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...Yes, I
finished! If you haven’t
given or would like to
encourage someone to do so,
please go to
www.ccgb.org, click on
“How to Give” and choose
from a number of ways to
donate to ccgb.
Ah,
yes, the race: under ideal
conditions—dry, clear, cool
temperatures finishing in
the upper 50’s—I was excited
by my race-day
possibilities. This
marathon is rated one of the
fastest in the country, a
product of a vertical drop
of 955 feet, most of it in
the first 8 miles. Learning
from 2009, I adjusted my
training and expected to do
better.
But it
was not to be. My finish
time of 5:10:51 was nearly
two and ½ minutes slower
than 2009. Better hill
training let my quads last
longer—they were strong
through the 20 mile mark—but
that could not compensate
for inadequate core work
that left my lower right
back howling by mile 17.
Stops to stretch cost me
time but allowed me to
finish. Just the facts?
Placed 1,817 of 1,950
finishers; 99th
of 110 in my 55-59 age
field, 5:10:51 elapsed time
for a pace of 11:52. If
you want to see all this
yourself, go to
www.runhigh.com and
follow the prompts to the
results for Steamtown.
Sherry
Duff, a friend and supporter
of The Council and member of
Holy Cross Lutheran Church,
Trumbull, also ran and set a
personal record of 3:27:37,
a 7:55 pace that beat her
previous time by four
minutes and garnered her 3rd
place among her age/gender
group and an overall finish
of 374 out of the 1,950
runners. Congratulations,
Sherry!
I’m
often asked “Why is the
race called ‘Steamtown?’”
The race is named after
the Steamtown National Park
dedicated to the
preservation and operation
of railroad steam engines
and period equipment on the
site of the former
headquarters of the
Delaware, Lackawanna and
Western railroad, one of the
railroads that made its
fortune hauling anthracite
(hard) coal in the 19th
and first half of the 20th
century. Those who know of
my passions for trains and
running know it doesn’t get
any better! This year my
hotel room looked out on the
restored Lackawanna railroad
station (now a Radisson
hotel) and the rail line on
which steam excursions run.
Sweet!
Thanks
again for your support and
interest. It was great
having you running with me!
Brian Bodt
Rev. Dr. Brian R. Bodt
President and CEO
The Council of Churches of
Greater Bridgeport, Inc.
DISPATCHES
FROM DUKE
NOTES FROM
THE 2010 DUKE DIVINITY
SCHOOL SUMMER INSTITUTE
Introduction to
the Dispatches
It is my pleasure to travel to Duke
Divinity School the first week of June to participate in
their Summer Institute. A generous gift from a major
donor who has ties to Duke and this program has made this
possible. Information about the program can be found
here
.
I am very excited to be enrolled in the
course Conversations on a New Racial Time, based on
the concept of the "beloved community" so well championed by
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and led by William Lamar
and Noel Castellanos. Their bios are on the Duke website.
Those familiar with The Council of Churches know of our
long-standing Bridge Building Ministry work, much of which
has to do with community conversations on race. Our
racially and culturally diverse staff, Board, donors and
clients assist our effectiveness in growing in our
understanding of what it means to be, from a spiritual
perspective, a "beloved community" and, from a citizenship
perspective, "e pluribus unum."
While I do not know whether this will
be addressed in this seminar, the latest aspect to this
conversation is the interface between our national diversity
and our national security. There are some who would exploit
the rich tapestry of our nation to "Balkanize" us. The
process by which we embrace and cherish our differences in a
spirit of love and respect is fundamental to living out of
our convictions that we are "one people."
I will be keeping a blog and link it
to the "Reflections" blog of the Institute. I covet your
prayers for this important time of learning, growth and
strategizing for the strength of The Council's ability
"to turn faith into action...to help people at risk meet
their urgent needs."
Chronicling
May 31, 2010
Rev. Dr.
Brian R. Bodt,
President
The Council
of Churches of
Greater Bridgeport,
Inc.
Say "Duke University"
and many people will
think of a
world-class medical
institution, a great
engineering school
or the reigning
national men's
basketball and
lacrosse champions.
But this week, over
200 religious and
community leaders
from 27 U.S. states,
England,
Japan, the
Phillipines, the
Congo,
Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan,
Tanzania and Uganda
are gathered for the
Summer Institute
of
Duke Divinity School's
Center for
Reconciliation (CFR)
The Center's vision
is "advancing
God's mission of
reconciliation in a
divided world by
cultivating new
leaders,
communicating wisdom
and hope, and
connecting in
outreach to
strengthen
leadership."
Established in 2005,
its mission flows
from the Apostle
Paul's affirmationin
2 Corinthians 5:14 -
6:2 that "God
was in Christ,
reconciling the
world to himself"
and that
"the message of
reconciliation has
been entrusted to
us." It
accomplishes its
mission through
teaching and
workshops for
students, pastors
and other religious
leaders and alumni;
a Resources for
Reconciliation
book series; the
African Great Lakes
Initiative;
and the week-long
Summer
Institute.
This is the second
year that The
Council of Churches
has been represented
at CFR's Summer
Institute.
