Return to El Salvador

Last Sunday I had a chance to visit the community of Cordero de Dios (Lamb of God) Lutheran Church in Soyapongo (a suburb of San Salvador).  Pastora Norma Costillo has built a small parish in this neighborhood which is being torn apart by gang on gang violence -- 7 neighbors were murdered blocks from the church the night before I arrived.  Our El Salvador team is working on a ways to strengthen our relationship with Pr. Norma and her congregation.  We're trying to set up a SKYPE call with their parish one Sunday morning before our liturgy this winter.  Watch for information.

I was in El Salvador for a week long meeting of la Junta Directiva de la Fundacion SHARE - the Board of Directors of the SHARE Foundation.  It was an intense week of meetings, trips to the countryside to review SHARE’s projects among El Salvadoran school children, women’s groups, and “hometown associations.”  We had educational lectures from economists, climate change experts, rural community organizers, a diplomat from the Dominican Republic, and representatives of women’s empowerment organizations.  We visited the new Ambassador at the US Embassy.  We took an afternoon to consider regular board of directors business and spent about 25 hours in very charged and difficult conversations around a new strategic plan for the organization.

SHARE started 30 years ago here at the Chapel with the strong support of our community and of our pastor, Gus Schultz.  It has been rooted in the El Salvadoran people’s struggle to emerge from the violence of the civil war and to create a new society together.  It has been a bridge with people in the north who have wanted to accompany the people in this struggle.  The new strategic plan is an attempt to anticipate the next three decades of SHARE’s work and to position it for a stronger role in the changes that will be happening in this small central American country.  It is a blessing that the Chapel continues to be involved in this way.  La lucha sigue!  Pr. Jeff

"Always on safari doing good..."

Thursday nights at the Chapel our joint partnership with between the Lutheran and the Episcopalians has yielded up something called "Open Space."  It is an emergent style of worship with time in the middle for journaling, reflection, prayer, kneading bread, and other practices.

For the past couple of weeks at the "creed" station, we've invited people to reflect on the Masai Creed which has this wonderful little phrase in the 2nd Article about Jesus who is said to be “always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and humankind, and showing that the meaning of religion is love."

Is there a better way to talk about being (as we say at the Chapel) "at work in the world" than being "on safari doing good!" 

Just look around at what is happening at the Chapel these days.  We become a hub of activity for people who on safari!

There's this new partnership with the Episcopalians.  Chaplain Tom is a great blessing!  Many of you heard him preach last week and probably found yourself as delighted as I was with his wit, warmth, and thoughtfulness!  I've been thinking all week about what it means to become a thief who steals wantonly from the lavishness of God's grace and promiscuously distributes this love all over the place!  In our work together, he is energetic, creative, and enthusiastic.  Who knows what direction this partnership is going to take, but it is delightful to be on safari together, doing a bit of good on campus! 


Stop by the Chapel during the week sometime and you may run into any of a number of people who have offices and desks at the Chapel.  There's the Rev. Vy Nguyen who was formerly the coordinator for Lutheran Volunteer Corps and who now has an office here working with Church World Service (the Crop Walk people)!  You might meet Yvonne Charles or see Linda Ely who both work with the Lutheran Volunteer Corps.  Yvonne is the local LVC coordinator and is responsible for the 4 Bay Area houses and almost two dozen volunteers.  Linda is national LVC staff and is a the Communications person!  And of course there is the SHARE Foundation!  Jose Artiga (Executive Director), Sara Schultz (Operations Manager) and Meg Gray (Developoment Director) all have their desks downstairs in SHARE's new national headquarters!  

And then there is Pastor Reinholtzen!  This past weekend, the Synod Council voted to affirm the Chapel's decision to call Pr. Sanna as our Associate Pastor for Prayer and Healing.  Next week, Bishop Holmrud will take this to the meeting of the Conference of Bishops where we pray that they too will smile kindly on our initiative and desire.  If they affirm the decisions of our congregation and our synod council, then we will be able to begin a new era here at the Chapel with an expanded pastoral staff.  Pending the decision by the Conference of Bishops we've tentatively set aside October 10th to affirm Pr. Sanna's ministry here, to welcome our Dean Katie Hines-Shah to install her as an Associate Pastor in our community, and to celebrate her with a luncheon following liturgy.  No one is more excited or pleased than I am with this development and with the opportunities it will provide for us in our work in the world! 

