Your Church Can Faithfully Battle Xenophobia

This presidential campaign season—as in no other of recent memory—Xenophobic, exclusionary, fear of the Other has been used by politicians in an attempt to garner votes. Xenophobia is more than a matter of preference for people whom we enjoy hanging out with, or those with whom we feel most comfortable. In Xenophobia we separate ourselves from others to better oppress, exploit, expulse, confine, hurt, or deny justice and access to others whom we have judged to be so Other as to be beyond the bounds of having any bond between us or any claim upon us.

In recent debates over whether or not to admit Syrian refugees, questions have been raised like, If we let them in, what’s the cost? Will our nation be less secure? Will property values in my neighborhood be diminished? Will these newcomers help or hinder the economy?

Welcome Your New Pastor, Bed & Breakfast Style

 

If you’ve experienced what it’s like to stay in a really nice Bed & Breakfast (B&B), you know that the best proprietors are hospitality experts. You’re a complete stranger and yet, within minutes of checking in, you immediately feel at home. Their attention to detail and the way they create a welcoming, hospitable environment . . . there’s much we can glean, especially when it comes to receiving a new pastor and his or her family.

I’m Not a Mother

It’s Mother’s Day, and the preacher asks for every mother to stand up and be recognized for all they’ve meant to their family. As the congregation begins to applaud, someone leans over and whispers excitedly into your ear, “Why aren’t you standing up? C’mon! It’s Mother’s Day!” Your greatest dream is to be a mother and your dream has not come true. The tears you’ve blinked away all morning are now streaming down your face. “I’m not a mother,” you weep.

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.

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.

First Steps: Accessibility Tips for Small Congregations

It was one of those special-occasion Sundays, when almost everyone turns out to take a place in a church pew. The altar sparkled with the communion set, and the banners hanging over the choir added their messages to the sanctuary in bright fabrics and vivid colors. One member of the choir, however, could not see the banners: Marcie, whose guide dog rested calmly under her chair, was focused on the Braille hymn sheets in her lap. Her voice rang out over the congregation, heard clearly by her husband, who was also blind. It was heard less clearly by the six people using the amplifying sets offered by the church, and her words weren’t quite understood by the young man in the front row, whose severe learning disabilities limited his comprehension—but never his love.

Of course, the three people in wheelchairs and the young man on crutches had no trouble understanding the musical message of God’s mercy, and I found myself wishing my daughter Rachel, who was in the nursery, could hear the beautiful music. As I looked out over the sanctuary, I wondered if we were unusual. Our normal attendance is well under two hundred people, yet on this bright Sunday, fourteen of us had some type of disability, from mild to severe. All seemed to be quite content with this church home.

Surprisingly, the church had made few physical changes to accommodate members who had a disability. We had added a covered ramp at the back door, removed the end of two pews to accommodate wheelchairs, and installed a lift on a set of steps leading from the Sunday school annex to the sanctuary. And we had bought Marcie a Braille hymnal. Small changes for small costs—yet the rewards had been huge. We had discovered something many smaller churches haven’t yet stumbled onto: It takes only a few steps to open up your church—and your church building—to a whole new group of God’s children.

The First Step

Since churches are not required to be ADA compliant, making a facility accessible for those with disabilities is a ministry; for many churches, the first step toward becoming more accessible involves spiritual changes, not physical. It is pure human nature to be wary of those different from us, and although Christians live a gospel of love and openness to all comers, welcoming and embracing believers who are disabled is not always easy. Such a change has to begin at the top, with a pastor or lay leader offering lessons on the disabilities, providing facts and dispelling myths. Sunday school teachers should be encouraged to talk to their classes about various disabilities, providing a forum for questions and tips for making all types of people feel welcome.

One of the prevailing myths among many Christians is that people with disabilities—especially those disabilities that involve mental or emotional levels of functioning—cannot understand the gospel message or are unable to participate fully in church activities. The truth is that not only do those with such disabilities still have a full range of emotions, including the need to receive love, but that God has a plan for all of us, whatever our capabilities, within the life of His church (see Jeremiah 29:11-14). And while it may be difficult to discern what effect the church and its ministry may have on the lives of people with some disabilities, the same can be said for most people with whom we share the love of Christ or invite into our church home. Only God truly knows what seeds have been planted in a heart.

My daughter, for instance, has a limited ability to express herself. Her disabilities prevent her from speaking, and most people look at her and assume that she has the mental and emotional capacity of a three-month-old, which is the level of her physical functioning. But Rachel is extremely social. She loves people, especially other children, and endless summer days at home, for instance, bore her to distraction. She likes a broad range of music, and she gets very excited about going places, especially school and church, letting me know that these activities are obviously meeting a need for her.

Since her health problems prevent her from going out a great deal, our church is her only social interaction outside of her school, and she adores some of the people there. She responds to their voices and touches with smiles broad enough to light up your heart. A number of studies have shown that activity and social interaction help children with special needs live longer, more content lives; so how could I deny these things to her? Equally, how could I deny the benefit they are to me? Why would a church resist making change that would welcome such people into their fold.