Bill and Renie
McCutchen, members
of Green's Farms
Congregational
Church in Westport,
CT, are Duke
graduates and active
alumni. Bill serves
on the
Board of Governors
and Renie is on the
board of the CFR.
Through their
generosity, Council
Associate Jack
Hickey-Williams; and
Council Board
member, the Rev.
Jennifer Habetz;
were able to attend
in 2009. This year,
we have a Bridgeport
Cohort comprised of
me; Melodye Merola,
Outreach Minister of
Golden Hill United
Methodist Church,
Bridgeport, one of
our leading
congregations; Mr.
and Mrs. McCutchen;
and the Rev. David
Smith and Mr.
Richard Williams of
Pivot Ministries, a
residential drug and
alcohol
rehabilitation
program in
Bridgeport.
On a
postcard-perfect Memorial
Day we all
traveled
together--happily
uneventfully--on an
early afternoon
flight from New
York's LaGuardia
Airport to the
Raleigh-Durham,
North Carolina
airport. A short
cab ride later found
on us the beautiful
Duke campus, built
in the 1920's and
30's in English
Gothic style.
Rising like "a
city on a hill
that cannot be
hidden" is
Duke
Chapel.
Constructed in the
fashion of English
cathedrals, its
square tower,
soaring arches,
magnificent stained
glass windows and
291 foot-long center
aisle (nine feet
short of the length
of a football
field!) is the
antithesis of most
American's image of
a "chapel." Ah, but
prospective brides
love it! As we
toured the chapel we
noticed two tents
outside. Inquiring
of their occupants,
we learned that Duke
Chapel is in such
demand for weddings
of alumni that on
the 1st of the
month, the weddings
for that month
one year hence
were booked on a
"first-come,
first-served"
basis! Those with
whom we spoke,
occupants of Tent
#2, had already been
camping four days in
the hope of snagging
a
June, 2011
wedding date. By
the afternoon of
June 1st both tents
were gone, so we
trust all were
successful!
The Sarah P. Duke
Gardens occupy the
center of the
campus, arranged in
the Japanese style
around several lakes
and with alcoves for
resting, watching
and prayer. Small
footbridges across,
and walkways out
into, the lakes
bring the visitor in
immediate proximity
to nature; and small
walkways provide
leisurely avenues
for enjoyment and
contemplation. In
the heart of this
sylvan preserve is
the visitor's
center, and here the
Institute
opened with
evening dinner and
presentations by
CFR's co-directors
Emmanuel Katongole
and
Chris Rice,
along with Divinity
School Dean-elect
Richard Hayes. We
were reminded that
in the first Garden
(Genesis 1:26) we
found Paradise
and The Fall,
and each is our joy
and challenge in the
journey toward being
ambassadors of
reconciliation. We
were inspired by
knowing that the
world is represented
in our gathering of
leaders; and that
despite the
brokenness of the
human condition we,
and many others who
labor silently
without blogs and
other means to share
their work, are
being faithful in
seeking that vision
of "a new heaven
and a new earth"
where
"there is no pain
nor crying nor tears
anymore, for the
former things have
passed away."
(Revelation 21:1-7)
One of the many
noteworthy aspects
of this gathering is
the ease and
immediacy with which
participants greet
one another. Name
tags make that
easier, but no name
tag is a substitute
for an extended hand
of friendship and
direct eye contact
that says, before
any word is spoken,
"We are
friends." What
a joy! Would that
more of us, this
author included,
would make such
efforts in the daily
discourse of our
lives. Perhaps
reconciliation would
be easier if we did.
DISPATCHES FROM
DUKE, #2
Chronicling June
1, 2010
Rev. Dr. Brian R.
Bodt, President
The Council of
Churches of Greater
Bridgeport, Inc.
"Awake, my soul,
and with the sun thy
daily stage of duty
run;
Shake off dull
sloth, and joyful
rise to pay thy
morning sacrifice."
So sang 200 voices
in four-part harmony
to the tune of "Old
100th" (the
Doxology, as many
Protestant
Christians are
inclined to call the
tune) as we opened
the first day of
June in the Divinity
School's Goodson
Chapel. Named after
a bishop in the
United Methodist
Church, this smaller
chapel is within the
Divinity School
building and not to
be confused with the
university chapel
described
in Dispatch #1. No
matter: it was
certainly big enough
to hold all of us,
and then
some. Before the
next song, our song
leader chided us,
ever so gently, with
the exhortation that
the acoustics were
like a cathedral and
better served if we
sang a bit more
quickly. I was
reminded of the
exhortation by the
Rev. Mr. Wesley,
founder of the
Methodist revival in
18th century
England:
"Sing lustily and
with good
courage....Beware of
singing as if you
were half-dead or
half-asleep....this
drawling way
naturally steals on
all who are lazy,
and it is high time
to drive it out from
us....be no more
ashamed of singing,
or of your voice
being heard, than
when you sung the
songs of Satan."
The song leader's
exhortation had its
desired effect, and
any souls still
earthly bound at the
close must have been
heavy, indeed.
