Sacred Edges: The Joy of Colorful Margins

My book, Writing in the Margins, began with a prayer.

After the death of Rich Gordon, his family entrusted me with his Bible. I quickly learned he was a margin writer.

For years I thought about the notes and prayers he had written into scripture. I began to wonder how this scriptural discipline he loved and was shaped by might be shared with others so they could learn from him as well.

When I started researching to discover more about margin writing, there were plenty of examples of medieval illuminated manuscripts. As I poured through images on the Internet, there were a few examples of notes and prayers people had written into their Bibles. But it was rare to find any color. One young teen drew rainbows and birds into the Psalms. Another mom posted a photo of her toddler’s pink crayon scribbled into the mom’s devotional Bible. A precious mark for sure.

Now when you Google “writing in the margins of your Bible” you will discover an array of words, colors, prayers, images, artwork, paint, joy. You’ll find journalers, scrapbookers and margin writers who have discovered how the Holy Spirit can meet them in a creative process in the margins of their Bibles. Something has happened!

When I wrote over five years ago, “The invitation of this book is, at its simplest, to pick up a pen and write in the blank spaces of your Bible,” I never could have imagined the growth and power this movement would have. I could never have imagined that writing in the margins of our Bibles would meet the scrapbooking world. I could never have imagined that now, in 2016, five of the top twenty bestsellers on Amazon are adult coloring books. This “scriptural” discipline of taking pen, marker, and/or paint to the margin of scripture is creating places of joy, creativity, and identity in people’s daily lives.

These practices are first and foremost solitary. An individual sits quietly and creatively in the presence of God to let the scripture speak to them and then guide their hand.  However, what we have learned is that these practices also shape community. Whether the community is a Bible study, or a small group meeting at a local scrapbooking store, the large “Journaling Bible Community” on Facebook, or a smaller regional group like “DC Metro Bible Journaling” group, individuals are gathering in deepened community to learn, share, reflect, pray, and grow.

Connie Denninger, a creative faith coach, who has studied church and community leadership, recognizes this opportunity. She enjoys networking with women across the country through social media to deploy them to be digital missionaries, creating small networks of Bible journalers. These creative havens provide a space for sharing information about the practice, discovering formation through the practice, and living into transformation by way of the scriptural practices. Connie says this practice of margin writing provides a way to be “re-arranged.” She explains further, “Bible journaling and margin writing are a place for spiritual transformation where God at work in our lives can move all sorts of pieces around all at once.” We become shaped by the word. I appreciate how Connie moves us from the individual practice to community fellowship and then takes us a step further to ministry. Folks equipped in the practice of margin writing can then serve their church, neighborhood and community ministries teaching others the practice and finding joy in so doing. At a recent Bible journaling retreat, Connie worked with a woman who had been estranged from both the church and from spiritual practices.  After being turned loose in scripture to journal and draw and create, the woman said to Connie as the retreat came to a close, “Do you feel the ice melting around my heart?”

When I started exploring Bible margins a few years ago, I prayed that the margins of Rich Gordon’s Bible might inspire and encourage others to continue the practice. I never could have imagined the transformation that would occur as margin writing, social media, scrapbooking and the adult coloring book craze ignited new practices of scriptural disciplines. My hope is that more hearts melt and discover as the ice cracks creative faith, color-filled hope and illuminated love.

 

Lisa Nichols Hickman is a pastor at New Wilmington Presbyterian Church, author of Writing in the Margins: Connecting with God on the Pages of Your Bible and adjunct teacher at Westminster College in the Religion Department. She writes regularly for Faith and Leadership online magazine as well as its “Call and Response” blog. Recent articles appear in The Huffington Post, in The New Castle News and in The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. She lives in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.

Putting a Face on Giving

Have you ever met a local television news anchor at a community event? When people have personal contact with a local media “star,” they typically make a point to tune in now that they feel a kind of connection however brief it might have been. Station management knows that personal contact can change viewing habits and therefore ratings.  Which makes you wonder how stewardship campaigns would be affected if church members connected—even briefly—with the people who directly benefited from their pledges?

Giving a face and a name to the needs of the church and community makes pledging personal; and when it gets personal, you’ve got their attention. Hearing about all the good things your church does is one thing; looking into the grateful eyes of someone with whom your pledge has made a difference, that’s another thing entirely.

