I have had a couple great conversations this week with some new friends of The Living Room. Here are some of the highlights from my first conversation this week:
The next conversation was more theoretical. It is based on the insights from someone who recently came and visited The Living Room on a Sunday night. We talked about:
- Last night I went out with a friend of The Living Room to visit this organization called Covenant House Georgia. It's mission is to reach out to homeless and at risk youth (ages 16-21) in Atlanta. They have an outreach van that goes out each night to hit the streets of the ATL and talk to kids. Now, I consider myself to be somewhat knowle
dgeable about social injustice, especially in my own hometown. However, what I realized last night is that I may know a thing or two, but that I need a refresher and a SERIOUS geography lesson. Ever heard of Adamsville? I hadn't until last night. It's near Six Flags - once suburbia and now the new hood. l went and visited three of the ten projects that will be torn down THIS YEAR (displacing close to 10,000 poor people in Atlanta). In fact, one of them is scheduled to be closed at the end of THIS MONTH. I had so-called "head knowledge" about this issue but I hadn't been to some of the actual locations until last night. And ohh, ya, we went AT NIGHT. I don't consider myself a "scaredy cat" and I feel a certain comfort in being with the poor; that said, parts of last night were a totally different game. Consider the following things that were said last night: "Maybe we should keep going, he has a face mask on... right over there someone was murdered recently... on a warm night this street is packed with prostitutes... You get the point. I've gone to college, seminary and have a doctorate, but what they taught me last night is how ignorant I really am about a whole lot of things. I felt like a sponge last night - soaking the whole thing up.
I want you to know that I have begun to volunteer weekly at Covenant House and hope to become a volunteer chaplain for them (something they say they want). I've made a personal promise to myself that this would not and will not be a one shot deal.
The next conversation was more theoretical. It is based on the insights from someone who recently came and visited The Living Room on a Sunday night. We talked about:
- Our Vision... which I shared is to be an eclectic gathering of God's people, united not by what we believe but how we live according to the Way of Jesus Christ. We welcome all people: liberals, conservatives, evangelical, gay, straight, black, white... I (we) abhor what divides people and value diversity of thought and perspective.
- About the Bible... I shared how I feel that we are a community that respects a diversity of thought about a text that is both historical and divine. When you come to one of our worship gatherings on Sunday night you'll see how we dedicated the vast majority of our time together to reading and reflecting upon one of the books in the Bible. Yet how we read and interpret it may be challenging to some, for we encourage people to not check their minds at the door - rather we value a thoughtful and humble faith, one that respects and welcomes the tough questions but does not assume that we (or I) possess the answer. Only God...
posted by Tom at
10:01 AM
4 Comments:
First, I love the beautiful articulation of both the "vision" and the "Bible". I'm reading Tony Jone's "The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier", and there is a section with insight from one of the colorful members of Solomon's Porch, Trucker Frank. He's talking about Matthew 18:15-17, that most churches use to excommunicate "sinning" (or troublesome?) members that "don't fit in" (Frank's previous churches had used it on him). He looks at the last verse, about treating them like a tax collector or a pagan. Franks then says "how did Jesus treat them? He welcomed them!"
I am also intrigued by the Covenant House. I know from my own (albeit brief) communitas experience, that in doing risky things together as a community, we gain courage we would not have individually. These risky missional ventures also bond the participants closer together. Maybe the Covenant House could be The Living Room's "communitas calling" where we would get to know each other in a missional setting, outside the Sunday Gathering - living according to The Way. As we grow, other groups could form another "communitas group" to serve in perhaps another ministry.
I am excited about how The Living Room is emerging!
Hey, Tom, I think we met the other night at the Emergent Cohort....I was the big Asian guy with the funny hat sitting next to you. ;-) This could be an entirely different Tom for all I know though...
Anywho, I'd love to visit your church some time the next time I'm in the Atl. I feel a great hunger to be around and in communion with progressive-thinking believers...
i was really blessed at covenant house also. as i reflect on what i learned and the people that i had the priviledge of meeting, it pretty much blows my mind. my mind was reeling after that night- i was thinking about how divided this city is, how where i lived dictated everything i know, and how i want to learn from people who have such a different background from me. i agree with what u said about being a sponge that night- cause that's exactly what i felt like too. i just wanted to listen, learn, observe. i want to go back because i know that i need to, because i feel like this is the real deal. this is life. this is worship.
Esther, I am so touched by the description of your experience. I connect so well with your last sentence: this is worship. Worship is not just the music and prayers we do at our church gatherings. Worship, at its core, is being obedient to God . Seeking justice, loving and serving others - how can we be more obedient than that! I would love to go with you and Tom sometime soon. Let me know!
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