Reflections from Jan 7th 2009 Breakfast

Notes from 1/7/08 STM Breakfast

Wow, if it weren’t so obvious that Jeff is called to children’s ministry, I’d push for him opening a restaurant in South Tacoma. Man, that was great. Big thanks to Jeff and the rest of the Celebration staff for their wonderful hospitality. It reminds me of a friend who just published a book about hospitality. Her theory was that hospitality is the central Christian discipline. I know the disciples on the road to Emmaus was a key passage for her as it wasn’t until they invited Jesus in and broke bread with him that they recognized who it was. I can say it was good to sit and continue to recognize Christ in one another this morning.

So, as usual, I try to do a little recap of our breakfasts and so here it is.

Introductions and Interesting things in our congregations.
It was good to welcome a new church representative to our fold in Bruce from Grace Lutheran on Tyler across from the new Gray. It was also good to hear snippets of how God has been working in our various congregations. What follows are just a few of the things of interest that I can recall: Baptism of a sixteen year old neighborhood kid. A letter from a lady who causes a lot of trouble in the church expressing an apology and her gratitude for the value of the pastor’s work. A church who was dedicated enough to come to worship despite the deep snow. Going from biking leather to the pastoral care minister. The value of a retired gentleman’s gifts being used to establish a ministry through the internet. A young girl who is so thirsty for community and worship of God that she begs to stay for two worship services. A 16 year old girl who has been through rehab and is now plugging into the youth group. A church that is committed enough to pray and fast for the first 21 days of 2009. A chance to minister to the women of the church even when you have to say tough things. Becoming a church that simply wants to do the Father’s will. And a church that has taken a courageous step to sell some of their land to Habitat for Humanity and welcome new neighbors to their former church property.
Wow, and this was all in the matter of a bout 20 minutes. Breaking bread (or cinnamon rolls). Recognizing Christ

Weed, Seed and Pray
After folks refilled with coffee, we attempted to pick up our last where we left off our last conversation which was stirred up by the question, “If it didn’t have to result in new members, what kind of ministry might God call us to in South Tacoma?” Previously, our conversation led us to begin to look at places in SoTac where weeds are choking life out of people while simultaneously looking at places where seeds are waiting to be protected, nurtured and fed. I asked where we’ve seen either of these over the last month. What follows are a few of the thoughts:
- The seed of desire for relationships for single folks in the community. Jeff offered the hope that this group might lead to some of those folks meeting one another
- The weed of drug trade and gang violence that tends to focus around the corner of 56th and Lakewood and the apartments that surround it
- The seeds that will now be arriving at the new Gray Middle School just down the street and the weeds of violence, poor self-image, etc. that try to choke their growth

After mentioning a few of these things, Jim helped raise a great question that our group will need to continue to wrestle with. I will do my best to reframe it and then if you get a chance or want to post some of your thoughts, please do and then this can be apart of our conversation next month. The question focuses around what and how. What is our hope for the community? How will we as Christians work toward that hope? I work best in continuums and so I’ll use one to express the question.
On one side sits the folks who say that what we hope for is that the hearts and souls of individuals might be changed to follow Jesus Christ. How we do this is through building relationships with those folks and inviting them to experience that relationship with Christ through our (or another) church. I’ll call this side approach ‘one by one.’
On the other end of the continuum sits the folks who believe that what we are hoping for is that the systems and structures of a place might be changed in such a way that the place might more closely reflect the kingdom of God. How we do this is by personally challenging the powers (calling the city to keep our drains clear) and by mobilizing the people to work towards these changes (organizing block meetings). I’ll call this approach the ‘systems and structures.’
There are other ways to name this ministry tension. In the past it has been divided with evangelical sitting on one side and social gospel sitting on the other. In the political realm it is sometimes divided between conservative and liberal. How we read the Bible and what passages we hold as more central than others has a great influence on where we land on this continuum. John 3:16 is a great passage to support the ‘one one one’ approach. While Paul in Ephesians seems to support the ‘systems and structures’ approach when he writes, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.”
So, I think I will leave my reflection there. I’ve posted this reflection on a new blog that I just created for this group called ‘South Tacoma Ministers.” You can find the blog at www.sotacministers.blogspot.com. To protect our privacy, I’ve restricted access to only those in this group. If for some reason you can’t get on, then just e-mail me and I’ll add your name to the list. If you so desire, I invite you to post some of your own thoughts on this reflection.

I continue to look forward to working together with all of you as we strive together to be faithful to God’s call upon our individual and coporate lives in this place of South Tacoma where he has placed us.

Next Meeting:
Wednesday, February 4th at 8:30 at Green Pastures Presbyterian Church on the corner of 66th and Clement.