Is God calling you to care for a neighbour, a street or an entire neighbourhood?

Jay Pathak's story of learning to pastor a neighbourhood.

What's yours?

Integrity of Place: Actions to Dwell and Travel Well

How are we to be a good neighbor and local person?

When we leave home, how do we travel well?

We asked our network of communities in neighborhoods for actual practices they engage in to be good locals or openhearted travelers. The questions deepen when we relocate to unfamiliar communities and are suddenly both pilgrim and rooted neighbor at once. We find them threaded into our days. Here you’ll find both our concrete gestures and our wonderings.

Throw a party.
“Once a month, instead of having our weekly, small-group Bible studies in different parts of town, we host a community-wide potluck game night with our common friends and neighbors (who at this point, aren’t interested in God or the Bible). Taking a break from our philosophizing and theologizing allows us to live out our faith by just loving the heck out of our neighborhood as we love the heck out of each other.” Dwell

Seek peace and pursue it.
“Inspired by the instructions of Jesus, whenever we move into a new neighborhood, we look for a man or woman of peace. The person may or may not know Jesus, but demonstrates the values of God’s kingdom, like hospitality and compassion.” Servants

Give and receive hospitality.
“Whenever we can, we stay in the homes of old or new friends rather than hotels. We are striving to see our ‘home’ as a place of radical hospitality to people who stop by for the afternoon or stay over for days. We find giving and receiving hospitality challenging, uncomfortable, and very beautiful.” Raising Micah

Become a regular.
“Every Saturday we frequent the same small family-owned diner called Pop’s for breakfast. We know the waitstaff by name, and they know what we want before we order.” The GAPS Community

Be local on the porch.
“We go to the local church in our neighborhood. All summer we sit on our porches and go to block parties. We started a mentor program for middle school-kids and we throw a fall festival. We petitioned city council for a new recreation center (and got it)!” Rutba House/School for Conversion

Walk, eat and shop locally.
“We do our best to spend warm days and evenings on our front porches. We walk and take public transit when possible to be an active part of the life of our neighborhood. One of our members only shops at the places she can walk to. We have become friends with several farmers in our area, and purchase food from them frequently.” Hyaets Community

Be involved in local schools.
“Our kids attend local schools, and because of that, we find ourselves working alongside our neighbors for the good of all our children.” Church of the Sojourners

Practice being open.
“A few years ago, we starting using the phrase ‘living off the hook’ to describe our shared practice of being fully present and aware of our surroundings wherever we might be. This means having an open heart towards any person with whom we cross paths, even when it means 
being sidetracked, inconvenienced, or interrupted. Although practicing radical openness and awareness might look different in the suburbs of L. A. than on the streets of Bagdad, it’s one manner in which we discover and respond to the many ways that poverty disguises itself.” Relational Tithe

Sharing space in our place.
“Along with another faith community, we have planted a garden on our shared property, and share our vegetables with the neighborhood. Some of us also participate in co-housing communities, living together and sharing resources. We have found that sharing space together creates opportunities for us to get more involved in local life together and become active in ways that matter to our neighbors. One of these is participation in a monthly event where artists and musicians show their work in local businesses and restaurants.” FLOOD Sacramento

Disperse and become a village.
“After a fire burned down our block a few years ago, we had to decide whether to build things back or to move into other abandoned spaces. We chose the latter, and now we are a bit more decentralized, but it feels like we are more a part of the fabric of our neighborhood. This, of course, requires us to be even more ‘intentional’ about community meals and prayer. Instead of an intentional community, it feels a little like an intentional village.” The Simple Way
(from Conspire - a conspiracy of love — plot goodness where you are!)

Growing Great Neighbours

Look for ways to be kind to those who live around you.

Luke 10:27
"Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself."

Block Party!

June is Block Party Month for the City of Edmonton.

The list below is from the Block Party Guide. As I read the list of reasons why to have a block Party, I am reminded of the title of the book by Tony Campolo entitled "The Kingdom of God is a Party." I can easily imagine that every item on the list is something that God would dream for our neighbourhoods. Hosting a block party then is a way of participating in the prayer "thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven..."

In our experience Block Parties can radically change the culture of your neighbourhood. In fact we have come to think that the block party is one of the most significant ways to "love our neighbours". If you can set the ball rolling toward having a block party this June, pay attention to what God is up to in the middle of it all and see if you can begin to imagine a new future for your neighbourhood.