Spend some time at the Chapel during the week!  It is an inspiration just to be around all of these incredible people who are partners in our ministry and are  “always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and humankind, and showing that the meaning of religion is love."

Cheers!

Pr. Jeff

Proud to be a member of the ELCA!

I mentioned in a recent post how disgusted I was to be a documented citizen of this country because of some of the actions of this administration targeting undocumented immigrants and the inaction of the powerful in Congress to enact the DREAM Act or repeal DADT.

In this posting, I want to talk a bit about my pride in our church and our congregation!  It is a great time to be connected to this church, to be a card-carrying member of the ELCA, and to be part of a community of faith "at work in the world" like the Chapel.

The wave of welcome continues throughout our church.  Tomorrow, Sunday September 27, Pastor Jen Nagel of Salem Lutheran Church in Minneapolis will be received onto the ELCA's roster.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Last Saturday saw the festive reception of Pastors Anita Hill, Ruth Frost, and Phyllis Zillhart onto the clergy roster across the river in St. Paul.  Click here to see the service for yourself or check out the story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.  This was an especially moving service to me as I was ordained with Ruth and Phyllis back in 1990 in San Francisco.  I was deeply happy to see our ELCA recognize their ordinations, their giftedness, and their ministries.  If you want a first hand report about what it was like to be there, ask Bennett Falk and Margaret Moreland from our parish.  They flew back and were in attendance at this liturgy.

Pastor Erik Christensen of St. Luke Lutheran Church of Logan Square in Chicago will be received in October.  The wave of welcome continues to roll across this church!

It's not only a great time to be part of this church, but to be preparing for leadership in this church.  The Chapel is stepping up as a community of discernment helping everyone with next steps, but especially assisting seminarians who are preparing for ministry in a Lutheran context.  This fall we have seen many of the newcomers to the seminary check us out on Sunday mornings and on Thursday evenings.  A couple of weeks ago after church on Sunday, Pepe and I had the pleasure of hosting a brunch at our home for a couple dozen seminarians.  The 11 am Wednesday Eucharist at PLTS is on my calendar each week and I'm making time to get up the hill as often as I can.  Take a moment to find ways to support and encourage our seminarians who are a part of our community.  If you don't know them, try to meet them.  There's Maria Anderson and Gretchen Colby who have been very active at the Chapel this past year and are now in their first year at PLTS.  Casey Tinnin is in his second year is a gifted youth minister and may be working with our joint Berkeley confirmation class.  Ben Colahan is back worshipping with us after spending last year on internship in Arizona and will be helping out on our "Liturgical Team Matthew!" Laura Stephenson is with us after a summer of CPE (clinical pastoral education) in Alaska and is our current teaching parish student through the spring.  Also, you might see more of Brian Ballentine, a seminarian at the Jesuit School for Theology who is the coordinator of Seminarians for Worker Justice at the GTU.  These are just some of those you might want to go out of your way to meet, support and encourage.

You might think about making a contribution to our newly established fund for seminarians.  This fund will provide short term loans to these candidates for ministry to help them proceed with the next steps in their process.  Not only does it cost a lot to go to seminary, but there are fees/costs associated with the ELCA's candidacy process which students are required to pay for.  The psychological exam required for "entrance" for example costs $1,000.  This fund will help seminarians who don't want to fall behind in candidacy but need a bit of time to come up with the necessary money to cover these costs.  At the Synod Council meeting which began Friday, I asked that we form a synodical task force to begin work on this issue at a synodical level as well.  Wouldn't it be great if we had a synodical fund to help with short-term loans for seminarians in these situations?  

Pray for our seminarians and seek ways to generously support this fund that allows us to accompany these students in needed and tangible ways.   $2,500 doesn't seem like an unreasonable goal for us to shoot for.  Would you help us meet this goal?  Help us out by sending a check or email me to let me know that you can help out.  

It is a great time to be a part of this church and to be helping to prepare young pastors for ministry!  

Blessings,


Pr. Jeff

 

Whiplash!

