the servant leaders, and with renewed hope that peace, justice and humility is possible in our broken and fragmented world.

This is Open Door Community

I arrived at Open Door Community at the conclusion of worship yesterday and was asked before supper had ended if I would be willing to wash pots and pans from the evening dinner. Nothing like trial by fire. In the midst of learning the history, mission and ministry of Open Door Community, I have also learned why and how to use four stainless steel sinks to wash pots and pans. Rinsing, washing, rinsing again, and sterilizing, this is the process at Open Door Community in one context. Such may be an "new image" for churches who choose to live out Kingdom values through missional living. It would seem that rinsing, washing, rinsing again, and sterilization is a process by which we can understand God's love for us and for all who are created in God's image.

Open Door Community is a ministry on several levels. First and foremost it is a ministry of hospitality for the homeless and the marginalized. There is a soup kitchen, a foot clinic, showers, public bathrooms, shoe and clothing swap shop, and blankets and sack lunches are a part of their night ministry to the homeless in the city of Atlanta.

Related and equally important to this community is advocacy for prisoners, especially those in Georgia who are on death row. Open Door Community is located less than a mile from the Martin Luther King Center and an important part of their calling as a community is a ministry of justice and equality. The community does a great deal to raise community awareness around issues of race, culture, and justice. When there is an execution scheduled in the State of Georgia, the community gathers for a peaceful candle-light vigil.

Besides hospitality, advocacy for prisoners, especially those on death row, Open Door Community is also the permanent home of 15 plus people who range in ages from their early twenties to their seventies. In addition many from the surrounding community give time and service to Open Door Community and there are others, such as myself, who pass through for a time and reconnect with Kingdom values that were and remain an important witness to Jesus Christ and to the missional purpose of the church.

In many ways, I find myself a bit of an apprentice at Open Door Community. There is so much to learn and so many experiences that will continue to shape my personal calling as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Dallas Willard talks about being an apprentice to Jesus and nurturing a passionate life in Jesus Christ. He writes, "The crucial thing is that, as disciples, we have a plan for implementing the decision we have made to devote ourselves to becoming like our master and Lord -- to increasingly live in the character and power of Christ. Disciples are those who, seriously intending to become like Jesus from the inside out, systematically and progressively rearrange their affairs to that end, under the guidance of the Word and the Spirit. That is how the disciple lives." And so it is the prevailing attitude of the many who live in this community and those who come to serve the guests, the marginalized and the least of these. Open Door Community is a place where Christ's love is transformational and incarnational.

Experiencing the borderlands!

I am reading Gary V. Nelson's book entitled "Borderland Churches." This notion of "borderland churches" has captured my imagination. This image of the church has stimulated my imagination, partly because of the content of the book, but also because for most of my professional ministry, I've been thinking that the church I remember as a boy has moved from the center of community life to the edge of somewhere else. This somewhere else has not been clearly defined, but what I do know is that church today is different. This is not to say that this is a good thing or a bad thing, but rather I want to say it is different and like many of us who claim Christianity as our particular religious persuasion, I am trying to understand this strange and mysterious time for the Church of Jesus Christ.

I remember in the mid-eighties while I was attending Eden Theological Seminary, both Dr. Walter Brueggeman and Dr. Douglas Meeks talked about the church as the church in exile. Dr. Brueggeman compared the church of the eighties (and likely long before this decade) and subsequently the church of the early 21st Century to the Babylonian exile of the Hebrew people. All that was, is no longer and what is to come will not be the same. We know that the future image of the church is still unfolding and we probably won't know the new look until generations later when what we experience as religious and spiritual is a part of what we've always known.

Now, how is that for ambiguity? It is this ambiguity that intrigues me about "borderland churches." We are on the edge of something new and different. What this image of something new looks and feels like may depend upon how we choose to embrace or not to embrace this "new thing" that is happening as we "live and move and have our being." What's more is that those who claim this Christian faith are intricately entwined in this new image of the "new church," pushing us into the future even as we cling to the image of the church of yesterday.

Experiencing the borderlands is living on the edge, believing that the transformational power of the the living God will reveal, in due time, the New Jerusalem and in the meantime, those of us who are aliens to this new creation, we must use our borderland time to grow a deeper, more abiding faith that will strengthen us and carry us through this in-between time, this time where the church as we have known it, is experiencing the birth pangs of tomorrow's new life. With authority and with the power of resurrection hope, we must claim this time in history as we co-create and shape tomorrow's faith. I believe that this is our challenge and how thrilling and exciting it could be to be midwives to this new way of living and being the Church of Jesus Christ.

"Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43:18-19) Or from the gospel of John, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me...I will come again and will take you to myself so that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:1, 3)

My Seminary professors may say that the church is exile. Nelson believes that we must live as borderland churches, and I believe that we are strangers, aliens to the church today and our strength in these times must come from the prophets of old who spoke about a future place where God would meet God's people and a promise that we will not be left alone as we midwife this new church that is crowning, still waiting to be embraced, but nonetheless pulling us along into a new reality where God is our center and justice is our way of life. "Behold, I am doing a new thing. Do you not perceive it?"

And so I babble on with God's Spirit before me, the church as my constant companion, and the mission to be the church in unlikely places calls me into the future, into something that I may know only in part, but one day shall fully embrace. So, I remain in the borderland waiting for God's new thing to be born. Perhaps the borderlands is just a new way or a new place to experience God's all encompassing life. As you experience the borderlands, what do you think?