City of Edmonton Block Party Guide 2009
A neighbourhood block party is the opportunity for neighbours to get together, meet each other, have fun and maybe work together on a common activity

10 TOP REASONS TO HAVE A BLOCK PARTY

• To have fun – no excuses or reasons are needed to celebrate.
• To provide an opportunity to know your neighbours and where they live.
• To establish friendships.
• To increase that sense of belonging to a community.
• To meet neighbours on your block that might be able to help you with a gardening problem, or lend you that needed ingredient for your recipe.
• To encourage neighbours to look after the neighbourhood.
• To help with safety/crime prevention by knowing who lives where and who does not.
• To learn a little about each other and know who might need a little extra help from time to time.
• To increase security by knowing each other’s schedules.
• To develop an opportunity to meet some of the old time neighbours and learn about your community history.

As friendships grow, so do opportunities for borrowing and sharing of tools, sugar, information etc. (Howard Lawrence)

Says Tony Campolo:
"In our attempts to communicate the Gods good news, we’re always looking for new words and images. What we want to say to the world is so expansive and rapturous that the linguistic tools available to us in our everyday conversations leave us with a sense of frustration. We know that God is doing something stupendous in us. We know that he is changing the world through us. And we know that all people must be helped to understand things if they are to participate in bringing in those wonderful changes that God wills for all of humanity.

In the early part of this century, those Christian leaders known as the “social gospeler ‘s” made use of the biblical phrase, “Kingdom of God.” These champions for social justice, including such notable preachers and activists as Walter Rauchenbusch and Shailer Mathews, worked hard to communicate the idea that the salvation of God was much more than a way of getting people into heaven when they die; it was something to be experienced in this world. To them, salvation was something that not only transformed individuals; it was also something that transformed societies. They tried to tell church people that God had not saved them from sin solely for the purpose of granting them heavenly bliss, but in order to have a people who work on earth for him. Those who become God’s people, they said, God wills to change the institutions of society so that they do good and deliver justice. The social gospeler’s preached that God wills to be at work through his people transforming this world into the kingdom of God.

In the kingdom, all people will live out the life God planned for them, when he first created the human race. In the kingdom, family life, economic life, and political life will be lived out in accord with the plan of God. The kingdom of God will be a society in which all people acknowledge God as King and relate to each other in ways prescribed by his love. This reconstructed world marked by justice would be a world in which evil will be vanquished, poverty will be eliminated and war will be no more.

This image was biblical and it was powerful. All through the Hebraic scriptures and tradition there is a longing for the kingdom. The message of Jesus was a declaration that this kingdom was at hand. His parables were explanations of the kingdom and his miracles were signs of the presence of God’s kingdom already present in the world.

The concept of shalom.
During the 1950s, another biblical symbol or image came to the fore, as Christian leaders tried to find some new way to express God’s mission in the world and to explain to people like us are to have a part in it. Many theologians took hold of the concept of shalom. This old Hebrew word, which can simply be translated “peace,” had a much deeper meaning in each world than it did in the 50s, an effort was made to recover the original meaning.

The Jews in Bible days use the word shalom and they greet each other upon meeting, and as a fond farewell when they departed. To the Jews, the word shalom meant a time in which all people would live together as brothers and sisters, a time when no one would be hungry, and everyone would have “enough” to live life to the fullest. Shalom meant prosperity. It meant living in the land flowing with milk and honey, where justice rolled down like the waters. Shalom was that time when the lion and Lamb would lie down together, swords would be re-shaped into plowshares, and war would be no more. Shalom was the “this world” Hope for the people of Israel. It was the world that the Messiah would bring when he came.

The image provided by the word shalom, became a motif around which church leaders organize their activities. Building houses for poor people was done to contribute to shalom. Fighting racism, supporting the peace movement, participating in efforts to save the environment-all was done to foster shalom.

Unobserved jubilee
Over the last few years, several writers have made use of still another word to give expression to what they believe to be the purpose of the Christian mission. They have use the term “Jubilee.” This symbol is especially useful for those who believe that the church should have a primary commitment to meet the needs of the poor and the oppressed. Writers such as Ron Sider, and John Howard Yoder have made good use of the concept of Jubilee in their writings, as they have called Christians to a more responsible and simple lifestyle, so the resources might be available to minister to those who are without food and shelter essential for survival.

The term Jubilee comes out of the writings of Moses. In Leviticus 25, we are told that God’s law requires some special days and years to be set aside to honor him as well is to contribute to our own good. Everyone is aware of the fact that God requires his people to observe the Sabbath day each week. No reading of the 10 Commandments would leave us ignorant of that directive. What is less well known is that the Jews were also required to recognize a sabbatical year. The farmer was expected to divide up his land into seven sections and to allow one of the seven pieces to live out each year. Plus, the land was given a chance for revitalization and renewal. It is from this requirement of Scripture set forth in Leviticus 25:1-7 that those of us in academia have come up with the idea of a sabbatical leave every seven years.