 

About Face Pledge Cards

Create a template of a pledge card that includes a pledge form, room for a photo, and a brief statement. Take pictures of people in classes, in daycare, during service projects . . . everywhere you see people who benefit from a church project or service. And don’t be afraid to take close-ups; you want your photos to be of faces. Print and cut them out, then paste them onto (or into, if you’re computer-savvy) your pledge card template. Hang them on an artificial tree, a bulletin board, or even from the ceiling grid and let the pastor invite the congregation to choose a card. Personalize each card? You bet. This is all about personalization.

 

Example:

This is David. He is one of twenty-three homeless men who spent the night in our Fellowship Hall last month. The church not only provided the men with a warm/cool, safe place to stay, but we also served them a nice, filling meal.  Take this pledge card to honor David, and know that your contribution goes to support programs like Room in the Inn.

 

Template:

This is [first name]. [He/She] is a [single mother? four-year-old? recovering addict? what was the need?] who [took a parenting class? attended VBS? uses our counseling program . . .  what service was provided to help fulfill that need?]. Take this pledge card to honor [first name] and know that your contribution goes to support programs like [name of program.]

 

Face-to-Face with Pastor

At most churches people line up to shake hands and say a word or two to the pastor after the worship service. Take advantage of that with this idea: Select people who have benefitted from church programs and have them form a reception line just outside the sanctuary. Prompt them to thank people as they pass by for what the church has done to help them, but also ask a volunteer or staff member to “host” each person in case they need a little help. Have pledge cards available at the end of the line just before they see the pastor who is—again—at the end of the line.

 

Example for Those Helped:

My name is David. Nice to meet you. I sure appreciate the church letting me stay the night here during that cold snap last month. Without Room in the Inn, I don’t know what some of us would do. Thanks again.

 

Example for Host:

Hey, I want you to meet David. You know how the church supports Room in the Inn? Well, David is one of the men we were so happy to have stay with us one night last month, when it was so cold. We hope you’ll make a pledge to the church again this year to help us continue to fund these important programs.

 

Face It

This idea also centers on taking photos of those who benefit from the church’s programs, but would showcase the photos in a formal art show setting. Enlarge and/or frame as many photos as possible and display them on easels and movable screens. Post information next to each piece of art that describes the subject. Make the art show a big deal; invite the media, ask “patrons” to vote on their favorite, serve punch and light hors d’oeuvres, offer valet parking—you could even roll out a red carpet and stage a premiere event. All the hoopla serves as an interesting way to get the congregation to pay attention to the faces of those in need.

 

Important: Don’t Lose Face

Before adapting any of these ideas, you need to run them by your church’s legal counsel. While using photos of those who are involved in your programs may seem to be “implied consent,” it can get a lot more complicated than that.

“Churches would want to get approval from the person to use their information and image,” says Alisa Graner Napier, a music and media licensing professional in Nashville, Tenn. “The person would need to know what the pledge card is being used for, where, when, etc., and approve it in writing with their signature, date and, if possible, their address and phone number.”

Although not an attorney, Graner Napier has been in the industry for twenty years and says typically an organization, with their attorney’s assistance, creates a release form to use in situations like this. She suggests that before going to print, show those whose photos you plan to use what the stewardship materials will look like to avoid later confusion.

“Churches could create a mockup of the pledge card showing where the photo and information would go so the person could see how exactly it is being used. Also, for their church files, they should keep a copy of the pledge cards attached to the individuals’ releases so they don’t get mixed up.”

So, take these ideas and make them your own. Find ways to make use of social media. Make it intergenerational. Or let them inspire you to think of a new way to show your congregation that they can no longer take your pledge campaign at face value.

 

Judy Bumgarner is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tennessee.

A Christian Justice for the Common Good

In the letters of the Apostle Paul, the righteousness of God is made manifest in Jesus Christ. That is, God has put things right in Jesus Christ. God’s righteousness, God’s justice has been done in history and will be ultimately completed in Christ’s return.

In Paul, God’s righteousness involves at least three major dimensions of God’s justice.

Philippians: A Lenten Journey of Prayer

In Lent we begin a journey that leads us to the cross, where we encounter a person, Jesus Christ. In this time of renewed focus on our spiritual lives, prayer stands front and center. It is through prayer that we come to know and imitate the mind of Christ.

We are accompanied on this journey with a brief and profound resource: Paul’s letter to the Philippians. On the surface, the occasion of the letter is Paul’s gratitude for a gift they have sent in support of his mission. But just beneath the surface are clues to other important matters of life and faith.