No one should assume anything about another person’s faith or desires for involvement in the church; we should ask. We should ask God for His guidance, and we should ask the person with the disability the two simplest questions of all: How can we help you? Would you like to help us?

All believers should be encouraged to ask such questions. Young children are especially curious about disabilities and beautifully honest in their reactions. Encourage them to question, and answer them on their level. When a three-year-old girl asked me why Rachel didn’t get up and play, I simply said, “Her legs don’t work.” She took this in for a moment, then said, “Would she like it if I played next to her?” For her, Rachel was just another kid, whose legs didn’t work, so play must be taken to her. Rachel’s presence in the church’s nursery has now populated our congregation with young people who have been up close and personal with someone with a disability.

Once an awareness and comfort level is present in the congregation, increasing physical accessibility is merely a matter of assessing and prioritizing goals. Think of it as the same three-step process toward ministry, which would work with any other outreach in the church:

• Identifying the problems;
• Providing solutions;
• Making the changes known to the community.

Take a Quick Look Around

Take a look around and ask one overall question: What barriers exist in the church that prevent members with disabilities from participating fully in worship and the life of the church? Many people think accessibility only pertains to wheelchairs. Other disabilities, however, cover wide ranges of impairment, and barriers often exist where least expected. A dimly lit sanctuary, for instance, may be great for creating a worshipful atmosphere, but it may make lip-reading impossible for someone who’s hearing impaired. A large-print bulletin would help sight-impaired—or just those of us getting older—following the service easier. Clearing snow off an entrance ramp may be inconvenient, but even a few inches of snow can turn a ramp into an impassable mountain for someone in a wheelchair. A thorough assessment of the property should be taken and a list made of needed alterations. In addition, there are several ways that the worship service could be more inviting, which would involve no physical alterations at all.

Checklists are available from any number of organizations as well as online (see sidebar), and they may be available from your local ARC or government office. After an assessment is completed, the list can be prioritized according to the work and costs involved in each. Although the ADA recommends a priority on building entrances, followed by an improvement to primary interior spaces, bathrooms, then secondary spaces, a congregation may prefer to tackle some of the simplest changes first, just to get started. After all, the goal in improving accessibility is not perfection! It’s moving quickly to involve more people more fully in the life of the church.

A Few Simple Steps

Start with worship, which is, without a doubt, the heart of any congregation. Then take a look at the sanctuary and services. Are there greeters who can help with doors, provide information, and reserve seats for those who have difficulty walking? Providing large-print worship materials and making sure the pastor and other speakers are adequately lit for those who may read lips takes only a bit of time. Lapdesks can help anyone who may have difficulty holding a heavy Bible or hymnal. If overhead projections are used, make sure that the print and colors are easy to read. Some people, for instance, have a great deal of difficulty seeing words printed in all capital letters or in red. Make sure that print copies are available as well. Other worship materials, such as hymnals and Bibles, are available in large print or Braille at a relatively low cost.

Most disabilities do not prevent people from participating in the services, and if the podiums or altars are raised or otherwise inaccessible, lavalier, remote, or boom microphones can enable members to become readers or offer testimonies or prayers, until more extensive physical changes can be made. Our congregation, for instance, provides a handheld microphone for those who help with worship, but can’t manage the steps to the podium.

In other areas of the church, changes can be as simple as making sure that directional signs within the church are clearly visible and in colors that are easy to see. They should also include symbols for those who may have trouble with words. Hallways and bathrooms should be cleared of items that could be dangerous to someone who is visually impaired or limit the maneuvering of wheelchairs. Slick, round doorknobs can be replaced with handles at a relatively low cost. Chairs can be removed from classrooms to allow for wheelchair movement and placement, while large-print copies of Sunday school lessons can be made readily available, often directly from the publisher.

Future Steps Forward

As the congregation contemplates making more extensive physical changes, such as removing the end of pews, expanding bathrooms, adding ramps and lifts, etc., hiring a licensed contractor (or obtaining bids from several) is advisable for a number of reasons, including ensuring the safety of the changes and maintaining the aesthetic integrity of the church building itself. This is especially true if the building is historic, or has historic features that need to be maintained, which may call for a special kind of creativity.

Creativity is the key to making almost all of the changes, and some of the best ideas for innovative ways of opening up a church can come from the very people who will be using them. If the church does not currently have members with disabilities, invite them. Talk to the people in the community and ask them to participate in the assessment survey. The value in this is twofold: it will bring in new ideas to the church, and it will get the word out to the community that the church is dedicated to reaching anyone who has a heart and a desire for God. For we, as believers, have a commission from God to reach out to everyone, to all of His children, no matter what limits we may see. He, after all, sees their hearts.

 

Author, speaker, and life enthusiast Ramona Richards is the Senior Acquisitions Editor for Abingdon Press and mother to Rachel, her personal heroine.