Our preacher was the
Rev. Richard Hayes,
Dean-elect of the
Divinity School,
using the CFR's
foundation text 2
Corinthians 5:14
- 6:2. His powerful
exegesis (literally,
"to read out") of
the text made five
key points:
-
"Reconciliation"
appears
infrequently in
the New
Testament and is
not a religious
term but is
drawn from the
civic (political
world) and the
arena of dispute
resolution
-
"Reconciliation"
is a message
given to a
divided
community
-
The frame of
reference is
cosmic and
corporate, not
simply
individualistic.
Verse 17,
rendered in most
translations as
"If anyone is
in Christ, that
one is a new
creation" is
more simply and
forcefully in
the
original Greek
"If anyone is
in Christ: NEW
CREATION."
-
God (the injured
party, by our
sinfulness)
initiates this
reconciliation.
That alone is
astonishing.
Even more so
"God gives us
(entrusts to us)
the message of
reconciliation."
Again,
the original
Greek is more
powerful, sayin
literally
"God is placing
in us the word
of
reconciliation."
This
reconciliation
is organic,
embodied "so
that we might
become the
righteousness of
God."
-
We cannot leave
off 2 Cor.
6:1-2. "Reconciliation"
is not a future
promise but a
declaration of
present actions:
"now is the
acceptable
time...now is
the day of
salvation."
This is the true
destiny of
the world in
Christ.
The morning plenary
featured the Rev.
Fr. Virgilio
Elizondo, considered
the "father" of U.S.
Hispanic theology;
and Dr. John
Perkins, the son of
sharecroppers who
envisioned a new
future for
African-American
youth in
Mississippi. A
native of San
Antonio, Texas, Fr.
Elizondo spoke of
his experience
growing up as a
native-born citizen
of the United States
of Mexican descent.
He pointed out that
generations of
Mexican-Americans
lived in Texas prior
to the
Mexican-American War
of 1848, and that
"the border moved,
not us."
Nonetheless, he grew
up in a segregated
society not unlike
segregation in the
southeastern United
States during the
Jim Crow era.
Although a devout
Roman Catholic, Fr.
Elizondo remembers
being chased out of
Anglo Roman Catholic
churches with the
admonition, "Go
away. This is not
the Mexican church."
Yet, although an
American not fully
embraced by other
Americans, he grew
up as a Mexican not
embraced by Mexican
nationals. As he
recalled, "Americans
would say 'You speak
pretty good English
for a Mexican' and
his Mexican
relatives would say
'You speak pretty
good Spanish for a
gringo.'" Through
these experiences
Fr. Elizondo came to
write The Future
is Mestizo,
expressing the
notion that our
racial future is
contained in the
concept of "mestizo,"
a word which means
the blending of two
(or more) groups to
become something
new.
Dr. Perkins, now 80
years of age, is
touring the country
to share his vision
of racial respect
and equality. The
sons of
sharecroppers, Dr.
Perkins did not know
his father and his
mother died at a
young age. As a
young man he left
his native
Mississippi for
Southern California,
only to realize
that, even in the
late 1950's, the
prison populations
was more than half
Black. He realized
that to address this
problem he had to
address the source,
which was the
systemic structures
of racism in his
native state. He
returned to a
teaching and
mentoring ministry
but was beaten,
almost to death, by
white police
officers in 1970
because his views so
challenged the
prevailing culture
of racism. His son
was not so fortunate
and was murdered by
a white police
officer. At his
wake and out of
anger and grief, Dr.
Perkins asked God to
give his son back so
he could give him
back to God.
Spiritually and
metaphorically, Dr.
Perkins realized
that the only way to
keep his son's death
from being in vain
was to live out a
life of justice,
reconciliation and
forgiveness. In a
staccato delivery
born of the urgency
of the message he
conveyed, Dr.
Perkins shared his
stories from eight
decades of living
this vision. Among
his challenges to
us:
-
"We have
over-personalized
the Gospel."
-
"We can't
talk about
forgiveness
without talking
about
repentance."
-
"Suffering is
a virture. We
have to stop
being afraid to
suffer."
-
"We want to
be friends
across race and
culture. But
friendship
demands respect
and equality."
-
"We have to
create new
language and new
music" [to
express the
desire for
racial
reconciliation]
Dr. Perkins' address
reminded me of the
racist history of my
own United Methodist
denomination, formed
in the United States
during the Colonial
period. By the
early 1800's the
racism of the
culture had infected
the church (which in
Colonial days was
bi-racial) and the
historically Black
Methodist churches
were formed as a
reaction to the
racism of the (then)
Methodist Episcopal
Church. Fifteen
years before the
Civil War the
southern church
broke away to
maintain the right
of good Christians
to own slaves.
After the war that
same church,
inspired by the
Gospel but not
wanting to
integrate, formed
the Colored (now
Christian) Methodist
Episcopal Church to
evangelize the
emancipated slaves.
By 1939 the northern
and southern
branches were ready
to reunite, but a
compromise to effect
the change meant
keeping Black
members in a
separate
jurisdiction (church
government region)
based on race
rather than
geography, a
sin not eradicated
until 1972! Sadly,
our history is not
unique among the
churches.