Spiritual Rows to Hoe

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is full of references about gardening, soil, plants, and planting; as Christians, then, it’s only natural that we often use the planting metaphor to discuss new goals, initiatives, or endeavors, particularly when it involves the formation of new faith communities. As churches go through the stages of making and reaching yearly goals of any kind, however, the imagery is just as apt.

Plain Talk

Have you ever tried to talk to someone who doesn’t speak your language? Several years ago, I was on a crowded train in southern Spain. The man standing six inches from me had something pressing to say.

“Sprechen Sie Deutsch?” he asked.

I said, “No. English?”

“No,” he responded. “Parlez-vous français?”

“No,” I replied. I speak a little bit of Spanish, so I took one more shot. “¿Hablas español?”

“No,” he answered. “Italiano?”

“No.”

In a matter of seconds, we riffled through five languages, searching for a common channel to communicate, but it wasn’t on the dial. Finally, with great frustration in his eyes, he shrugged his shoulders and gave up. For the rest of the ride, we stood next to each other in silence. I still wonder what he so urgently wanted to tell me. (I was probably standing on his foot.)

Maybe you know what it’s like to have something vitally important to say, but the other person simply doesn’t speak your language. If you are a Christian in America, you know this experience all too well. The moment you introduce the topic of faith, you will likely be standing next to someone who has no vocabulary for the conversation.

In recent years, we have entered a new era in the West. Christians are now missionaries in their own backyard. Those of us who follow Christ must assume that people in our office, school, worksite, neighborhood, and even our home don’t speak the language of faith. If we want to communicate with them, the good news must be reborn in the everyday words of twenty-first-century culture.

Christians sometimes forget that when Jesus spoke, the common people heard him gladly.¹ He knew how to speak their language. Not everyone does.

It certainly didn’t come naturally to John Wesley. John grew up a pastor’s kid. Both his father Samuel and mother Susanna were bright, well-educated, and insatiable learners. From a tender age, John absorbed the vocabulary of faith. He later became an Oxford scholar deeply steeped in the Christian tradition and a priest in the Church of England. Yet his burning passion over six decades of ministry was to communicate the gospel to the masses—most of whom were illiterate. To do so, he left behind the language of the academy. “I design plain truth for plain people,” he said. “I labour to avoid all words which are not easy to be understood, all which are not used in common life.”²

Although Wesley’s ability to connect with everyday people became legendary, it was the result of a concerted effort. Tired of confused looks when he preached, one day he read one of his sermons to a maidservant and asked her to interrupt him each time she didn’t understand. Wesley was shocked by the number of times Betsy said, “Stop, sir.” All his education had created a barrier to sharing Christ with ordinary people. He resolved at that point to replace long words with short ones until people could understand his every word.³

Maybe Wesley was on to something. How do you learn the language of the people these days? Watch some TV. Listen to the number one radio station in your area. Go to the movie everyone’s talking about. Read some magazines at the grocery store checkout. Talk to a teenager. My seventeen-year-old daughter is more than happy to tell me when I am using words she doesn’t understand or phrases that have passed their expiration date. (“Dad, really?!”) If you don’t have a teenager in your house, rent one. Take two or three of them out to eat and let them tell you what life looks like through their eyes. As you listen, you may discover the best way to speak their language.

Of course, this sounds a bit simplistic, and some may wonder if it’s really that important to use the everyday words of our culture when sharing our faith. It was for Jesus. He left behind the language of heaven to learn common Aramaic and Hebrew. He wanted to meet people where they were and share the good news of God’s love in the language they dreamed in. We can do that, too. Our message is far too urgent to be lost in translation.

 

An Excerpt from the book: Meet The Goodpeople: Wesley’s 7 Ways to Share Faith

Roger Ross has served local churches from Texas to the British Channel Island of Guernsey to his home state of Illinois, where he’s been involved in starting two new churches. Ross currently serves as senior pastor of First United Methodist Church, a large and vibrant congregation in Springfield, Illinois. He has contributed to several publications and journals.

About the Book:

Meet the Goodpeople helps church leaders reach the growing number of “nones” in their communities. Roger Ross offers seven practical strategies that church leaders can immediately grasp and implement. These strategies are shown to work, equipping congregants to share their faith, leading others into a transforming relationship with Jesus and his church. Ross derives these strategies from John Wesley’s own ministry. A free downloadable guide for leadership teams and small groups is available at http://www.MeetTheGoodpeople.com.

