The Wild Goose Festival

What do wildness, geese, and the Holy Spirit have in common?

How about social justice, spirituality, art, music, and camping?

In a little over a month, the US version of the longstanding Greenbelt Festival will plant its tent pegs, portable generators, and biodegradable  soap dispensers firmly into the North Carolina soil.

If done right, this could be more than Greenbelt 2.0.  This could be a chance to rip theological authority from power grip of empire assumptions, colonial presumptions, and the religious elite – to open up faith & spirituality to dialogue, discourse, and subaltern perspectives in an uniquely American context.

Ok, maybe that’s hoping for a little bit much.  Who knows, it could go any which way if the Wild Goose* shows up!

Check out the Wild Goose website and the Wild Goose blog.  See you there?

*The Wild Goose is a Celtic metaphor for the Holy Spirit.  The Wild Goose Festival is followers of Jesus creating a festival of justice, spirituality, music and the arts.  The festival is rooted in the Christian tradition and therefore open to all regardless of belief, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, denomination or religious affiliation.

Saint Sabina Sets the Record Straight

The Faith Community of Saint Sabina  feels disrespected – and I don’t blame them.

In a full page advertisement, in the May 4th edition of the Sun Times, the leadership of Saint Sabina took on that most difficult of tasks: setting the record straight.  It is clear that the official narrative being espoused by Cardinal George doesn’t paint the clearest picture of the way events unfolded or why Father Michael Pfleger was suspended from the active ministry.

Here is the full page:

Letter to Cardinal George

The following is a letter to Cardinal George signed by Pastors of 14 Black Catholic Parishes in Chicago.  This document, as well as other correspondence relating to Father Michael Pfleger’s suspension, is available on the website of the Faith Community of Saint Sabina.

Let Father Pfleger stay at Saint Sabina

Last night CBS Chicago aired a segment of Walter’s Perspective, with Walter Jacobson.  The segment addressed the recent consideration of Cardinal George and the Archdiocese of Chicago to remove Father Michael Pfleger from the Faith Community of Saint Sabina.

The move would go against the wishes of Father Pfleger, the wishes congregation itself, and, as Jacobson points out, the wishes of the the community Saint Sabina is a part of.  The wishes and vision of the community seem like an important perspective – one that is frequently ignored in a world of corporate driven paradigms for church leadership and hierarchy from outside and above.

Fr. Pfleger meets attendees at the 2011 Hallett Lecture

As SCUPE has always had context driven theology at its core, this perspective of those in the context, is one we believe needs to be heard and taken into account.  Two night ago, before the Hallett Lecture at Loyola University, I walked across the street the the offices of the Archdiocesan offices and hand delivered two letters expressing this point from my personal perspective.  I hope that the Cardinal and church leadership will be open to the voice of the congregation, community, and the Spirit in their deliberation on the future of Father Pfleger and Saint Sabina.

Please consider lending your voice in support of Father Pfleger and Saint Sabina by writing to these two individuals:

Francis Cardinal George
Archdiocese of Chicago
835 North Rush Street
Chicago, IL 60611
312-534-8219 Office
312-534-6379 Fax
archbishop(at)archchicago.org

Priest’s Placement Board
Archdiocese of Chicago
835 North Rush Street
Chicago, IL 60611
312-534-5270 Office
312-534-5281 Fax
jdonovan(at)archchicago.org

Father Michael Pfleger invites you to work for Peace

“Are we going to be a part of raising the consciousness and of bring about the solutions or is the church going to continue to just see itself as doing the benedictions, and doing the eulogies, and doing the counseling after violence takes the lives of our children and of our brothers and our sisters?”

Father Michael Pfleger shares a message about the need to work for peace in our society and inviting people to be peacemakers in a culture of violence.  Father Pfleger is co-chair of the SCUPE’s 2011 Congress on Urban Ministry to be held in Chicago on March 1-4, 2011.

You can register now at www.congressonurbanministry.org

“In light of what has just happened in Tucson, Arizona I think addressing the violence is a major and crucial step in regaining our voice.  We have to somehow raise the issue in not only the violence that is tearing apart our families and our communities but is literally killing the future of our children.  And the church has been far too silent”

Hope, Imagination and Prophetic Preaching

How can hope transform the lives of individuals and communities?

What does it mean to be prophetic?

Where is imagination essential in incarnating the gospel?

In the newest episode of the SCUPE Congress podcast we delve into the human spiritual need for hope and the role of imagination in conveying the Kingdom of God. We talk with SCUPE’s President Emeritus and Founding Director Dave Frenchak, on the bustling streets of Chicago, about fostering the rich tradition of prophetic preaching in our lives and in our current day and age.

