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Why Organize? |
Organizing is an important principle of urban mission. We can
focus on responsible economic development, or creative church
planting, or a prophetic peace witness. But until we've
organized, all we are doing is projects. The key to
transformational urban mission is actively organizing urban
communities.
Shalom Ministries has been working from a community organizing
methodology since the mid-1990's, when we realized that the
congregation was God's urban missionary agency, and God's
calling to us was to come alongside the congregation, listen
to them, share their passion, offer training, coaching and
consulting to help them attain their mission passion - and
then get out of their way as they fulfill God's missionary
call.
We learn from and participate with other
community organizing efforts. We team up with Partners in
Urban Transformation and ProjectAdvanceAcademy, which use
community organizing as a means to work at reducing relative
poverty in North America and absolute poverty in the Global
South.
Our work at Shalom Ministries continues to develop and
evolve. Our passion is a cadre of urban leaders empowering
churches in the cities of our world to fully embrace God's
unique purpose. We work to achieve that passion, not by
having a shelf full of programs, but by engaging in
relationships and discovering together how God wants to work
in our midst. It takes more time on the front end to build
the relationships, and you may actually have more "failures" -
because not everyone always wants relationships. But, for
those willing to go on the journey, the shared effort of
conversation and transformation is truly a gift from God.
By Jeff Wright, bishop of the
Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference and president of Shalom
Ministries. Shalom Ministries equips leaders to empower the
church to embrace God's global urban mission. Bishop Wright
is a member of the PIUT board. This article is excerpted from
The Shalom Ministries Champion newsletter, February
2008 and is used by permission. |
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Check out Partners' Lectionary Studies |
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It's Not About a Doubting Thomas!
We have often heard the phrase, "Don't be a Doubting
Thomas". But the story from which that phrase
originates isn't about a doubting Thomas; it's about a
forgiving Jesus!
The phrase comes from John 20:24-29 in the Bible. The
risen Jesus has met with his disciples but not with
Thomas. His colleagues tell him that they have seen
Jesus, but he responds, "Unless I put my fingers into
the mark of the nails in his hands and my hand in his
side, I will not believe". A week later, Jesus appears
to Thomas and challenges him, "Thomas, put your finger
here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it
in my side. Do not doubt but believe"!
That final sentence is what gives Thomas the sobriquet,
"Doubting". But the problem is that the word used in
the biblical text is not best translated "doubt". The
Greek word used here, apistos does not mean what
the English word "doubt" means (i.e., uncertainty,
hesitation or to lack confidence). It means
"unbelief". What Jesus was actually saying to Thomas
was "Do not hold onto unbelief, but believe".
In other words, Jesus is saying that it is all right,
when faced with something impossible to immediately
embrace (like a person rising from the dead) to not
believe what has been reported to you. The problem is
not that of doubting. The problem is that of refusing
to believe when sufficient proof has been provided that
the unbelievable is true (in this case, Jesus standing
physically alive in front of you, showing you his
wounds). The issue is belief. And the real question
with Thomas is not whether he will continue to doubt but
whether he will finally believe. If he does, then his
immediate indiscretion of initial unbelief will be
forgiven by Jesus!
And that is exactly what happens. When Jesus states the
challenge, "Do not hold onto unbelief, but believe",
Thomas immediately responds "My Lord and my God". In
that one brief moment, Thomas goes from unbelief to
total embrace! And, thus, Jesus forgives Thomas and he
is received back into Jesus' shalom community once
again.
Have a joyous, believing Easter season!
Bob Linthicum
This meditation is excerpted from the
lectionary commentary on John 20:24-29 for the 2nd
Sunday of Easter, March 30, 2008.
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Getting to Know Rebecca Gifford
Rebecca Gifford serves as the first
Director of Project Advance Academy, a division of
Partners in Urban Transformation. While still in
college in a U.S. city, Rebecca became deeply troubled
by the urban poverty she witnessed daily on her walks to
class. She had been raised in a close-knit rural
community that taught her to look out for those in
need. By contrast, the city seemed harsh and uncaring.
