Start with prayer

It's my habit to start every meeting with prayer. It might seem like a small thing, but it's not. Prayer connects us with intent to a God who is always present to us but to whom we are not always present. Prayer reminds us that everything we do or discuss happens within the context of God's love for the world. Prayer opens us up to a wisdom that is beyond our own cognitive powers even at their best.

For the same reason, I begin each day not just with prayer but with reading the Bible (it's when I do my Bible challenge reading). Again, it's about intentionality and perspective and wisdom. It's about being open to transformation -- and I find that happens not when I try to figure everything out myself but when I'm open to the deep wisdom of God in prayer and scripture.

As the weather has gotten warmer, things are starting to heat up downtown. Change is happening, and with change comes conflict. Some of the conflicts are age-old ... particularly the ones surrounding how we live together as a community that includes the urban poor and homeless -- and some are new. But just about all of them defy easy answers. Just about all of them involve differing -- and sometimes contradictory versions of reality. Many of them seemingly require the wisdom of Solomon to sort out!

Frankly, many of the issues we are leave me at a loss. And so I am doing the only thing I know how to do. I am praying and I am reading scripture. But I am not doing it alone.

Starting last week, I've invited a group of downtown pastors to meet together for just a half-hour a week (5-5:30 pm at Gelateria Tavolini on 14th and Washington). Our only agenda for that half-hour is to read the Bible and to pray for one another and for the city. That's it. No problem-solving. No negotiating. No bitching and moaning. Just exploring scripture and prayer.

It's started small. Last week it was me, Jon and Amanda Andrus (who own GT and are involved in pastoring the Pursuit Christian Community) and a Southern Baptist church planter who happened to walk in while we were meeting. Schedules being what they are, I'm sure we'll have people who are more regular than others ... but everyone I have invited has said they hope they can come.

I don't know what the solutions are to the challenges we face downtown -- challenges of economic development, poverty, homelessness, health, safety and others. But I do know that if those of us who are committed to making this a city that makes glad God's heart start with prayer and build that as our foundation ... then we have a better chance of wisdom deeper than our own being revealed to us.

What do you think?

New Life Evangelistic Center and Downtown ... Breaking the Cycle

Last month, a group of residents near New Life Evangelistic Center submitted a petition to the Board of Public Service alleging that NLEC is operating in a way that is a "detriment to the neighborhood," citing a series of behaviors exhibited by people frequenting the facility and asking for a hearing about these complaints. Click here for a fact sheet about the petition. NLEC has responded with a fundraising letter saying it is "threatened by the upper class who want to blame those in need for problems created by bars on Washington Avenue" and Winter Outreach has responded with a counter-petition. I believe a destructive cycle is being repeated here, and I want to take a moment to explain my thoughts and the position I am taking. 

As always, I welcome thoughtful and prayerful dialogue.

I am committed to working for a city that makes glad God’s heart. I believe God’s heart is glad when:

*We respect the dignity of every human being and all creation

*We work together for the common good – not just surviving but thriving.

*We seek and serve Christ in one another, always assuming the best in one another, never demonizing one another and calling each other to be the best we can be.

History has shown us prone to not doing these things – particularly the last two. History has also shown that we tend to be reactive and are prone to looking at things situationally and not systemically. I believe both of those are playing out today.

I believe all the players in this cycle are people of good will. The cycle is the problem. And the cycle is familiar:

*Downtown attracts large numbers of homeless women, men and children.

*Because of the high volume we are relegated to concentrating on emergency aid ... emergency shelters and feeding programs … necessary but not helping people in the long term. As we add more of these services, more homeless people are attracted, which puts more strain on the system and reduces our ability to transition people out of homelessness.

*Cutbacks in health care and housing, proliferation of inexpensive drugs and alcohol, lack of jobs, race and class prejudice and sheer numbers contribute to destructive behaviors among the homeless population.

*Non-homeless residents and business owners raise the issues of the behaviors.

This is the tipping point. This is where we are right now with the petition that has been filed by the residents about NLEC.

In the past, here is what has happened:

*NLEC and others portray city government and those who raised the issues as the self-concerned rich and even deny the behaviors are a result of the volume of homeless people in the neighborhood.

*The media, who know that conflict sells, divert attention not only from the behaviors but also from the issue of the inadequacy of the current measures to move people out of homelessness.

*The prevailing narrative becomes the evil city and residents vs. the good NLEC and homeless advocates. Large amounts of resources are spent. Eventually, those who raised the issues of the behaviors get tired of fighting and stop – often leaving downtown.

Nothing changes. Inflows of homeless people continue, destructive behaviors escalate and a new group of people raise the issue at which time we’re off to the races again.

I have been downtown at Christ Church Cathedral for a little more than four years – that’s a small amount of time compared with many – but I have spent that time listening, watching and learning. Here is what I am discovering:

*Downtown West shoulders an unsustainable proportion of the homeless population. We cannot shift our efforts to long-term solutions unless the opportunity to help is shared more evenly throughout the region.