Book Review: Not Just a One Night Stand

“Not Just a One Night Stand: Ministry with the Homeless”
By John Flowers & Karen Vannoy
Discipleship Resource: Nashville, TN., 2009

In preparation for my time at Open Door Community, a ministry with the homeless, the marginalized, the incarcerated, and those released from prison, I felt it was important to read material that would reflect the kind of ministry I would anticipate at Open Door Community.

Flowers and Vannoy were two pastors serving Travis Park United Methodist Church (UMC) in San Antonio, Texas and through their leadership they transformed a silk stocking dying church into a cotton stocking growing church. This book is a reflection on how they were able to be transformed and to transform others by embracing their call to work with the homeless and the marginalized.

Flower and Vannoy stress early on that the goal of their ministry would be “mutual transformation” of the congregation, the members of Travis Park UMC, and those who participated in the Day Treatment program at Travis Park, UMC. Their authority and their permission comes from the urgency of gospel. They write, “We don’t need to wait for empowerment; we already have everything we need to build community of faith that embodies the gospel, and the world has never needed its transforming power more than it does now.” (Flowers, 2009)

Flowers and Vannoy know that the hearts of Christian people are in the right place. Flowers notes that people are compassionate and will not tolerate injustice when they understand the human story of suffering. We do good things for often the wrong reasons. The authors contend that our hearts are in the right place, but ministry among the homeless and marginalized is not something that we do a couple of times of year to relieve our middle-class guilt. No,the authors would rather work toward mutual transformation. Mutual transformation happens when we realize that we are more alike than different. Mutual transformation happens when we realize that the poor have as much to give to us as we have to give them. The authors observe that “when we are in the same space, at the same time, sharing our stories with equal air time and equal attention , mutual transformation has a chance. (Flowers, 2009)

With this notion of mutual transformation, the idea that we do not do ministry for the poor and the marginalized, but rather we do ministry with the poor the marginalized, the authors go onto share several ways in which this kind of ministry can become transformational. The authors suggest several steps that need to be taken in order for a ministry with the poor and marginalized can happen. They suggest that beginning with prayer and discernment is an important first step.

It has been said, “Morality begins at 1500 calories a day.” Clearly, this means that we cannot expect people to make sound moral decisions if they are hungry and so we need to eat. The author points out that we are also social creatures and suggest that this would be a wonderful way to make connections by eating together. By doing this we facilitate trust and build community. Eating together is a matter of survival.

Another way we can work toward mutual transformation is by paying attention. The best way to pay attention is when we can take time to listen to their stories. When we take time to listen, we don’t bring any demands, contrive expectations, or pass judgment. Instead, we enter their space and listen to their stories. Among other ways we work toward mutual transformation is by sharing power, careful discernment of “down and out” stories, and creating a safe, open, and inclusive space for worship. Each of these topics are addressed in some detail in subsequent chapters. The question that we as a church must struggle with in all facets of ministry is whether or not we ready to be the church or continue to play church.

Biblically, there are so many references to our call to reach out to the homeless, the poor, the marginalized, the incarcerated, and the forgotten. In light of this, let me end where I began with a quote that gives us the scope of our ministry. “…we need to build community of faith that embodies the gospel, and the world has never needed its transforming power more than it does now.” This is our call to mutual transformation.

Getting Ready

Today I begin a time of sabbatical rest and renewal. Yesterday, the send off and today the beginning of what I anticipate to be holy time, holy time that welcomes the Holy Spirit in the form of stranger, a new friend, a pilgrim, a seeker, an insight, or an unexpected surprise.

As my day began, it began with the more ordinary things of life. I had some notes to write, a trip to the cleaners to drop off my robes and stoles so that even my clerical robes and stoles will be renewed and refreshed for my ultimate return to my work and vocation. There was also a final trip to the travel agent to organize and clarify the mundane things that will facilitate a meaningful experience. Such things as plane tickets, hotel accommodations, and a final check on a trip to Athens. Although ordinary and seemingly secular, these matters are essential in this time of preparation. This is breathing time, a time to empty mind and body so that I may be more receptive to the Spirit's leanings.

Along the ordinary path of Monday morning, I noticed two bags of potting soil, two empty pots, a bag of pea gravel, and several gasping plants eager to anchor themselves in something more than a plastic container, pressing against their anxious roots in search of water, nutrients and room to spread out so that the world can see their beauty. I accommodated the call to be a co-creator with God and planted my tender plants. And so it is on this first day of my sabbatical, a time to see the possibilities.

I planted the planters today and they look nice against the front of our house. The plants have not adjusted completely to this new experience, but they're ready to take root and open up to God's prevenient care, each flower, each leaf is prepared to receive drops of rain and sunshine so that they may be receptive to the God's Holy Spirit that feeds them.

I guess in one sense that's where I am, getting ready to receive holy food. Like the new plants in a planter, the conditions are in place, and soon I will be in the midst of God's holy space and waiting to receive whatever it is that God would want me to see and hear. Such is my first day of my Sabbatical, and so I babble on, but not without purpose. No, just as a way to get ready for God's new chapter in my life. Where it will lead me, I do not know, but I'm planted and ready to receive, so that I might bloom to the glory of God.