Notes:

1. Mark 12:37 KJV.
2. John Wesley, Preface to Sermons on Several Occasions (1746), in Sermons I: 1–33, ed. Albert C. Outler, vol. 1 of The Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley (Nashville: Abingdon, 1984), 104.
3. John Bishop, “John Wesley: Plain Truth for Plain People,” Preaching, May 1, 1987, http://www.preaching.com/resources/past-masters/11566916/.

Making the Inside/Outside Connection

Who doesn’t love the close feelings of familiarity that spring up in a congregation of people who have been together for decades? Surely this sense of togetherness is the kind of community Jesus calls us to be, isn’t it? Perhaps, but the formation of community is never at the expense of our purpose as Christians: To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Over and over again, people in our churches are unfamiliar at best and disengaged at worst with the core purpose of a community of faith. This core purpose is the transmission of the gospel to those who have not heard, believed, and accepted this new way of life. Granted, some of those who ‘haven’t heard’ have been sitting in the pews for years; the mission field can exist inside our walls as well as outside our walls. Yet when the church’s focus is mainly inside our walls, we miss out on a crucial connection: The community in which we are located.

It really doesn’t matter if the church’s neighborhood has changed; this has always happened, and will continue to be the case. It doesn’t matter if the church is located downtown, in a highly urbanized area; as long as there are people around our church, we can only thrive by connecting our lives with the lives of the people in our midst.

The irony is that the more connected we get within our church family, the harder it can be for new people to enter in. Our formality, our insider practices in worship—making visitors introduce themselves, people sitting in the same pews each Sunday, poor signage and/or parking, singing songs known by those raised in the church, but unfamiliar to outsiders, no name tags, etc.—all make it difficult for people not raised in the church to make entry.

Additionally, many of us post signs like “no skateboarding or bicycle riding” or “no trespassing.” We bar our doors and windows, sometimes even putting ourselves behind a fenced wall. Sadly, many people in our own neighborhoods may not even know we are there. (Test it out: Take a survey of businesses and households within a three-mile radius of your building and see how many of them can tell you where the church is located.) All of this creates barriers with the people we are called to serve.

Here’s the good news: The more our church connects with the community outside its walls, the less we have to worry about any kind of vandalism or outside threats. The community itself begins to take an interest in us, and our ministry, when we truly make ourselves available. Here are some simple ideas to get started:

• Know the demographics of persons within a five-mile radius of your church. Learn their spiritual backgrounds, and what they are hungry for.
• Know your public schools and get involved with them: Reading programs, after-school enrichments, summer lunches, baby-sitting during back-to-school nights, etc.
• Host monthly birthday parties for the children within a three-mile radius of your church. Advertise the party to the schools and neighborhood. Have games, piñatas, simple prizes, even small gifts for the birthday child if you can afford it. If not, cake and ice cream is fine!
• Gift baskets of homemade goodies to police, emergency rooms and/or fire fighters in your community on every holiday with a great card or letter of appreciation. Keep it up for a year and then see if it’s made a difference.
• House painting for the poor homeowners in your community. If your congregation can’t do it alone, involve other churches in your area.
• Establish community clean-up days, with your church leading the way.
• Coordinate neighborhood walks/watch with church folks in local church t-shirts.
• Clearly visible outdoor festivals and celebrations for the whole community: Easter egg hunt on Easter morning (maybe they’ll stay for church!); outdoor picnics, Trunk or Treat, water games, outdoor movies, impromptu Christmas pageant for children, Valentine’s Day party, etc.
• Non-invasive, door-to-door surveys to identify community concerns and needs.
• Church booth in established community events with inviting, inclusive banners publicly displayed on booth or property.

If you need help making any of this happen, contact us at churchfortomorrow.com!

Dr. John Flowers loves ministry with the poor, watching “dry bones breathe,” teaching, mentoring, and coaching congregations. He was the 2005 graduate of the year award winner for St. Paul seminary who recognized his work in social justice.

Rev. Karen Vannoy is a United Methodist pastor who has served as a District Superintendent in the Desert Southwest Annual Conference, as well as a local pastor for thirty-five years.

Their book, Adapt to Thrive, is available on Cokesbury.com in print and e-book formats.