*Pretty much all of us are compassionate. I haven't met a lot of (or, really, any) Snidely Whiplashes. The people who have moved downtown – the same people who signed the petition – do not hate homeless people. Many moved downtown for the diversity of downtown. By and large, they want to end homelessness, not push homeless people off.

*The residents do want to not see drugs dealt outside their window, to not have urine and feces on their buildings. to be able to walk down the street in safety  – I share those desires and hope we all do.

*The behaviors are the canary in the coal mine. They are the sign that something is very wrong. And not just that we need more services of the same kind which will only attract more people and maintain the status quo. If we are to make any real progress, we cannot continue to spend our energy fighting over whether the canary is dead while we all slowly suffocate.

I have been watching and listening to the latest round of this cycle unfold, and I propose an attempt to break the cycle and work together to choose a different path. Specifically,

1) Instead of demonizing the residents, assume the best of them, acknowledge they have valid points, and claim common cause to eliminate the behaviors.

2) Instead of demonizing NLEC, encourage all to assume the best of them, believing that they would like nothing more than to end homelessness.

3) Like the Winter Outreach petition urges, I support bringing everyone – NLEC, city officials, residents, business owners, homeless service providers, homeless persons, advocates and anyone else who wants to – together in a conversation about the real issues. However I strongly disagree that the "real issue" is more services of the type we already have concentrated in this already overloaded area. The first issue we need to address is reducing volume and inflow, which will allow us to refocus our efforts from emergency aid to transitioning people out of homelessness.

4) If any of our facilities is operating in ways that are unsafe, insist that they abide by existing building and safety laws, and help them to do so … both by working with them to make any necessary changes in a reasonable timeframe and by working to spread out the availability of services to reduce the volume of people in the facility. If there is doubt about any facility being a danger to public health and safety, that facility (including Christ Church Cathedral) should willingly invite inspection.

5) Commit together to give primary support to programs and ministries that transition people sustainably out of homelessness and poverty (e.g. HomeFirst STL, St. Patrick Center, Bridge Bread, and Magdalene St. Louis.)

Above all, let us commit to breaking the cycle of demonization and destructive conflict. We can make this a city that makes glad God’s heart. But we can only do it if we break this cycle, work together and call each other to be the best we can be.

Testifying for Marriage Equality at City Hall

This afternoon, I will join with government officials, civil rights activists, religious leaders and couples at City Hall for a press conference supporting marriage equality in advance of this week's Supreme Court cases on California's Proposition 8 and the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act." Below are the remarks I plan to make.

My deep desire is for Christ Church Cathedral to be a place where all are welcome, where we are a catalyst for conversation, where people from across political and theological spectrums come together and seek a wisdom that is greater than our own. Where we ask the questions we believe Jesus would ask and listen for God's still small voice in our hearts and on the lips of one another.

I believe our being an Oasis Congregation of intentional welcome to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered persons is a piece of being that place. But I also believe and will defend just as strongly the same welcome to people who believe that same-sex relationships are counter to God's will. Everyone is welcome at the table. Everyone is invited to the conversation. However, nobody gets to treat anyone with anything but the highest of respect, and nobody gets to tell anyone else they can't be there.

Because I so deeply want the Cathedral to be this safe place where all feel welcome to express their honest opinions and to be open to the Spirit's whisperings, I have struggled with when and if I should speak out ... with occasions such as this. Where I am with this is that my silence would not model what I hope for from our Cathedral -- which is being a place and community where all can come and speak plainly and listen deeply.

So in a few minutes, I will go to City Hall and speak plainly (I hope). But I also want to listen deeply. If you disagree with what I am saying, don't just leave a comment here (though you are welcome to), come to Christ Church Cathedral and engage me and us in the congregation (and meet many couples among us whose living witness just might be converting for you). Invite me to come meet you where you are and engage me in the conversation. I promise I will listen deeply. I promise I will treat you with the highest respect. Because I am bound to seek and serve Christ in you, as you are bound to in me.

Here are the remarks I will be making this afternoon:
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As an American, I believe we are a people of rights and laws, and those rights and laws should be extended to all people. Those rights might have been based on the variety of religious beliefs of the founders of this nation, but they have been set in a rule of law that above all values liberty and justice for all. No one person’s view, be it based in their faith or otherwise, should supercede this fundamental precept of liberty and justice for all.

There are rights that go with the legal contract of marriage, and the decision that is in front of the courts is very simple. It is whether it is OK to withhold the rights and privileges of entering into a legal contract from consenting adults who have done nothing, nothing to warrant that prohibition. As an American, I believe the decision in front of the courts is simple. It is will we have liberty and justice for all.

Now I am not only an American, I am a person of faith. For me, marriage is not just a legal contract, it is a sacred covenant that has been a part of our faith tradition for thousands of years. And like many of our understandings of God’s purposes, our understanding of marriage has evolved and is still evolving. And we have had the freedom to define the sacrament of marriage for ourselves. We have had the freedom to say whether we believe God blesses a marriage between two people of the same sex or not.