But there was also a third requirement of the law of God in relation to the concept of the Sabbath. And that was the commandment to observe Jubilee. According to Leviticus 25, on the 50th year there was to be a special observance in which, among other things, economic equity and justice were affirmed. All debts were to be canceled in the year of Jubilee. All land was to be to return to its original owners, and those who were imprisoned were to be set free. In those days prison was primarily for debtors, since most other crimes were punishable by death.

Obviously, as the Bible says, Jubilee was good news for the poor. I can imagine how recent college graduates would react if they were suddenly announced that next year all debts incurred by education loans would be canceled. In the case of the truly poor in the ancient world, the cancellation of debts could mean deliverance from debtors’ prison or from slavery. To the truly poor, Jubilee could be a whole new lease on life.

It is not surprising to learn that, so far as the biblical historians can ascertain, the people of God never observe the year of Jubilee. There were various rationalizations and justifications for this non-observance given by the teachers, but the truth of the matter is that they never fulfilled the complete law of the Sabbath.

In the writings of the prophet Isaiah, we learned that the fulfillment of the law of Moses with respect to the year of Jubilee would remain as something that the Messiah would do. According to Isaiah 61, we are told that when the Messiah comes, he will bring in the new economic order in which the poor will be delivered from all oppression and freedom to live life to the fullest.

Isaiah 61:1-7
The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me.
 He sent me to preach good news to the poor, 
heal the heartbroken,
Announce freedom to all captives, 
pardon all prisoners.
 God sent me to announce the year of his grace — a celebration of God's destruction of our enemies — 
 and to comfort all who mourn.

Isaiah lets us know that, when the Messiah comes, we will know him because he will declare this year. “The year of the Lord” to Israel, was to be the sign of his identity.

In light of this background, you can only guess what it must’ve been like on the day of worship in the synagogue at Nazareth when Mary’s son stood before the congregation of the people and declared that the year of the Jubilee was being instituted at his word.

The scene was set by the return of Jesus to his hometown after having earned a significant reputation as a teacher in miracle worker down south in the region of Galilee. As was the custom in ancient Israel, visiting rabbis were always given the honor of reading the Scriptures as part of Sabbath worship services in the synagogue. Undoubtedly, the privilege was particularly meaningful to Mary when it was given to Jesus. This was her chance to show off her boy, who had taken such good care of the family following Joseph’s death.

When they called upon Jesus to read the Scriptures, he asked for the scroll that contained the writing of Isaiah, turned to the passage cited above, and read it. Then he took his seat, even as every eye in the place was fixed on him. What followed was a real shocker. Jesus shot back over his shoulder this incredible announcement: “this day is the Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” (Luke 4:21)

Nothing could have been more dramatic than the announcement that he deemed himself to be the Messiah sent from God. Nothing could have been a more clear declaration that he saw himself as the fulfillment of the prophecy made by Isaiah.

The crowd was faced with the decision. Either Mary’s boy was the one sent from God, or he had just committed blasphemy. They decided that the latter was the case, and they took Jesus out to the edge of town to throw him over a cliff.

What followed was awesomely dramatic, by virtue of its simplicity. The son of God did not call down an army of angels or suddenly disappear. Instead it is seen that would make John Wayne seemed like a sissy by comparison, Jesus turned on them and walked out of the crowd. There must’ve been something powerful about his bearing, because the crowd that had been bent on killing him simply stepped aside and let him go without so much as laying a hand on him. (Luke 4:29-30)

The importance of all this for us is that, in this act, Jesus made the declaration of Jubilee central to his mission and his identity. His salvation includes not only deliverance from sin and physical healings; it also involves a gift of economic well-being for the poor and downtrodden of the world. It is easy to see that this particular image of the work of Christ has a special appeal to those who are trying to awaken contemporary Christians to the call of God to serve the poor and the socially disinherited people of the world.

The main problem with this image, or symbol of the Christian mission, is the Jubilee, like the concept of shalom, requires too much explanation to hammer home its meaning to most people. The motions and social connotations that it is supposed to communicate are not self-evident. Something that will give a more immediate picture of what God wants to do in this world is needed. I have been groping for a word or image that can do that for us. In while no word or image can do the job as well as it should be done, I want to try out on you a word that I believe does communicate this description of God’s kingdom to the modern listener or reader. It is a word that conveys an immediate image to anyone who hears it. The word is “party.” The kingdom of God is a party.