Highlights include: a preached introduction by Yvonne Delk, excerpts of Dave and Otis Moss III teaching their preaching class, a look at the work of Brazilian educator and pedagogical theorist Paulo Freire, and a nice smattering of sirens and cars noises!

Also, learn about the various other opportunities SCUPE offers to those interested in urban ministry, seminary education, and a model of doing theology that goes beyond classical paradigms that focus solely on learning about theology.

Available here:

Points of Light towards the Beloved Community

A couple weekends ago I was down in Atlanta visiting my brother and we had an amazing Sunday down at the King Center and Ebenezer Baptist.  As someone who has idolized Dr. King since high school and who has found his writings and sermons to be constant companions along my journey of understanding racism, equality, and social justice based in a vision of the Beloved Community it was truly a pilgrimage for me.  Standing outside of the house where Martin was born on Auburn Avenue and to see it preserved brought all of the books I have read about King growing up and developing come to life in a way which connected me with, not only the history of the civil rights movement but also, the possibilities of his dream for our day and age.

I was also very pleased to see that the exhibit didn’t just stop with Dr. King’s work in the civil rights movement but also touched upon his work as it developed to address the related evils of poverty and militarism.  I was honestly biting my tongue anticipating that the Poor People’s Campaign and King’s  speech and marches against the Vietnam war would be excluded.

Walking through those pictures just down from the street where he grew up and the church where he pastored when he was killed made this man and the movement he has come to exemplify come to life in a way which begs the question: why not now?  What is holding the people of this country from rising up again as a un-ignorable voice and force for peace and justice?  What would it take for we the people, in the midst of this increasingly global awareness, to believe that the world which God intends is indeed a possibility and that we have an enormous power as united people to bring this new world into being?

On the way back to the car I made a more intentional stop at the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame as was cheered as I saw the foot prints of Michael Pfleger.  In addition to working with Father Pfleger in his role as co-chair of the 2011 Congress on Urban Ministry I also had the privilege of doing an internship at the Faith Community of St. Sabina.   This amazing church and its faith-filled congregants have taught me more about living out faith than three whole years of seminary.  Quite a portion of my hope for the continuation of Dr. King’s dream comes from having experienced this community and having been deeply moved by their spirit and faith.

Good work is being done  in the churches, synagogues, mosques, and community development organizations across this county.  We must learn to lift up these points of light in spite of the seeming prevailing of darkness and to encourage our communities to be inspired by the Spirit which is surely at work even now.

Here’s a recent, ten minute interview with Rev. Dr. Michael L. Pfleger on the Tavis Smiley show.

The World Goes Urban… Ministry?

Social scientist and demographers have identified May 23, 2007 as the transition date when the world urban population finally went over the 50 percent mark.  It took a long time to happen but in reality urbanization is a rather recent and rapid phenomenon.  In the past 107 years the world’s urban population leapt from 13 percent to 50 percent.  It is projected that by 2020 we will have five hundred cities with more than a million people.  We already have at least a dozen cities with over ten million populations.

Urbanization, however, is much more than population density.  It has to do with distinct forms of human relationship, communication, interconnection, and complex patterns of cultural, economic, political, and social life that transcend the close knit patterns of smaller communities.

The church, however, is frequently not well equipped to respond to the challenge of urbanization.  Models of the church and of ministry, more often than not, reflect a rural or agrarian understanding of society.  If the church lags in its awareness of and response to the challenges and opportunities of urban life, it may be because seminaries and divinity schools are delinquent in preparing pastoral leadership for urban congregations.  According to a recent study done by Robert Kemper, only one third of all accredited seminaries offer even one course related to ministry in an urban society.

This is one of the gaps we see SCUPE filling.  As you equip yourself for ministry an urban world consider how SCUPE could be a resource to you.  SCUPE offers a variety of high quality courses for graduate and undergraduate students interested in urban ministry, African-American and Latin@ theological perspectives, social justice & community development.

More importantly, SCUPE provides the opportunity for you to use the city of Chicago as a ministry learning context.  This means connecting with some of the most innovative urban ministry practitioners, getting behind-the-scenes insight into the accomplishments and struggles of their ministries, and learning to listen to the city and community through a biblical lens that is both prophetic and imaginative.

Consider becoming involved though:

- our 2011 conference: the Congress on Urban Ministry

- our academic programs: various classes open to seminary students and lay learners

- our summer or semester long urban ministry internship opportunities for seminary students.