But Dr. Perkins gave
us hope by
emphasizing the call
to justice and
declaring that,
despite our
shortcomings, our
nation still holds
forth a great vision
for all: "We hold
these truths to be
self-evident, that
all [men] are
created equal and
endowed by their
Creator with certain
inalienable rights,
among these life,
liberty and the
pursuit of
happiness."
His closing, and the
moderator's
presentation of Dr.
Perkins and Fr.
Elizondo to the
assembly, was
receiving with a
standing ovation.
After an intense
morning, it was time
to pursue
happiness. For me,
that meant a 4 mile
run through the
Sarah P. Duke
Gardens. I was
happy to skip lunch
to do it, and even
happier to get
inside just ahead of
a torrential
tropical
thundershower!
In the afternoons
all this week, each
Institute
participant will
take a smaller
seminar keyed to an
area of interest.
Mine, particularly
as it relates to The
Council of Churches'
Bridge Building
Ministry, is
entitled
"Conversations on a
New Racial Time."
It is lead by the
Rev. William Lamar
IV, an African
Methodist Episcopal
clergyman and
Managing Director of
Leadership Education
at Duke Divinity
School; and the Rev.
Noel Castellanos,
founding pastor of
La Villita Community
Church in Chicago
and CEO of Christian
Community
Development
Association of that
city. Our focus
this afternoon was
building
relationships among
the 12 seminar
participants and
talking about
the "old" and "new"
nature of racial
conversation,
captured somewhat
(but not entirely)
along an "under
35/over 35"
generational divide
and the differences
between the two. At
the risk of
over-simplifying a
multi-faceted 3 hour
seminar, the "old"
conversation focused
on a "black/white"
and "laws/courts"
paradigm rooted in
the civil rights
era; while the "new"
conversation
(informed by Fr.
Elizondo's "mestizo"
metaphor) focuses on
a "multi-cultural"
and
"opportunity/socio-economic/educational"
paradigm.
Tomorrow's plenary
will look at the
question "What's
going on: a question
of context." Given
the international
and multi-cultural
make-up of our
Institute, the
contextual question
should be lively,
indeed!
DISPATCHES FROM
DUKE, #3
Chronicling June
2, 2010, morning
Rev. Dr. Brian R.
Bodt, President
The Council of
Churches of Greater
Bridgeport, Inc.
Spanish corritos
opened our morning
worship with bongos
and guitars as we
swayed to the Latin
rhythms of our song
leaders. To some of
us, the language was
foreign but the
feeling of warmth
and unity in the
Spirit was not. On
the theme of the
day, "Lament:
Seeing, Naming and
Standing in the
Pain" our preacher
was Paula Fuller, a
national leader of
InterVarsity
Christian
Fellowship, an
evangelical
collegiate
organization. She
spoke of how the
partnership between
IVCF and CFR came
about, which was in
a time of brokeness
for her and her
leadership team.
She observed, "We
leaders do not have
a theology of
failure. We will
not allow it. We
only have a theology
of success. The
best we can often
do, in the face of
failure, is to
squeeze out a praise
song through
clenched teeth." She
pursued this analogy
with the notion that
failure cripples us
and we need lament
in two expressions.
First, we need
community in our
time of lament. The
friends who brought
their paralytic
brother to Jesus for
healing (Mark 2)
were in community
with one another
around his lament.
They supported him
and acted. Second,
we need to
understand "lament"
as a transitional
phase, not a final
stage. The
experience of Peter
in Acts 3, where
Peter could not give
money alms to a
crippled beggar but
instead gave what he
had, which was the
power of Jesus to
tell the man to
walk. In our
laments we sometimes
just grit our teeth
and ask God for
strength to
persevere, when we
should be asking God
to help us walk!
Our morning plenary
speaker was Fr.
Emmanuel Katongole, a
Ugandan Roman
Catholic priest who
is also the
co-director of the
CFR. Salvation
comes with and
within brokenness.
Within the
brokenness of Africa
God is creating
something new, and
not just for Africa
but for the world.
Yet it is very
difficult to talk
about lament in the
U.S. In Africa the
suffering is
everywhere, and the
challenge is lament
bordering on the
verge of despair.
In American, the
suffering is often
hidden from our
sight, and the
national narrative
is one of success.
But "success" has
almost become an
entitlement, the
normative
expectation. If we
are not happy we
wonder what is wrong
with us, or others
who are not. We
promote a mythical
world where, in the
words of Garrison
Keillor, "all the
women are strong,
the men are
good-looking, and
the children are
above average."
But they are not,
and our ways of
coping with the
disconnect leaves us
numb. To deal with
numbness we become
optimistic,
and Christianity
becomes the official
religion of the
official optimistic
society. Against
this we hear the
prophet Jeremiah
(6:14) "They have
treated the wound of
my people
carelessly, saying
'Peace, peace,' when
there is no peace."
So lament is a gift.
Fr. Katongole then
moved us to the text
of Matthew 2:18, the
end of King Herod's
slaugher of the
Innocents in an
attempt to kill the
baby Jesus because
he feared
Jesus would be the
king who would usurp
his throne, in
Matthew 2:13-18:
"A voice was heard
in Ramah, weeping
and loud
lamentation, Rachel
weeping for her
children; she
refused to be
comforted, because
they are no more."
