Here is the weekly email sent by Canon Mary Hays to leadership of the Diocese. In it she publishes a response I sent to her and the Archbishop concerning who it is that God might be calling us to reach. --Scott+
Pittsburgh Advance
May 21, 2010
As most of you know, the Archbishop and I have asked clergy to consider this question in preparation for our meetings in district fellowships: “What "people group" would you most like to reach? (for example: skateboarders; soccer moms who hang out at starbucks; local prison; elderly apartment-bound; local college students; internationals or international students?) Why this group? What would it look like if God blessed your efforts of reaching this group? What obstacles are in the way? How could any of us help?” We have met with three districts so far, and I must say that our conversations have been some of the most interesting, exciting and challenging ever. Two weeks from now, when we’ve met with all of you, I’ll report to you some of the themes that have emerged from our conversations. This week’s Pittsburgh Advance includes some of my thoughts about the corporate dimension of our outreach and a reflection from Scott Homer’s (Trinity, Beaver) response to the question posed by the Archbishop.
THREE QUESTIONS AND A FOURTH ABOUT OUR OUTREACH
Who’s missing?
I think it is always worth walking (or even driving) around the neighborhood where your church building is situated and noticing the people you encounter. What do they look like? What color is their skin? What clothes do they wear? Then compare what you see with what you see in church on Sunday morning. A number of years ago, I was talking to a search committee about the fact that all of the vestry and all of the people in congregational pictures had white faces. “Is this because your neighborhood is all white?” I asked. They insisted that it was. A little later, my husband and I drove to the nearest convenience store. We were the only white faces in the store! These dear people hadn’t noticed what their neighborhood really looked like; they hadn’t seen the multitude of ethnicities that lived among them.
Who’s up front?
When my husband and I served our first parish in Connecticut, there was no one our age. Everyone in the congregation seemed to be a little younger than our parents – about the same age of the rector and his wife. Within six weeks of our arrival there were a number of young couples with young children. Now, I’d love to think that our wonderful personalities and vibrant preaching was the reason, but I think the real reason for this influx was the simple fact that young couples saw people “like them” up front and somehow felt welcomed as a result. A parish in Northern Virginia noticed that its African-American representation was much lower than the community’s 10%. As the staff discussed this, they noticed that none of their African-American members served on the vestry and none participated in the “upfront” lay leadership roles. The rector made a conscious effort to change this, and soon the population percentages matched up. St. Philip’s, Moon has a call to families and youth. Their worship leaders, who stand up front on stage, include teenagers, young parents and several “gray-hairs.” Not surprisingly, the congregation does, too.
Who does the music draw?
Our communications director, David Trautman, told me how his InterVarsity group in Florida was eager to attract black students to their large group gatherings. “We were successful at attracting black students to events which featured a black speaker, but the black students never seemed to stick around,” he told me. It wasn’t until they intentionally recruited black students to serve on their music team and incorporated contemporary gospel into their musical worship that they were able to keep these students coming back week after week. One parish started a service aimed at college students. They even offered dinner after the service, knowing that the campus dining hall was closed on weekends. Their “contemporary” music, however, would have been more suited to the tastes of college students during the early 1960’s. Interestingly, the service never included many college students.
What additions would you make to this list?
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A Letter from The Rev. Scott Homer, Rector of Trinity Church in Beaver
Dear Friends,
During our times of clergy fellowships this month, the Archbishop has asked us to consider what people groups we might be called to reach. In considering this question, I came to the conclusion that the Lord is pointing Trinity, Beaver towards a ministry to one of the most isolated, most marginalized groups in America--the mentally retarded and developmentally disabled.
Over the last thirty or forty years, the mentally retarded and developmentally disabled have been increasingly separated out and isolated from any real family or religious community. While we work much harder to take care of their physical and material needs, their spiritual needs, their need for community have been ignored and in fact, exacerbated by creating special homes called "group homes." We pat ourselves on the back for providing for their physical needs even as we ignore and neglect them as members of our society. These folks need a church. They need a church family. They need Christian teaching and preaching but they are unlikely to get it because the people who could afford to provide it don't recognize it as important. So, that takes care of the who and the why, as well as some of the obstacle questions, but what about the vision aspect?
If God blessed our efforts we would be a blended community of rich and poor, mentally challenged and gifted, Christians loving one another in a community centered around worshipping God and reaching the world for Christ.
Pray for two very great challenges to this ministry: 1) funding, the financial resources necessary to serve a people group that is not self-supporting. 2) Pray for God's guidance around the secular social work platform that regulates the lives of this people group.
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