 

Cokesbury offers resources for caretakers and churches, to help them address various special needs; you’ll find them here. And the following online resources may also be helpful:

Assessment checklist

Accessibility audits and other resources

“20 Practical Things Pastors and Churches Can Do To Make Families and Children with Disabilities Feel Welcome”

“Accessibility Is Another Word for Hospitality”

Low or no-costs suggestions for making the church more accessibility, from providing a large type bulletin to ensuring fire alarms also flash lights

Guide for ushers and greetings on welcoming special needs families to the congregation.

The National Organization on Disability (N.O.D) Religion and Disability Program. 202.293.5960; 202.293.5968 TDD; 800.248.ABLE.

The Building Owners and Managers Association International and their Guide to the 2010 ADA Standards

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

The Gift of Struggle

Over the course of twenty years of ordained ministry, I have seen a number of churches devote enormous amounts of time, energy, and money on campaigns to convince the public that their church “welcomes” anyone, no matter who they are or where they are on life’s journey. When they discover surprisingly little response, church leadership often concludes that if they would have just tried harder, or made their welcoming message clearer, then surely their pews would have been filled with newcomers. Yet very few churches seem to be aware of the biggest reason why the “unchurched” shy away from churches.

The problem is not that people feel unwanted, though lack of welcome may ensure that a visitor never returns. The main reason many won’t darken the door of churches is mistrust.

What causes the mistrust is a conscious or (more often) unconscious propagation of a pious, but damaging fiction. The fiction takes a wide variety of forms, but when you strip the religious language away, it boils down to this false message: “It is possible to arrive at a set of beliefs and/or practices that will ensure that your struggles will be over. Life will never hurt you; the rug will never again be pulled out from under your feet; the bottom will never drop out; and you will never again experience the pain of failure, uncertainty, ‘lostness,’ or temptation.

Have you heard of the expression, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”? A great number of the folks who make their way to my church in Omaha, Nebraska, have been fooled by this false message in the past. They are bound and determined never to let it happen again. So they have their guard up when they step inside. If they hear the same old promises being made—even a more “progressive” version of them—that’s the last time we will ever see them.

The message people are yearning to hear is not that their struggles will magically disappear if they just have a little more faith. They seek a faith that provides a context in which their struggles become meaningful, and thus hopeful.

Years ago, during a particularly low point in my life in which I wondered if I had accomplished anything of value or significance in my ministry, I took out a pad of paper and listed any accomplishment I could think of that I was remotely proud of. I did, in fact, come up with a few things. Yet, looking over my list, I was struck by the realization that nearly everything on it was directly or indirectly the result of some failure, loss, or disappointment that forced me to look at my situation differently and produced a creative result. What I experienced as “loss,” in hindsight, proved to be the loss of an old way of life that was in the process of giving way to something new. Many times when my expectations had been disappointed and I felt like God was furthest from me, God had actually drawn closest but had approached from a direction I wasn’t expecting. What I experienced as “emptiness” often was an emptying of old patterns of behavior or thought that prepared me to see that the direction I was heading was no longer working. A new direction was revealed that would yield more promising results. My frequent experiences of uncertainty were what developed a deeper sense of trust that emboldened me to follow a call into uncharted territory.

This realization led to rediscover the essential truth reflected in the scriptures: That all of the Bible’s great heroes—from Abraham and Sarah, to Moses, Esther, and Jeremiah, to Peter, Paul, and even Jesus—struggled profoundly in this life. They did not become heroes by moving from uncertainty to clarity. They moved, rather, from uncertainty to trust, which requires the ongoing presence of uncertainty. While they experienced small and large victories over the course of their lives, they moved not from failure to success, but from failure to faithfulness, which requires the ongoing possibility of failure.

Seeing the scriptures through this lens caused me to refocus my preaching on the struggles of our biblical heroes as well as my personal struggles and the meaning to be found in them. Much to my surprise and delight, my congregation responded strongly to this new focus. They saw that they were not alone in their struggles, and that God is present in the heart of them.

After years of preaching and teaching the biblical stories through this lens, and reflecting on my personal experiences of time spent in the “dark wood” and the experiences of others, I wrote my book, Gifts of the Dark Wood: Seven Blessings for Soulful Skeptics (and Other Wanderers). My hope is that this little book will help others find meaning in their own “dark wood” wandering—and help churches proclaim a more trustworthy—and ultimately hopeful message.

Eric Elnes is a pastor, speaker, and media host. In addition to serving as senior pastor of Countryside Community Church (UCC, Omaha, Nebraska), his interactive weekly webcast “Darkwood Brew” has gathered people from around the world for an engaging exploration of Convergence Christianity. His book Asphalt Jesus: Finding a New Christian Faith on the Highways of America was the result of his 2,500-mile walk from Phoenix to Washington, DC, that promoted awareness of progressive/emerging Christian faith and inspired a feature-length film with the same title.