Names Written in Heaven

A young man once recounted to me how, at age thirteen, he told his family that he was gay. His mother got up from the dinner table and, stabbing him with her fork, shouted, “This is a Christian home!” The sharp tines left a row of scars on his arm, and another on his side. His experience was one of many we would hear about; most of these young people are rejected by their families, and often for religious reasons. This is why, nine years ago, my church considered a new ministry: A shelter for homeless LGBTQ youth. We recognized the huge need for one here in New York City. I also knew that for most of the congregation I serve, the idea of the shelter would not be a controversial issue; the main concerns would be financial viability and our relatively small space, which was already crowded.

The transgender youth have a particularly difficult time finding acceptance, and it’s also harder to find work; in many states, it continues to be legal to discriminate against transgender people in the workforce. And even though our church and shelter are located in an area that many would consider a bastion of liberalism, the youth are targets of daily demeaning remarks.

Jay, for example, went for a walk in a nearby park after a heavy storm. The ground was strewn with broken branches. He became aware that a group of youth was closing in around him, and felt trapped as they mocked him: “What is it? Is it a guy or a girl?” Then, they threw branches and splintered wood chunks at him. Jay kept walking, and got away.

Nineteen-year-old Nicole’s attackers did not give up so readily; she required reconstructive facial surgery after a beating that left her permanently brain damaged. A young transgender woman who grew up in a Mormon community in Utah came back to the shelter one night and began to play our piano. When I complimented her on the music, she paused, looked at me and said, “This is the only place I feel human.” It was a terrible indictment and indicator of all that is left for us to do . . . and also an affirmation of what we are doing.

So as I’ve already mentioned, I knew that for most, the main concerns regarding the shelter would be financial viability and our already-cramped space: How might we rearrange things to make room for those that many churches have their backs turned on? Most were willing to try. So while financial sustainability persists as a struggle, we managed to turn our small initial “we” into a much larger community of supporters. I was less sure about some of our newer immigrant members, for whom the idea was more controversial. The turning point came when they connected their own experiences of rejection and longing for welcome with those of the youth.

Lupe, for example, is from Mexico. She lives near the church with her husband and two daughters and they attend our worship service in Spanish. Lupe is also on our church council, which holds bilingual meetings. When her father died, Lupe’s grief was intensified because she could not return to Mexico for the funeral. She asked if we could have a memorial service, even though, as she said sadly, “no one but us will attend. No one here knew him.” To her surprise, the pews began to fill. The service was entirely in Spanish yet many of the people there were church members who spoke only English. Their presence was poignantly eloquent.

When dissent emerged after Spanish worship one Sunday as we discussed opening the shelter, Lupe spoke up: “We know what it’s like to be unwanted, yet we have been welcomed here, so we should welcome these young people.” It was like she was quoting Saint Paul to the Romans: Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you. (Rom. 15:7)

And they did. The first night of the shelter, as the youth arrived, they were greeted with a feast prepared by the Mexican women.

Now all churches do not have a respected leader of the church like Lupe, someone who is willing to speak up on what can sometimes be a difficult and divisive conversation. But here is something that all churches do have: LGBTQ youth. It may not be obvious, because they may be fearful of the reaction they will receive, but it is a rare church that does not have such youth in the congregation, or in the extended families of congregational members.

We all know the suffering and tragedies brought on by bullying. We all want our youth to feel that they can come to us for help and support. We all want our youth to know that God is with them in times of trial. These shared values can form a helpful meeting place from which to launch a conversation of how a church can signal its care and concern. It might happen in regular prayers that a young person in church hears. It might happen in a sermon example and discussion. It might be that people agree to disagree on how they think about this for now, but they can agree that every one of God’s children deserves to be treated with love and care. Then they can ask how their church communicates that love and care to such young people (and adults). Sometimes, we can act our way into a new mindset rather than require the new mindset in order to take action.

It’s worth mentioning that many of the youth in our shelter have come to readjust their thinking as well, to trust that some churches can be safe harbors in a sea of hate. Just having the shelter within a church has been a witness that matters. And sometimes it has reached farther. Recently, we celebrated the baptism and reaffirmation of baptism for two transgender young women. Danielle had never been baptized and while Victoria had, it was with a name and gender she no longer claims as hers. I said the usual words while anointing each one’s forehead with oil: Victoria, child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever. But this time I added: As Jesus said to the disciples, I now say to you, “Rejoice that your name is written in heaven.” Soon afterwards, Victoria moved out after finding work and housing. She now sits on our shelter board and helps lead our monthly Dinner Church worship where we sing: “God welcomes all/strangers and friends/God’s love is strong/and it never ends!”

