New “About” Section

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New Monasticism: What it has to say to today’s church

There have been a number of thought-provoking speakers have traveled through Indianapolis this spring that bring well-needed perspectives to help shape how churches engage their communities in ministry.  This upcoming event continues that trend by discussing the New Monasticism and its importance in today’s church.

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove will lead a conversation based on the material in his book
NEW MONASTICISM:
WHAT IT HAS TO SAY TO TODAY’S CHURCH

Location: Englewood Christian Church (57 N. Rural St., Indianapolis)
Time: Wednesday, May 6^th, 6:30pm-8:00pm
There will also be an optional dinner at 5:30pm ($2 per person)

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is a founding member of the Rutba House Community in Durham, NC and author of several books.

Book Review: Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life

Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life: Rethinking Ministry to the Poor,
by Robert Lupton.

Reviewed by Eric Lange

As a young person just beginning to think about serve to others, I always welcome the opportunity to learn from people who have spent their lives in ministry. Their deeper perspective cultivated through years of experiences – both good and bad – provides me with lessons that I need to hear. Dr. Robert Lupton is one of those people.

Lupton has spent almost 40 years working in Atlanta with FCS Ministries. Under Lupton’s leadership, a small program for delinquent urban youth grew into a community development organization that now targets specific neighborhoods with an overarching strategy that includes a variety of programs and opportunities that engage the entire community’s capacity for growth. He is a board member of the Christian Community Development Association, and he speaks with leaders across the country about the best ways to engage in urban ministry.

Lupton brings an important perspective to the discussion about the best ways to engage in community development. He acknowledges that his philosophy stems from “years of pragmatic trial and error, a modicum of common sense, and intuition jaded just a bit by hearing too many deceptions and half-truths. And, oh yes, a calling to the poor that had been the orienting compass needle in my life.” It is encouraging to have the perspective of someone who has had missteps along the way – and Lupton is quite candid about his failures – yet remains committed and still feels called to working to create stronger futures for communities in Atlanta.

Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life is not a history of FCS Ministries or an autobiographical account of life lessons learned. Although its pages are filled with anecdotes and stories of past programs, the book is primarily an attempt to recast a vision of how of urban ministries should work. The book suggests how churches and ministries in urban locations can best use their energy and resources to build community. Unfortunately, in many instances programs and services – and at times, even churches themselves – have been the most significant barriers to neighborhoods growing into healthier, safer, and more vibrant communities.

Lupton describes many of the approaches that do little to build a better future for a community: programs that promote dependency, services that tear deprive human beings of their innate dignity, approaches that engage individuals while ignoring the environment in which they are raised. Although he recognizes that services and programs are often needed in communities, the most significant transformations that occur in communities can only come about if the community itself invests their time, energy, and resources to create a new future that they themselves own:

“Initiatives owned by residents are likely to be more effective, personal, accountable and cost-effective than those funded and managed by outside professionals.”

Lupton is more of a practitioner than a philosopher, Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life focuses on the best technical strategies rather than delving into deep theological truths. The book will not focus on the nature of God, the story and example of Christ, ad it does not try to motivate people to devote their time and energy in service. His work is best suited to those who have already made a commitment to urban ministry but need to recognize how their work should be shaped to build healthier communities.

At just over 130 pages, and full of compelling stories of prior events, this book is easy to read. Sections are divided into short chapters a few pages long, and it is possible to read the entire book in one sitting. However, the ideas and materials of the book have far-reaching implications. Its structure and subject matter suggest that this book is to be read in discussions with other people. Lupton moves quickly through a variety of topics and issues, and the deeper significance in his observations may only arise through discussions about their impact.

Perhaps the book’s greatest significance will be for ministry practitioners, because they will be able to connect Lupton’s observations to specific challenges and possibilities for their own ministries. This book provides great “food for thought” to reevaluate and rethink how their ministries can reach new levels of long-term impact and growth within their communities.

Bridges of Hope: A Community Conversation on Reconciliation

What does it mean when Paul writes, “God has given us the ministry of reconciliation“?  Come discuss its implications at this upcoming event!

Saturday, April 18, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

North United Methodist Church (NUMC), Fellowship Hall, at 3808 N. Meridian St., (free parking off of Illinois and 39th St., at back of the church)

This powerful workshop experience will be facilitated by Chris Rice, co-director of Duke Divinity School’s Center for Reconciliation and co-author of “Reconciling All Things: A Christian Vision for Justice, Peace, and Healing.” We will be encouraged with the difficult work of serving as one Body of Christ in our community and world. Participants will include both laity and clergy from surrounding churches and non-profit organizations who are interested in healing the divisions that separate us from one another as people of God, including racial, economic, denominational, class, and other social barriers.