- Carol Ann McGibbon

Collaborative Planning and the Body of Christ

A Meeting of the 2011 National Planning Committee

Can Christians work together in a truly equitable and collaborative manner across boundaries like denomination, race, gender, geography, political and theological viewpoints?  If asked before becoming involved with the planning for the Congress on Urban Ministry I would have easily replied: not likely.  Not only is our culture becoming more polarized but we also seem less and less able to engage in reasoned, open dialogue.  Maybe it is our stunted ability to truly listen or perhaps a reflexive tendency to see the world in black & white but whatever the cause, our ability to reconcile differences, to understand differing viewpoints, and to compromise seems under real threat.  Need evidence?  Watch five minutes of a panel “discussing” an issue on the nightly news.

What is stunning then is that dialogue and listening and compromise and mutual understanding do still happen.  Overall, my acclimatization to working at SCUPE has been minor as they come from a similar prophetic, justice orientated, contextual, and thus, open paradigm.  One significant place where I have been challenged is to see that a part of  being truly open is creating space for the other.  Collaboration, partnership, and conspiring (literally breathing together) become possible only when our stance of being open to the other is authentic… and authentic openness means that we must purposefully be closed ourselves (usually this involves closing, specifically, the mouth).

The rewards of this process are numerous.  As someone who would rather conspire only with those of a similar mind I have come to see how this can in fact be limiting.  Having a diversity of perspectives, emphasis-es, and experiences at the planning table for the 2011 Congress on Urban Ministry has meant that we have been taken to unexpected places and found unexpected connections between concepts, paradigms, and practices which we initially considered disparate.

In another sense, this model of planning is essential because it directs the focus and agenda of a church, denomination, or, in this case SCUPE upon a wealth of needs and assets.  Is there a better way to understand the city than as collections of communities that contain both needs and assets?  If a gathering is to step away from the top-down, expert-driven, conference mentality it must allow for the a variety and diversity of voices to be heard.  As we plan for the 2011 Congress I am proud to become a part of a 30-plus year tradition of striving across differences towards the Kingdom of God.

They city is an astounding place of differences rubbing elbows, quite literally, in confined areas.  In a globalizing world in which the world is both getting incredibly small and, most theorists argue, increasingly localized: How would urban ministry be different if we saw our mission in the city as one of creating open spaces where different people groups and ideologies and expressions of life could come together?  What if urban ministers saw their charge as being radically open to the other?  What if we took seriously Paul’s words that the church now is the body of Christ and that this body knows no divisions or boundaries?  I’d like to think that the sort of “getting along” this might inspire might not be just for the kindergarten playground…

Lore and Forgetting: the Congress on Urban Ministry

Dr. Cornel West speaking at 1994 Congress

Whenever I have the chance I burn through a quick hour in the file cabinet room here at SCUPE.  It’s amazing what one learns from the artifacts someone, at some point, decided should be saved.

Lately, I have been rifling through old files and photo albums over the course of the past few months uncovering a history of the Congress that has been, it seems, all but forgotten.  Over 34 years and (once March of 2011 is here) 16 gatherings is a lot of time to form your own lore.  SCUPE’s Congress on Urban Ministry certainly has compiled its fair share of lore but, for a large national event, I am also surprised about how well of a kept-secret it is.  Well, I think that should change.  It is time that this collaborative, inter-denominational, prophetic gathering gets its just dues.

Jim Forbes, Yvonne Delk, unknown, Dave Frenchak, Cecil Williams, And Mary Nelson at 1994 Congress

Over the course of the next couple weeks I’ll share some of the lore I’ve been able to uncover and perhaps we’ll get insight into how the 2011 Congress can continue to be an impact-full gathering as we address the violence in our cities, in the way we live together, and in the way we think.

Just today I stumbled across these goals that had been lifted up at past Congress gatherings.  Even though I haven’t seen this list before today it is my guess that I would have been able to guess some of these just from being involved in the visioning here at SCUPE and with the Co-chairs and through the collaborative planning process with the National Planning Committee.

The Mission of the Congress on Urban Ministry:

1. To inspire both new and experienced Urban Ministry practitioners, to celebrate their calls and accomplishments, and to challenge them spiritually and professionally.
2. To teach and learn we will seek ways to create redemptive communities, release prophetic imagination, and engage in justice, reconciliation and restoration
3. To teach and learn best Urban Ministry practices, to collaborate and envision breakthrough initiatives, and to study and dialogue about the deeper issues affecting communities.
4. To network practitioners and national leaders for information exchange, for fellowship, and to sharpen the skills needed to transform communities.