Heidi B. Neumark is an author, speaker, and Lutheran pastor in New York City, with a heart for marginalized groups. She is the author of the highly acclaimed book, Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx, which won the 2004 Wilbur Award given by the Religion Communicators Council. Her most recent release, Hidden Inheritance: Family Secrets, Memory, and Faith, explores ‘outsider’ themes as she reveals a family secret that leads to profound revelations of faith.

How does your church reach the LGBTQ community? In addition to Heidi’s books, Cokesbury Commons recommends the following resources to get the conversation started:

Science, Scripture, and Same-sex Love

Finding Our Way

For the Sake of the Bride, Second Edition

The Bible and Homosexual Practice

Community Among Our Houses

Engagement between Jews and Christians has never been better; interfaith councils exists in many communities. Conversations take place regularly at the organizational level. And theological and liturgical developments within Catholicism (and amongst many Protestant thinkers) have reshaped the perception of Jews and Judaism.

In spite of all this success, however, we have only scratched the surface in realizing the power of interfaith dialogue. Our focus has been on concerns and beliefs we share—the need to feed the hungry, work for peace, fight hate, build stronger communities. These are critical concerns.

We have not, however, delved deeply into the places where we differ. We have avoided the hard topics: Why do many Jews resist hearing the name of Jesus? Why do many Christians believe the God of the Old Testament is a vengeful God? Why do Jews care so much about the modern state of Israel? Why do many Christians proselytize non-Christians? These are topics that go the core of our identity. They can be difficult to discuss. Yet, true growth comes from engaging with the hard stuff. True dialogue asks not only respect. It also asks for the willingness to be challenged and changed—not changed in what we believe, but changed in how we understand and appreciate the deep beliefs that drive and sustain one another.

So how to we generate those conversations and build a deeper trust? Here are a few ways.

1. Start with difficult texts. I rarely study the Ten Commandments with my congregation. We all know they are good and critical. What is more challenging to study are the difficult parts of the Bible: Why does God command Abraham to sacrifice his first-born son? Why does tempt Adam and Eve with the Tree of Knowledge in the first place? These texts push us to think hard. We can do the same in interfaith settings. We can choose texts that make a little uncomfortable. A Jewish participant in the discussion might introduce the text from the Passover meal that asks God to destroy our enemies. A Christian participant might introduce the text from Matthew which reads, “His [Jesus’] blood be upon us and our children.” These texts may make us uncomfortable, yet true growth occurs outside the comfort zone, and in studying them we will discover how complex and rich they are. We will learn creative ways of understanding and interpreting them in the twenty-first century multi-faith world.

2. Experience each other’s worship. Some clergy will not enter into the house of worship of another faith. They believe it lends some kind of legitimacy to that faith’s truth, or betrays one’s own core beliefs. Such obstinance is sad and counter-productive. We appreciate the faith of another best when we see how important it is to them. What better way to see that importance than visiting their spiritual home? I have had transformative conversations with visiting Church groups after opening up a Torah scroll, showing and describing it to them, and then sitting down in the sanctuary to talk. I have also witnessed the depth of Passion story in attending Good Friday worship. Experiencing another’s worship opens us up to their truths.

3. Reveal what you love about your faith. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, shares a remarkable teaching credited to a nineteenth century Hasidic rabbi.

“Imagine two people, “ he writes,  “who spend their lives transporting stones. One carries bags of diamonds. The other hauls sacks of rocks. Each is now asked to take a consignment of rubies. Which of the two understands what he is now to carry? The man who is used to diamonds knows that stones can be precious, even those that are not diamonds. But the man who has carried only rocks thinks the stones are a mere burden. They have weight but not worth. Rubies are beyond his comprehension.

So it is, he said, with faith. If we cherish our own, then we will understand the value of others. We may regard ours as a diamond and another faith as a ruby, but we know that both are precious stones. . . . True tolerance, he implied, comes not from the absence of faith but from its living presence. Understanding the particularity of what matters to us is the best way of coming to appreciate what matters to others.”

To that we can only say Amen.

Evan Moffic is lead rabbi of Congregation Solel, a synagogue of five hundred families. Having officiated more than two hundred interfaith weddings, he has brought new understanding of the Jewish heritage to churches and Christian groups, including the largest Catholic and Presbyterian churches Chicago, where he lives with his wife and children.

