Sharing in the Work with God

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At the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, we are entering a new era of civic engagement based on our evolving response to Jesus’ command that we love our neighbors as ourselves. We know that the love Jesus commands is not primarily about warm, fuzzy feelings. The love of God in Jesus Christ is a practical, effectual love that makes a difference in people’s lives and transforms the communities in which we live. Our catechism tells us that the mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ, and that the way we pursue our mission is by prayer, worship, proclamation of the Gospel, and by promoting justice, peace and love.

The mission of the Church, then, is not simply to make people feel better: The mission of the Church is to partner with God in the spiritual work of transformation and justice. This kind of work is both personal and corporate, as we seek both to heal the individual wounds and repair the systemic breaches our human culture creates. In recent weeks, we’ve added the Book of Common Prayer’s Prayer for the Human Family to our Sunday worship. In this prayer, we ask that God break down the barriers that separate us and unite us in bonds of love. And, as the Church, we understand fundamentally that, once we’ve folded our hands and bowed our heads and prayed for that kind of transformation, it is our vocation to stand up, say Amen, and roll up our sleeves as the Body of Christ, sharing with God in the labor of reconciliation.

Church of the Redeemer has always taken Jesus’ command to love our neighbor seriously. Historically, and throughout times of great societal division, we have made a priority of building and sustaining meaningful relationships across ideological and party lines. These relationships are founded in our Baptismal promise to respect the dignity of every human being. They have been one of Redeemer’s great strengths. In recent years, we have sought to build justice work into the very bones of the church, creating an endowment to fund our Mission Ministries. We have focused our giving and our Mission Ministries on housing and housing-related issues, and we have bought property in our neighborhood to ensure that both Interfaith Hospitality Network and Madisonville Education & Assistance Center have lasting, affordable office space. This mission focus is founded in our Baptismal promise to seek and serve Christ in all people – a promise that requires us to pay attention to the spiritual and practical needs of our neighbors.

When I say we are entering a new era of civic engagement at Church of the Redeemer, I’m not saying we are starting from scratch. I’m also not saying we are finally getting engaged, as if we haven’t been involved in the past, as if we’re not already involved. But time brings change. The Holy Spirit keeps moving, and the Church – which is the living Body of Christ in the world – keeps breathing, keeps living, keeps growing, and keeps reevaluating its relationship with our neighborhood.

I have spoken and written at length these last few months about our Gospel need to be actively involved in the work for racial justice, healing, and reconciliation. This comes over a year after our leadership had begun to incorporate the Becoming Beloved Community initiative into the life of our community. We see the writing on the wall. We hear the voice of Jesus Christ. We are a predominantly White congregation with a stated desire to make an impact on our city. We are on a mission to promote justice, peace, and love for the purpose of healing and restoration. We work for and with and alongside the God of real and true Love, Mercy, and Justice. This means that work for racial healing must be an intentional part of what we do next.

Some of how we live into this has already been decided. Our Mission Leaders, led by the Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane, the Rev. Gary Lubin, Mike Firesheets, and Chuck Hardy seek to narrow the focus of our Mission Ministries to housing work in Madisonville. As I’ve written before, Madisonville is part of the Church of the Redeemer neighborhood, and it's in the midst of gentrification. This process will negatively impact those on the margins, a disproportionate number of whom are African American. We seek to honor our existing emphasis on housing, join with some of our current Mission partners, and support the leaders of Madisonville in their effort to find equitable housing solutions within the neighborhood.

As our country continues to reel from the effects of this pandemic, and our clearly mismanaged response, it is likely that we will see unemployment and homelessness rise in the coming months, and the data suggests that our siblings in the African-American community will be among the hardest hit. Where will the Church of the Redeemer be? It is our intent to be in that breach with those who are impacted, making a practical difference. I hope you will stay tuned as we develop our plans in this area, I hope you will hold us accountable, and I hope you will join in.

As a church, we are understanding more and more that racial justice requires our involvement in systemic change. Most of our civic engagement has, to this point, been seeking to meet individual needs and alleviate individual suffering – important, life-giving ministry to be sure. At the same time, it is increasingly clear that Redeemer also has a responsibility to mobilize parishioners in support of governance that respects the dignity of every human being, and policies that promote justice, peace, and love.

With this in mind, we are in the process of developing a relationship with the local chapter of a national voters’ rights organization. Our plan is for Redeemer to join in the work of voter registration and mobilization – because part of loving your neighbor is making sure they have a voice and seeking their full enfranchisement in the governing of their community. I will also begin conversations with the large number of Redeemerites who have already been on the front lines of public advocacy and demonstrations for justice and equity. Their passion, energy, and commitment to love in action merits the support and encouragement of their faith community.

This is, by and large, new territory for our church, but I believe it is the logical next step in our increasing development and maturation as the Body of Christ in our neighborhood. There is much left for us to decide, for us to pursue and to understand. We do so with the understanding that the question is not, “What would Jesus do?” but “Where do we see Jesus working right now?” We know the answer is that Jesus is in the neighborhood bringing justice, peace, and love. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we aim to follow him.