The workshop is free of charge, but we will accept a free-will offering for lunch from the Unleavened Bread Cafe.

You may also purchase a copy of the book, “Reconciling All Things,” for $11.

The registration deadline is Tuesday, April 14. Call the NUMC front office 924-2612.

Please invite your friends and neighbors to participate in this powerful conversation. PDF Flyer Here.

“Fresh Start” Tutoring Program

Vision Statement – Christ and Academics – keys to a brighter future.

Matthew 5:41 – And whoever should force you to go one mile, go with him two.

Brief Overview:

Average Weekly Attendance: 30 + children (fairly constant)

Volunteers: 40 plus volunteer pool (30 regulars)

Time Commitment: Students arrive by 4 PM with our closing song at 4:55 PM to finish by 5 PM.
Volunteers spend from 3:50 –5:15 PM.

Questions: Contact Ann Weller and Ann Reynolds (email tabministries@gmail.com to be connected to them)

Ministries Requests:

Volunteers: As with any ministry a dedicated team of volunteers is critical. We currently have 45 individuals that are on our volunteer list, but new substitutes and regulars are always needed. Our student base has continued to grow as the year progressed and a one on one experience is our goal for every student. Feel free to try our ministry and see if this is a match for your gifts.

Restocking of School Supplies and Donations: Our goal has been to run a program without adding a financial burden to TAB’s budget. Through generous donations of “after school snacks” and school supplies, we have had a successful first year. All school supplies are either used on a weekly basis or given out to our students as a need arises. Often times by January, backpacks are splitting and paper and pencils/pens are needed for students to be adequately
prepared for school. Calculators are also in demand. We have been blessed with donations throughout the year, and likewise we have used them to be a blessing to the children in our program.

Donations: In addition, Kristine Greene (TAB treasurer) will accept donations written to Tabernacle Presbyterian Church with “Fresh Start Tutoring” in the memo line.

Volunteers Speak Out:

Beau Brown: “The cross-generational and cross-cultural relationships being built through Fresh Start are truly a foretaste of God’s Kingdom.  This program is as much (or more) of a blessing for the tutors as it is for those being tutored.”

Christine Gall: “Fresh Start tutoring has been a wonderful opportunity for me to use the tutoring skills that God blessed me with years ago. I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with a young girl who really struggles in school.  She loves the one on one attention and I love seeing the smile on her face when she succeeds!”

David Kingsworthy: “The program invigorates me every week; it makes me think I am in contact with ‘the least among you’ – for which I feel fortunate.  I am also humbled that the noble young man with whom I work allows me to spend that time with him each week.  My prayers for our time together seem to be answered every week….the blessings are many and overwhelming.”

Mary Mills: “One particularly frustrating day when I felt that I was making very little significant impact on my student’s life, he and two other children ran up and hugged me as I was leaving.  That was a wonderful reminder of why I was there.”

Marjie Williams: “At Fresh Start, I see committed adults who love, listen, encourage, play, and explain while children respond, learn, laugh, sing, and share. I am delighted to be a part of this meaningful ministry.”

An Evening with John McKnight and Ivan Illich

Lots of people at Tab are excited about the Asset Mapping process Kit Danley discussed at the Tab@Home Retreat.  This coming Monday, you have the opportunity to hear from John McKnight, one of the creators of Asset-Based Community Development.  This event might lead to very important conversations about what “doing ministry” should look like.

What:
“An Evening with John McKnight and Ivan Illich: A Posthumous Conversation to End Helping”

When:
Monday, April 6th
6:30pm-8:00pm

Where:
Broadway United Methodist Church
609 E. 29th St.
 

John L. McKnight is professor of Communication Studies and co-director of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute at the Institute for Policy Research (IPR), Northwestern University. 

McKnight is internationally recognized for his critique of the ways in which social service and other organizations “problemize” people. In his view, seeing “needs” instead of “capacities” and “assets” cripples not only those supposedly being helped, but their communities as well. He saw that by focusing on meeting needs and deficiencies, these organizations were seeing the glass as being half empty—instead of half full. But by shifting their paradigm from needs-based to asset-based, communities and organizations could maximize their “human resources.” To aid communities and organizations in this transition, he co-founded the Asset-Based Community Development Institute with John Kretzmann in 1995 under the aegis of IPR. Through the ABCD Institute, he has advised communities in both the U.S. and other countries including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, and the Netherlands. His work in this area has had enormous influence on how epilepsy is treated, how foundations such as the United Way distribute their funding and view their “clients,” and how the developmentally disabled can be reintegrated into mainstream society. Above all else, John is a master storyteller.