The Grace of Making Connections

Picture these three scenes:

Scene 1: A moving van sits next door. You step outside to greet your new neighbor. “Welcome to the neighborhood, you say. We’re glad you’re here.” Her face clouds with a look of discomfort, almost panic. You realize: We don’t speak the same language.

Scene 2: The Missions Committee of your church recommends offering a Spanish class. It’s only six weeks. You sign up, with trepidation. You are introduced to about a hundred words, and to your surprise, you have fun.

Scene 3: You haven’t seen your new neighbor for several weeks. She doesn’t seem to go out much. You bake a loaf of bread and knock on her door. You can only remember about thirteen of your new Spanish words, but you take a deep breath and say, “Bienvenido.” She smiles. Encouraged, you sing a few bars: “Cristo me ama. . . .” She beams. The two of you embrace.

This is why Joyce Carrasco, Ngoc-Diep Nguyen, and I wrote Who Is My Neighbor? Bishop Sally Dyck, of the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church, challenged a group of clergy and laypersons in January 2013 to live the Great Commandment by designing and implementing a Spanish as a Second Language program for one hundred churches.

The curriculum teaches about a hundred words of Spanish to speakers of other languages. The focus is on words and phrases that will help you practice radical hospitality: Greeting people, talking about family, likes and dislikes, songs, the Lord’s Prayer, the Great Commandment, cultural tidbits. The series ends with a potluck and celebration of Holy Communion in Spanish.

The Teacher Manual provides detailed lesson plans for active, engaging teaching, plus documents to guide a congregation in hosting a class. The Student Manual supplies vocabulary lists, a pronunciation guide, and the order of worship for Holy Communion in Spanish.

Yet how will this make a difference? Let’s listen to four voices. Rev. Fabiola Grandón-Mayer (Centennial Multicultural UMC, Rockford, Ill.) talks about feeling invisible. As an immigrant herself, she understands that it is hard to live in a different culture, hard to take the first step to connect with others. “Fear is a powerful deterrent,” she says. “English speakers may assume that I don’t speak English, they may blame me for not speaking perfectly, they may even assume that I don’t have my papers.” Who is going to break down that wall of perceived blame?

But she also reminds us that a Spanish speaker with minimal English and an English speaker with minimal Spanish can communicate. As her two-year-old twins prove, a few words can go a long way. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts: the grace of making connections goes far beyond the literal meaning of a handful of words.

So—where to begin? As Rev. Michael Mann, Director of Mission and Advocacy for the Northern Illinois Conference, puts it, “Our main ministry is not to get people to come in our doors. The doors aren’t ours. Our responsibility is to go out of the doors.” So, armed with our hundred (or thirteen) words of Spanish, we walk out.

Where to? Manuel Padilla works with the National Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry. In an article entitled “Key Actions for Ministry and Strategic Planning in Any Community”, he writes: “ . . . [Y]our congregation’s first priority is to discern where God is already at work in your area . . . through a study of places where people gather.”

Grandón-Mayer says a Hispanic/Latino supermarket is the best place of all. Grab a basket, shop for groceries, ask questions of the people you meet in the aisles. How do you cook this? Which are the best tortillas? What kind of salsa goes with this? Or just: “Hi. This is good, yes?” (Hola. Es bueno, ¿no?) Smile!

As Deacon Luke Pepper (Kingswood UMC, Buffalo Grove, Ill.) points out, “Don’t just put on programs and hope people will come. Find people where they are, minister together with them. Show your appreciation for the gifts that they have.”

This is outreach. We are called to minister with, not to, our neighbors.

The other day, my husband and I encountered a group of Latino construction workers in the park. I greeted them in Spanish—and their faces lit up. We chatted for ten minutes, in mixed Spanish and English. As we walked on, one of the men said, “This is nice. You and me, talking.” Big smiles all around: Clearly, he no longer felt invisible, and for once I felt like a faithful servant of Jesus Christ.

Your turn.

Ruth Cassel Hoffman, Ph.D. founded Language Resources Ltd. in 1983, providing corporate foreign language training, translation, and interpretation. She has developed active curricula in French and Spanish for students from preschoolers to adults. Who Is My Neighbor?—Dr. Hoffman’s field-tested resource through which English speakers of any church and congregation can learn basic Spanish-speaking skills—was written along with Joyce Carrasco and Ngoc-Diep Nguyen, and is available for purchase on Cokesbury.com.