Rebecca began to seek out kindred spirits in that city
with a passion to respond to the cries of the poorest.
She joined with leaders of a local church to walk the
streets, visit the imprisoned and create a wide array of
outreach projects. Frustrated by the limits of even the
best outreach to bring about lasting change, Rebecca
turned to community organizing.
For nearly two decades, Rebecca has been
dedicated to developing the united power of organized
people to make changes in themselves and their
communities. As an organizer with the Industrial Areas
Foundation, Rebecca worked extensively in multi-cultural
contexts, particularly in Los Angeles and Boston. She
has witnessed the remarkable capacity of people from
many backgrounds to discover a common voice and a common
vision. It was through her work in local organizing in
Los Angeles that Rebecca first met Robert Linthicum and
began to reflect on the possibilities of equipping local
people and mission agencies to do community organizing
in cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Rebecca joined ProjectAdvanceAcademy in
August, 2007, and has helped form its teaching and
mentoring style around the world. She is currently on a
trip for PAA in the Philippines with Servant Partners
and in Melbourne with Project Advance Australia, and is
planning later this year to provide PAA training and
mentoring for organizing efforts among the poor in
Mexico City and Bangkok.
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DART, RISC and Peace
From Jan 30 - Feb
1, Robert Linthicum was in Daytona Beach, to speak at the
annual DART Clergy Conference. Nearly 200 clergy gathered
from across the United States to reflect together on the
theme, "Where Have All the Prophets Gone?" Linthicum
shared keynoting responsibilities with Dr. Marvin McMickle,
the pastor of the AntiochBaptistChurch in Cleveland, OH
and author of the exhaustive encyclopedia, The African
American Christian Heritage.
McMickle and Linthicum worked as a team, carefully
coordinating their messages in order to bring a single
call to the clergy for both prophetic preaching and
action, organizing people to act powerfully in the cause
of justice. The benefit of their shared approach was
captured in this evaluation, "Each presented theological
rationale for enlarging our vision about justice
ministries by emphasizing action and reflection with the
Scriptures as our empowering resource." Another wrote,
"Dr. McMickle removed the scales from our eyes, and Dr.
Linthicum gave new insight into the Scriptures - a Dynamic
Duo!" A third commended us for "practical information
that can be used not just for Justice Ministry but for
anything we do in ministry, particularly preaching".
DART (Direct
Action and Research Training) is a congregation-based
community organizing network throughout the eastern part
of the United States. DART has been working over the past
25 years to build the capacity of congregations to do
powerful justice ministries through congregation-based
community organizing. It has 21 community organizations
in as many cities in its network, from Florida to
Michigan. It has over 400 religious communities within
its membership, ranging from African Methodist Episcopal,
Assembly of God, American Baptist, Church of God in
Christ, Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian,
United Methodist, Reformed and Conservative Jewish, to
Muslim and Quaker.
Following the conference, Linthicum flew to Richmond, VA
to speak to the RISC organization on the theme, "What to
Do When They Don't Mean Us Any Good", a biblical study on
power. The RISC organization (Richmonders Involved to
Strengthen our Communities) is a DART affiliate. Its
congregations are presently working together on issues of
drug treatment, living wages and prison reform. In
addition, he preached at Bon Air Presbyterian Church and
conducted several events for the Peacemaking Committee of
the Presbytery of The James. He was interviewed by the
magazine, Presbyterian Outlook, as well.
The Peacemaking
Committee of the Presbytery of The James (The Presbyterian
Church USA) sponsored Linthicum's events in Richmond. The
pastor of Bon Air Presbyterian Church, Dr. R. Charles
Grant, hosted Linthicum and coordinated his schedule.
Grant is co-author with Linthicum of the popular
curriculum, "How God's People Can Address Injustice".
This four-session Bible Study introduces congregations to
the principles of community organizing as the most
effective means for working for justice. |
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