This past week I’ve been embarrassed to be a documented citizen of these United States; not a new feeling for me, but one I wasn't expecting as I prepared for the vote in the Senate on DADT and the DREAM Act. Embarrassed may not be strong enough.  I watched Tuesday’s vote in the Senate with disgust.  Both DREAM and DADT (Don’t Ask Don’t Tell) failed.

DADT is along with NAFTA/CAFTA one of the most difficult and damaging legacies of Clinton’s presidency on our national security and our national life together.  Since its implementation in 1993, DADT has ruined the careers of over 14,000 lgbt service members through their discharge and has weaked our country’s defense ability by driving out or underground capable members of the armed forces.

The DREAM Act has been on the table for years and would have provided a much needed chance for citizenship for almost a million young people who live without documents in fear of deportation to countries they have never known.  On Thursday, at an interfaith immigration event at Christ the Light Cathedral in downtown Oakland I heard the story of one of these young people.  Danielle was brought to this country when she was five, is now an undocumented student at Berkeley High School, and has dreams of enrolling at Cal or Harvard within the year.  This week's passage of the DREAM Act would have helped her continue to create a future for herself and her family in this country.  “I would be a living example of what this nation can provide.” This week's failure was a devastating blow. “Whenever I start to believe in myself,” she told us, “they snatch the dream away from me!”

Sometimes it feels like there is nothing we can do but scream.  I wanted to scream this week when both of these measures went down.  "Shame!"  I wanted to shout to the powerful.  "Damn!"  "Look at what you have failed to do!"  I wanted to quote Isaiah:  "Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless."  (Isaiah 10:1-2)

"Shame!"  "Damn!"  "Look at what you could have done!"  To the powerful I wanted to shout.  To those who take for granted their own dreams and futures, who have never had to worry about documentation or citizenship.  To those who have been vested with power but who cannot seem to make anything good or profitable happen with it.

It's not just the failure of DADT or DREAM which gall me. 

It's time to act!

It has been announced that Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) plans to attach an immigration reform measure to assist undocumented students to the Defense Authorization Bill to be voted on in the Senate next week.

The DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) is a wonderful step forward.  It would offer a path to residency and citizenship for undocumented children and young people who were brought here by their parents.  Many of these young people came as babies and have known no other country except the United States.  The DREAM Act would recognize these young people who have grown up here and allow them a way to become full citizens of our country.

The DREAM Act provides that they may become eligible to begin the process toward full legal status if they attend college or join the military.  While I am not excited about the military option as a part of this amendment, I think that the bill deserves our complete support.  It is the military component that allows it to be attached to the defense bill before the Senate.

Last week, the East Bay Interfaith Immigration Coalition, which meets monthly at the Chapel, heard from one such young man who is a full time student at Cal.  He is one of as many as 750,000 young people who would benefit from this legislation and pleaded our coalition to help it to pass.  His energy, enthusiasm, and commitment were impressive.  He urged those of us with ties in North Dakota to appeal to the state’s uncommitted democratic Senators Byron Dorgan or Kent Conrad (a Catholic and a Lutheran) asking them to vote for this important amendment. 

We join Lutherans throughout the country in urging members of the Senate to pass this piece of legislation next week.  Let’s get this done!

Pr. Jeff

PS….”Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” is up for appeal as an amendment to the same defense bill.  It could be a great week!   

Fall Commitment

Ok.  For years now, I've resisted blogging.  But the time for resistance has come to an end.  It's now time to pick up some of these things I've been reluctant to clutter my work time with.

After attending the ELCA's Follow Me conference in Chicago last week, I became very aware that "engaging the conversation" means figuring out how to use these sophisticated social networking tools.  Or just sitting around on the sideline and staying outside of some of the many conversations and relationships which are happening among the conversation partners who know how these things work.

All of this might come easily to the generation arriving this week at the university (many of whom were born in 1992), but it has taken me a bit of work to figure all of this out.  This weekend I've spent some time poking around in order to renovate and reactivate the Chapel's facebook page, linking it up with a twitter account, and creating this new blog space in which I might begin to post musings, messages, sermons, etc.  If I find the nerve!  I've been told that all of this is helpful to "engage the conversation."  Now, let's see how well it works!  Wish me luck!