This is the struggle
between the old
world and the new
world, the old king
and the new King.
The old world
doesn't go down
easy: it takes
innocents with it.
The passage from
Matthew fulfills
Jeremiah 31:15-22,
written after the
destruction of
temple Judaism in
587 B.C., and
contains many
reversals:
-
Rachel refuses
to be consoled
but God consoles
her
-
Rachel is
without hope but
the Lord
declares hope
-
The Lord also
grieves the sin
of wayward
Israel that has
resulted in the
Dispersion
-
Although
dispersed, God
tells the
scattered Jews
to set up road
markers for
their return to
Israel
-
Traditional
roles of male
dominance and
female
submissiveness
are reversed
"for the Lord
has created a
new thing on the
earth: a woman
encircles a
man." (vs.
22)
Rachel's lament does
not create the new
thing. God has
created the new
thing. Lament is
part of the creative
process of grieving
the loss of the old,
embracing the
reversals through
the discipline of
seeing the new thing
that God is doing,
even in the midst of
our loss. This is
the context in which
we understand
"lament" as a gift.
But lament is also a
discipline:
-
Relocation:
unlearning
distance - Where
is the place in
and around us
where the new
thing is
dawning?
-
Weeping:
unlearning
numbness - What
has to die
within us for
hope to be born?
-
Urgency:
unlearning
complacency -
What is the
urgent midwifery
to which the new
birth calls us?
-
Anointing:
unlearning waste
- What is sacred
worth in and
around us--like
the Holy
Innocents--that
we must refuse
to waste by
excusing it as
"collateral
damage" or "the
price of
progress?"
-
Community:
unlearning
privatization -
What is the
community with,
and within,
which we are to
lament? Private
grief, private
lament, is
needed but not
the final
Biblical
witness.
-
Lament and
Praise - these
go hand in
hand. Rachel
and Mary, the
loss and the new
birth, go hand
in hand. In the
words of St.
Paul "If I
live, I live to
the Lord; and if
I die, I die to
the Lord; so,
whether I live
or die, I am the
Lord's."
While there may be
multiple
applications of a
theology of lament
to the ministry of
The Council of
Churches, the one
that strikes me this
morning is this: in
the midst of an
urgent missional focus
"to turn faith into
action...to help
people at risk meet
their urgent needs,"
where and how do we
provide a space for
lament?
Specifically, many
of those we serve
are "the
innocents." How do
we create the
environment to
anoint those--and
our service of
those--who polite
society may have
already written
off? And what, in
addition to the
churches, are the
communities what
will help us with
this task?
DISPATCHES FROM DUKE, #4
Chronicling June 2, 2010,
late morning
Rev. Dr. Brian R. Bodt,
President
The Council of Churches of
Greater Bridgeport, Inc.
Noel
Castellanos, my small seminar
leader described in Dispatch #2,
offered a reflection to this
gift and discipline of Lament.
He began with video images of
the fence at the U.S. - Mexican
border with people looking
longingly across the border.
Rev. Castellanos was born ONE
MILE on the American side of the
Mexican border, and marvelled at
"why was I born here and not
there?" He believes it is for
the reason of addressing the
issue of borders and
immigration.
The 12 -13
million people illegally in the
U.S. are the product of 70 years
of unenforcement of existing
laws that we might take
advantage of inexpensive labor.
As the political climate has
changed, attention has been
drawn to the reality of
undocumented persons in our
midst. The great tragedy is the
1.5 - 2 million young people
between ages 10 and 30, brought
here illegally by their parents,
but living here so that their
country of origin is not in any
sense their home. My sons and I
know personally one of these
young people, who ushered in our
Bridgeport church and went to
school and attended youth
fellowship. His only "crime" is
that he was brought here by his
mother, through no decision of
his own, with proper papers. We
need to approve legislation
currently being considered that
will grant these young people
provisional "green cards" to
allow them to function as legal
people in the only country they
have ever known.
At my
seminar yesterday I learned that
Rev. Castellanos is a runner.
He offered our seminar personal
time, including "going for a
run." Guess who's going running
with me in the Duke Gardens this
afternoon?
Chronicling June 3, 2010
Rev. Dr. Brian R. Bodt, President
The Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport, Inc.
Laura Truax is our morning plenary speaker on the theme of "Christian Hope." (I'll come back later to the morning chapel service, which was an outstanding message.) Rev. Truax is the senior pastor of LaSalle Street Church, a non-denominational church in downtown Chicago that has a long history of uniting individual faith in Christ with the corporate call to bring about justice and healing in the world.
Rev. Truax began with the story of an Anglican priest martyred during the reign of the dictator Amin. This priest preached against the genocide and, for his witness, was abducted by soldiers and dragged behind a jeep through the streets of the village until he died. And all the while he screamed that he would love the soldiers until he was dead. His death started a revolution of hope. 30 years later its heirs witnessed to the priest's nephew of his uncle's faith and love.