A gigantic celebration.
As I was reading Deuteronomy 14:22-29, the passage about tithing hit me hard. I realized that I had gotten it all wrong- I had always thought that what the Lord told Moses to tell us was to set aside 10% of all our earnings to give to the work of God (the ministries of the church). But as I read and re-read the passage, it was clear that the tithe was not for that at all. It was for partying.
Once a year, according to what Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 14, all the people of God were to bring 1/10 of all their earnings to the Temple in Jerusalem. Imagine! One-tenth of Israel’s GNP! And it was not to be used for mission work. It was not to be used for charity. It was not even to be used to build an education when on to the Temple. It was to be used on a gigantic party. Here! See for yourself:

Deuteronomy 14:22-26
Make an offering of ten percent, a tithe, of all the produce which grows in your fields year after year. Bring this into the Presence of God, your God, at the place he designates for worship and there eat the tithe from your grain, wine, and oil and the firstborn from your herds and flocks. In this way you will learn to live in deep reverence before God, your God, as long as you live. But if the place God, your God, designates for worship is too far away and you can't carry your tithe that far, God, your God, will still bless you: exchange your tithe for money and take the money to the place God, your God, has chosen to be worshiped. Use the money to buy anything you want: cattle, sheep, wine, or beer—anything that looks good to you. You and your family can then feast in the Presence of God, your God, and have a good time.No wonder little David could sing, “I was glad when they said unto me; let us go unto the house of the Lord.”

What kid wouldn’t be thrilled to go to a gigantic party? Not even a spoiled brat would have said. “I don’t want to go! Church is boring!” Just look at the passage of Scripture. The celebration on Mount Zion was anything but a bore. There was lots of food and plenty of drink. There was dancing, singing, and exuberant celebration.

Everybody was invited to the party, from widows who hadn’t had a fun night out for a year, to poor kids who couldn’t have come up with the ticket money to whatever was the ancient equivalent of Disneyland. Prostitutes and tax collectors were invited. So what if their reputations were questionable? When it’s a really good party, you forget all that stuff. Everybody forgot their titles and credentials at this wonderful party. The rich danced with the poor. Management did a “bottoms-up” with labor. The sophisticated intelligentsia, sang something like “he ain’t heavy, he’s my brother” with the school dropouts. It was crazy!

If you are wondering what all this partying was about, let me tell you. The party was, and is, about the kingdom of God. It has been planned by God to be a foretaste of what he has in mind for all of us when his kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven. Life may be hard. It may be full of troubles. But in the midst of it all, God tells us to set aside a tithe- a full 10% of all that we have earned through our labors-and to throw a party which will remind us of what God has in store for us.

The Scriptures tell us to spend all this money for partying because it is in partying that we know a little something about the kind of God we have. He is not some kind of transcendental Shylock demanding his pound of flesh; he is not some kind of deistic chairperson of the universe. God is a party deity. He loves a party. If you don’t believe me, then just pay attention to what his son Jesus had to say about his father’s kingdom.

Matthew 22:1-3
“Jesus responded by telling still more stories. "God's kingdom," he said, "is like a king who threw a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out servants to call in all the invited guests. And they wouldn't come! "He sent out another round of servants, instructing them to tell the guests, 'Look, everything is on the table, the prime rib is ready for carving. Come to the feast!'"

Did you get that? Jesus says the kingdom is like a wedding reception and he wants his friends to celebrate with him as though he were a bridegroom.

I have been to Jewish weddings. They are pretty much like Italian weddings. With all us Mediterranean types, wedding receptions are the ultimate blowout. I honestly believe you don’t know what part he is all about until you’ve been to one of our wedding receptions. Parents mortgage their houses to get the money to do up the wedding in high style. They will go into debt if they have to. They will put every dollar they have on the line to make sure that there is enough music and food and drink to keep everybody partying into the night! And Jesus said his kingdom is like that!

I am quick to say that the kingdom he declared is still yet to come. The kingdom of God with all its joyful celebration is still in the future. It will not fully come until a certain trumpet sounds to herald the return of the Lord of the party, who then will preside over the festivities as the ultimate master of ceremonies. But what is to come is to be enjoyed now in part!

Whenever Kingdom seekers party, they provide a foretaste of what is to come. Whenever they celebrate with laughter and song, they demonstrate the “good news”. They send out the message that the kingdom of God is at hand-and that the Kingdom of God is like a wonderful party.
Jesus came that his joy might be in us and that our joy might be full." (The Kingdom of God Is A Party)

Neighbours ARE friends...

More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems.

My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them. Henri Nouwen

Gracias, Henri, for helping us see what Neighbourhood Life is all about.

Rooted & Linked...

Rooted & Linked from Parish Collective on Vimeo.

Parish Collective.