Ivan Illich (1926-2002): 
Ivan Illich was born in Vienna in 1926. He was forced to leave school in 1941 under Nazi race laws because of his mother’s Jewish origins. He went to Italy where he studied in Florence and later was a student of philosophy and theology at the Gregorian University in Rome. He later returned to Austria where he obtained a PhD in history at the University of Salzberg.

He first came to the United States in 1951, working as a parish priest and championing the cause of Puerto Rican immigrants in New York City. Later he was appointed the deputy rector of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico where he began his work developing an intensive and culturally grounded training program for American priests whose ministry allowed them to work among Latinos.  Ivan Illich became increasingly frustrated with the bureaucracy of the church and left the priesthood in 1969. He went on to co-found the Center for Intercultural Documentation (CIDOC) in Cuernavaca, Mexico–a training research center which also served as a think-tank for innovative educators world-wide. It was there that he wrote his ground-breaking critique of the educational system, Deschooling Society (1971), arguing that school made people dumb.Since the 1980s, Illich divided his time between Mexico, the United States, and Germany where he taught at the University of Bremen. Ivan Illich died on December 2, 2002, in the northern German city of Bremen where he had lectured in sociology for the past decade.

“I Made a Door!” Tab Youth @ Rebuilding the Wall

Tab’s recent work project with Rebuilding the Wall has already recieved some Internet publicity on the Unleavened Bread’s website. These are the reflections Beau Brown and Julia Buchanan Schwanke, a 7th grade student at Tab.

“I made a door!”  This is the exclamation I heard as I stood fifteen feet away scooping up ashes in a broken dust pan.  The person making the announcement? George Peyton, an 8^th grade member of TAB’s youth group.  I would recognize his voice anywhere.  What could be so exciting that an “all-points bulletin” was the only appropriate response?  I looked up, and there he was…sledge hammer in hand, surrounded by rubble, hole in the wall, and a huge smile on his face. 

Instead of the typical teenage Saturday routine of waking up at noon, eating junk food, and playing video games all day, a group of students from TAB decided we would rather do something really meaningful on March 7, 2009.  We worked from morning till late afternoon with a local not-for-profit called Rebuilding the Wall.  RtW can be described as “Habitat for Humanity with roots.”  This organization is committed to rebuilding families and homes in the near north side of Indianapolis, TAB’s very own neighborhood! 

Our project for this day was completely gutting a fire-damaged house.  We walked in this house on the 2400 block of McPherson Street only to see charred walls, ashes on the floor, busted out windows, and some less-than-welcoming animal droppings.  We could have been easily overwhelmed, but we saw potential (and maybe a little fun).  Before our youthful passion was released, the Site Leader, Antonio, introduced himself and gave a brief history of RtW and his involvement with the organization.  He told us that, while he loves rebuilding houses, he is more concerned with the relationships he has built through his work.  He said that he grew up in this very neighborhood and, as a young person, had never really met many people from “the other side of the tracks.”  Working with RtW helped him break down some of the stereotypes he had about “outsiders.”  After hearing this, we all seemed to have one of those light bulb moments…”Maybe this is about more than just ripping apart houses!”

Subsequently, in our usual gung-ho style, we began working, tasks got divided, and everyone became focused on their parts of the project. Sometimes, disparaging comments are made about the laziness of the “youth of today.”  However, there was no such laziness in this particular group of students.  With gloves on our hands, masks on our faces, and tools on our belts, we were off and working.  Beau and Amber even had to force some of us to take intermittent breaks for rest and water!  While the adults at the work site said they were impressed by our work ethic, they were even more impressed by the friendliness our group displayed to the other folks at the work site.  Like Antonio said, this really is about much more than working on houses.

At the risk of sounding too sentimental, let’s return to George’s proud exclamation: “I made a door!”  This was perhaps a more profound statement than George would imagine.  Indeed, there are walls built up in our society that keep people apart, and God’s people can “make doors” in those walls little by little.  However small it was, a door truly was made during this time of volunteering.  Let’s continue to pray that more doors would be made through our work here at TAB!