So hope is born out of grief and suffering. This is the witness of the prophet Jeremiah and the Babylonian captivity (Jeremiah 29:4-7, 10-11) after the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. The nation of Israel fell, and with it the visible witness of God's promise in the nation-state of Israel. Everything that had been the root of Biblical hope--the victories of Moses and Joshua and David and Solomon--had come crashing down with the fall of the nation. So Jeremiah (and Isaiah) began to discern a word from God that blew the lid off the parochial understanding of hope as national security, even as God has brought it to them. The new future is envisioned as God's action for our good in the midst of the tragedy of exile in Babylon, something that is fundamentally different from what has been.
Current crises--the AIDS crisis in Africa, the immigration controversy--become the catalyst for the Church rising up out of sloth and lethargy to be a beacon of hope and to be the fullness of the Beloved Community that God intends. The radical nature of this proclamation is found in the notion that Jeremiah tells the exiled people that they are to seek the peace (shalom) of the city to which they are exiled (Jer. 29:7)!
Rev. Truax told a story on herself, of her interest in building Habitat for Humanity houses in Jordan. But when she inquired, the person doing that work said, "Unless you come with some enemies, I can't really use you." He instructed her to form a partnership with Jews and Muslims. Go speak with the rabbi four blocks from your church and the imam five blocks from your church, and interest them." And Rev. Truax admitted, "I didn't even know them."
God's hope moves us all forward together. Christians understand this as most fully expressed through the sacrifice of Christ, arms open to being the channel of the love of God. Are we willing to understand this cruciform shape as OUR prototype for loving others, humbling ourselves to partner with those who are different, or even enemies?
Chronicling June 3, 2010, late morning restrospective
Rev. Dr. Brian R. Bodt, President
The Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport, Inc.
This is a retrospective on yesterday afternoon and early this morning. As it turned out, I had a lovely run, but alone, through the Duke Gardens. Noel Castellanos got called to a faculty meeting, making his running with me impossible. No matter: running is running. One thing's for sure: it's hot under a North Carolina noonday sun!
One of the challenges of these dispatches is trying to capture the afternoon sessions. These are small groups--mine numbers a dozen--and far more experiential than the morning plenaries, which are both informational and inspirational and "talks" in the traditional sense. The afternoons "flow" and engage our personal stories with the theme of the small groups, in my case "Conversations on a New Racial Time." The one divide that is clear is that we are in a new racial conversation in which the journey through the civil rights is not known by a new generation. At the same time, they are heirs to the gains of that era. Further, there is an increasing acceptance and embrace of bi-racial and multi-racial understanding in both personal and corporte realms in the "new" conversation that is natural to the new generation but less so for my generation. My group contains both generations so the conversation is vibrant!
Events like this have their own rhythm which doesn't always conform to the rhythm of the participants. In this case that is true for me. The sleep deficit that I've been accumulating finally caught up with me last night. My plan was to go to bed early (which I did) and get up early to run in the cool of the day (which I did not). It was only the noise in the hall that woke me shortly before 8 a.m.! The good news was that I got nearly ten hours of sleep! The bad news was that I missed breakfast. That is another aspect to the rhythm: each meal is preceded by a 15 minute window for "swiping in" for meals. If you miss it, you're beat. No doubt I will not starve.
Today's chapel service message was the best of the lot so far. Ellen Davis, a lay Episcopalian, is Amos Ragan Kearne Distinguised Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School. The heart of her message was the Jeremiah 29 text previously cited, and she did an outstanding job of outlining the internal tension most of us have between the call to love enemies and the human AND RELIGIOUS impulse for justice (and although she did not say it, the impulse for retribution). What is different for Christians is that what was a vision for Jeremiah is an imperative for the followers of Jesus, who clearly said "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." We have been assured that Dr. Davis' message will be posted on the Center for Reconciliation website. We will post this link in a future dispatch.
The energy around the immigration issue has produced a "Durham Declaration on Immigration and the Church." More and more people view immigration as the civil rights issue of our day, and this is consistent with the number of seminars that The Council of Churches have offered on immigration, including the Bridge Building series in 2008 - 2009. Institute participants are being given time to read the declaration and the supporting data, with an invitation to sign it tomorrow. A portion of it is to support the Dream Act (S.729/H.R. 1751) referred to in a previous dispatch. This legislation would allow young people, brought here undocumented by their parents, would be given conditional legal status and eventual citizenship granted they meet ALL of the requirements:
-
if they were brought to the US before age 16 and are under 35
-
have lived here continuously for five years
-
have graduated from a US high school or obtained a GED
-
have good moral character with no criminal record
-
attend college or enlist in the military
Our closing presentation was a video presentation of the winner of the Opus Prize for Faith-Based Entrepreneurship. The organization escaped me, but it was the very moving story of the "ethnic cleansing" in Burundi between the Hutus and the Tutsi's. Maggy was the survivor off such a massacre of 72 Hutu Roman Catholic religious priests and nuns in the Bishop's compound. At personal risk she buried the dead. In response to the orphans created by the tidal wave of violence, she formed her organization which today has helped 30,000 orphans. Maggy says, "I am a Christian and we are all one family. We must live as one. This is not a dream. It is real." It is a dose of reality we all need.
