On April 22 twenty or so members of The Church of the Good Shepherd meandered slowly around "Redevelopment Area 5" on Good Friday, which also happened to be Earth Day this year. We were carrying a huge banner, and lugging a trash can and a recycling bin around--we filled both. I liked being out of the church walls and bearing witness to what a religious group could say to a town, what people of faith could do for our planet.
Whoa--doesn't that smack of proselytism? Of Christians imposing their religion on others? Christians have a pretty nasty history of killing people, in the name of God. But what if I don't want to impose? What if my faith leads me to do caring, compassionate, justice-seeking acts in the public square? What if, in the public square, I meet faithful Jews, Muslims, pagans, and humanists also doing caring, compassionate, justice-seeking acts? What if we actually worked together on a project to benefit public life--maybe organize a town clean up event for all? Or talk about what different congregations could do to support the arts in public schools? And, in the process, learned something of each other's faith stories?
I want to use this blog to start a conversation about how the church can be of use in the town. Or about what folks who think of themselves as Christians but aren't currently in church might find useful in their daily lives. Or about how a church could support people who want to explore faith or spirituality, but for whom our usual worship seems boring or irrelevant. The Episcopal Church encourages thoughtful conversation, honest questions, and faithful action towards justice and healing in the world. It's easy for me to get so absorbed in the day to day work of the church that I forget to turn outwards and listen. Let's talk!