Chronicling June 3, 2010, afternoon and evening
Rev. Dr. Brian R. Bodt, President
The Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport, Inc.
AFTERNOON: The afternoon session "Conversations on a New Racial Time" began to look at how we can apply the old/new dycotomy of conversation on race to our personal, church and organizational lives. Rev. Castellanos urged us to use the metaphor of "family" to engage this conversation, which seems like a "no-brainer" until one considers the implications of dysfunctional and/or families in severe conflict. Yours truly remembers Carl Burke's introduction years ago to God is for Real, Man, vignettes from Burke's work as a chaplain in the Erie (PA) Correctional Facility. Asked by a young inmate what God was like, Chaplain Burke gave an orthodox reply: "God is like a father." Burke recalls: "The young man spat and then nearly spit out the words 'Man, if God is like my father I sure would hate him.'"
This is why, Castellanos argued, he uses the Spanish "familia." It engages the conversation at a different level beyond our comfort zone. He said it helps us resist the temptation to homogonize God and the family of God, recognizing the diversity in most families; and the tendency of families to have members with whom we are not necessarily in a comfortable/approving relationship. BUT they are still family, and so are we across racial/cultural lines. We are all one family: the family of God. "Familia" is therefore another word for "reconciliation." Biblical examples come to mind:
"When one suffers, all suffer together; when one rejoices, all rejoice together" and "Whoever does the will of God is my mother and sister and brother" and "Abraham was the father of many nations."
"Familia" also includes the idea that we are connected regardless of the success or failure of the family or of racial composition. Biblically speaking, we are all adopted! We have all been grafted onto the family of God.
A discussion of the well-being of families leads to the issue of "justice." Many of the blocks to racial harmony are rooted in the injustice of one group (often whites) perpetrated against another group (often people of color). Again, language is helpful here. In the King James Version of the English Bible, the word "justice" appears only about 20 times. In the same Spanish translation, it appears about 400! Why? Because English Bibles more often translate the Hebrew and Greek words "righteousness," but in fact they can also be translated "justice."
"The new conversation is about building new relationships." This quote from Rev. Lamar, the other seminar leader, fairly deafened me as he said it. It is the same rationale we use in our Bridge Building Ministry, especially our Youth Conference and Tent of Abraham series; and it is the basis of our work in the CT Sponsoring Committee. It's nice to know we are on the right track.
Another way to describe the tension between the "old" and "new" conversation is that the "old" was about the politics of equal dignity. All are equal and the legislative/spiritual process is to establish what is universally the same. The "new" conversation is about the politics of difference: recognizing the unique differences and identities of individuals and groups. Distinctiveness should not be glossed over or ignored or assimilated into a dominant identity, for this is the cardinal sin against authenticity.
Rev. Lamar cited the leadership development work of Ron Heifetz and two of his books: Leadership without Easy Answers and Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leadership. One of Mr. Heifetz' key points is that leaders have to be willing to experiment and fail. In avoiding these, we sometimes attempt to use a technical solution (like fixing a broken car) to solve an adaptive problem (like growing a program). "Old" leadership follows a map; "new" leadership follows a compass.
We were asked to answer the question: "What will you ask of the communities to whom you return?" One of my answers is a question to those reading these dispatches: "What are your reactions to any of these reflections: personally or professionally and as a person of faith?"
EVENING: The evening session was a panel discussion by, and with, five religious leaders from five of the six African nations represented in our gathering. The moderator, Fr. Katongole (Co-Director of CFR) asked the leaders "What are two of your most pressing challenges?" and "What are signs of hope?" Challenges include:
-
Nationalism vs. tribalism
-
Many years of both nationalistic and tribal warfare
-
5.4 million people killed in the Congo in the last 15 years, and 40,000 women raped
-
Several of the nations represented named "national stabilization" and "corruption" as challenges
-
Upcoming elections: in Uganda, the 2011 elections and whether they will be just and peaceful; in the Sudan, a referendum in the south as to whether the country will remain one or divide in two, and related violence and intimidation in getting to that decision
-
Poverty. In Uganda 83% live in abject poverty.
Hope includes:
-
The witness of the church, particularly in the HIV/AIDS crisis
-
The growth and hope of young people
-
The courage of people, even in the face of terrible threats and violence, to live their dreams
-
Democratic elections in the Congo
-
The willingness of denominations to work together, forming inter-religious councils of churches
-
Support of the international community, including gatherings like this one.
All of the leaders present spoke of having seen people being killed; of working with young people who were forced to kill; and of the violence endemic in tribal identities. I was deeply touched by how very fortunate we are to live out our religious freedom; and our immense wealth as a national people. One of the panelists observed: "I recently spoke at Wheaton College and the president told me he was raising $250 million. I looked around at an already beautiful college and said 'What do you need $250 million for? Give me 1% of that for Africa.'" It is a sobering thought.
When I hear people say "God bless America" I want to say, and sometimes do, "God has already blessed America. What are we doing with the blessings entrusted to us?" Who are we lifting up, who are we helping, with whom are we sharing? And conversely, who are we keeping down, infirmed, excluded? These polarities may never be resolved, but as Christians, as people of the Kingdom and the Beloved Community, it is a mandate on us to keep asking and seeking. As the old chorus declares:
"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness (justice)
And all these things shall be added unto you. Alleluia."
DISPATCHES FROM DUKE, #8
Chronicling June 4, 2010, morning
Rev. Dr. Brian R. Bodt, President
The Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport, Inc.
These dispatches are personal as well as professional, and it was with joy that I called my dad this morning to wish him a happy 87th birthday! He is, as we like to say, "in pretty good shape for the shape he's in" and soldiering on in his day-to-day care for my mom.
Our plenary speaker today is Dr. Gregory Jones, Dean of the Duke Divinity School since 1997 and widely recognized as a scholar and church leader on many issues, including forgiveness and reconciliation. He has written 13 books including Embodying Forgiveness and, with his wife the Rev. Susan Pendleton Jones, a study on "Forgiveness: Letting Go" as part of The United Methodist Publishing House's "Living the Good Life Together" series. He is an ordained clergyman in the United Methodist Church and is concluding his term as Dean as he moves to a new position of leadership within Duke University.
"Leadership is about finding people who are better than you and getting the heck out of their way" is how Dr. Jones began his presentation on leadership and reconciliation. He based his remarks on the Biblical book of Numbers, which in the Hebrew is entitled "In the Wilderness." This is an appropriate metaphor because, in some sense, we have lost our sense of where we're headed. He began with a story of researchers who put four monkeys in a cage with a pole that reached to bananas. After they had figured out the climbing the pole yielded them bananas, the researchers put a bucket of water underneath the bananas, so that every time a monkey climbed the pole, he got doused! After a while the monkeys stopped climbing. Then the researchers took away the water and took out one monkey and put in one who had not been doused. That monkey saw the bananas, tried to climb the pole AND WAS PULLED DOWN BY THE OTHER MONKEYS! Over time each monkey was replaced until finally none of the original monkeys remained. And none of them tried to climb the pole, even though the water was gone, because they had been socialized to avoid the risk. The risk of being doused was not worth the pursuit of the fruit. Dr. Jones' concluded that this is, too often, the attitude of the Church.
At the heart of the Book of Numbers is this message of the failure of leadership. The first ten chapters are about building the temple. Activists often abandon institutions because of the sins of institutions. But the answer is not to abandon bad institutions but to create good institutions. Institutional forms matter and cannot be taken for granted.
From chapters 10 - 21 the story unfolds with "a lot of whining from the Israelites." There is a crucial distinction between "whining" and "lament." Whining starts out generically, then becomes about food and water and finally about leadership. Miriam and Aaron in Chapter 12: "How come MOSES got picked to be the leader?" Note what God says: "Moses knows me better." Moses is described as humble because of his intimacy with God. Humility is about an understanding of an appropriate standing before God.
Chapters 13-14: The story of the 12 spies. The majority report is "We can't go forward." The minority report, Caleb and Joshua, say "We can trust God and go forward." The Israelites opted to retreat to Egypt! Dr. Jones' father used to say "Every church has a 'back to Egypt' committee." Ultimately, a new census is taken (hence the name "Book of Numbers") so that the community can reassess who they are, whose they are and where they're headed.
"Traditioned innovation:" leaders who have traveled the road, know the story but are willing to innovate. "Traditionalism" is the dead faith of the living. "Tradition" is the living faith of the dead. The difference between the Holy Spirit and the other spirits of death and destruction is that the Holy Spirit conforms us to what God originally intended for us. We sometimes pit "tradition" and "innovation" against each other, but in fact they need each other. Only God "creates out of nothing." The rest of us are always "innovating" in the context of a tradition and in the process of being faithful to God. The story of the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 27) give an example of this, when they come to Moses and say "Our father died and had no sons. Why can we not inherit his land?" Moses consults with God, who says they are right! Moses innovates, but it is in the context of a tradition that gives order.
Leadership in reconciliation is about a way of life. Philippians 2: 5-11: "Have this mind among yourselves that was in Christ Jesus." Closing story: Two young evangelists entered the store of a local shopkeeper and asked him "Are you saved?" The shopkeeper gave no verbal reply but pulled out a pad and began writing. After a minute or so he tore off the paper and gave it to the two young evangelists and said, "This is a list of names of some of the people with whom I do business. Ask them if I am saved. I can tell you anything."
Facing the challenge of change, Dr. Jones said that, under ordinary circumstances, you shrink the parameters of change while simultaneously expanding people's capacity for change. But there are times when, if you've lost your vision, you need something pretty dramatic. Yet even in these circumstances, the dramatic change can often be connected to streams of thought or behavior that will resonate with the community.
Dr. Jones concluded with a prayer of blessing for Dr. John Perkins, our first day lecturer, who is leaving today.
We returned to the Durham Declaration on Immigration and the Church which asks us to pray, engage and support the Dream Act (S.729/H.R. 1751) which creates a process of legal citizenship for children who were brought here undocumented by their parents. The details of the process are spelled out in one of the June 3 morning dispatches. I have signed this declaration and will make it available. It may also be available on the CFR website.
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