I believe that God blesses two people, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation, who enter into a covenant of lifelong, self-giving love with one another. I believe that whatever we call that, that God calls it marriage. But what I believe isn’t the issue. Sacraments and sacred covenants should be defined by communities of faith. The government shouldn’t be defining a sacrament and it certainly shouldn’t be ill-defining it.

It is the government’s job to ensure that the rights guaranteed to us in our rule of law are available to all. It is the government’s job to ensure liberty and justice for all.

It is not the government’s job to tell us who can be bound together in the sacrament of marriage. It is not the government’s job to tell us what God blesses and what God doesn’t bless. We’ve got that one covered.

The Cathedral and the Charter School -- an update

Today, I received what I hope is the final draft of the contract between Christ Church Cathedral and Lafayette Preparatory Academy.  This is the latest step in what has been nine months of discernment and conversations about this startup charter elementary school incubating in the Bishop Tuttle Memorial Building from 2013-2015.

For more on the rationale for this relationship, see my post 

"A Charter School in the BTM? Why, What and When?"

The timetable for approval of the contact is below. This Sunday, LPA Head of School Susan Marino and LPA Steering Committee member Paul Brown will join us after the 10 am service for an On The Table Forum in the Nave for a community conversation about this new relationship. Carolyn Herman is heading up a group of Cathedral parishioners interested in helping out with LPA ... particularly working with children who might need extra help academically.

In the first year, LPA hopes to have two kindergarten and two first-grade classes, adding two second-grade classes in 2014-15. We have negotiated a common area maintenance agreement that will result in LPA picking up a percentage of what it costs us to run the BTM on a percentage of square feet used basis. Because their state funding will not kick in until year two, we have agreed that in the first year they will cover any and all increases in cost associated with their presence at Christ Church Cathedral (we will not be out of pocket one penny), and in the second year, they will pay 200% of the CAM figure.

The space LPA uses will be essentially what was discussed in the original conversations. The second floor Christian Education space will be the primary classroom space, with the four classrooms on the East wall being converted to two larger classrooms and the Christian Education "office" being changed into a second bathroom. Schuyler Hall will be used as whole-school meeting space and a lunchroom, with the Guernsey room being auxiliary gathering space. The fifth floor offices will be used as school administrative offices and the former bookstore space on the ground floor will be the school front office. The gym will also be used for physical education.

LPA will pay for any renovations and all are subject to our approval.

Security will be of paramount concern with young children in the building. We have said from the beginning that the nave of the Cathedral has to remain open to all people at all times. However, access to the BTM during school hours will be restricted to those having legitimate business with the Cathedral, the offices of the Bishop, Episcopal City Mission and the school. During school hours, the second and fourth floors will be key-access only from the elevators and the central stairwell will be fitted with an entry alarm (at LPA expense) that can be turned off by the guard and disabled on Sundays and others times we are using the building.

The recovery groups currently meeting in the BTM will be shifted back to the Davis Room and will not be allowed to go up the stairs that lead up to the BTM proper. Cathedral meetings can still take place as normal and Miss Carol's Breakfast will not be affected.

There will be changes and challenges ... these always come with shared space. Amy and I have been and will continue to be in conversation with any groups effected --- particularly those involved in children and youth ministries, which use the primary classroom space. The school has agreed to buy locking cabinets to store all the Sunday School materials so they are protected. Some things -- such as when the renovations to the second floor will begin -- have yet to be negotiated. Other things will be dealt with as they emerge.

I am excited about this new chapter in our life together. I particularly want to thank all those who have been incredibly patiently and diligently working on this project this past year -- Tom Rogers, Tom Edelman, Bob Schleipman, Walt Johnson, Annette Carr, Carolyn Herman, Amy Cortright, Rick Edwards and many others.

I hope you'll come out on Sunday and be part of the conversation ... especially to dream about how we can not just be landlords for LPA, but active partners helping it be a part of the solution to the educational problems we have in St. Louis.

Here is our hoped-for schedule for the approval of the contract. Please note that these dates are assuming things go through as hoped. Any contract of this nature must not only be approved by the Cathedral Chapter but also by the Diocesan Chancellor and the Standing Committee.

Tuesday, March 5 - Draft contract and specs sent to executive committee, chancellor, canon to the ordinary, cathedral administrator and vicar for review.

Thursday, March 7 -- Executive Committee of Chapter discusses contract

Sunday, March 10 - LPA head of school Susan Marino and board president Paul Brown meet with Cathedral congregation in open forum

Thursday, March 21 - Cathedral Chapter meets, LPA representatives present, contract is presented for chapter approval

Thursday, March 28 - Contract is presented to Standing Committee for approval

Monday, April 1 - Contract is signed.

"I am about to do a new thing..." A Lent on the Mountaintop at Christ Church Cathedral

We are ready for a vision of the Promised Land that will show us where God is leading us and what we are on our way to becoming.

We’re ready to hear the words God spoke to the prophet Isaiah, words we will be building toward through these 40 days of Lent. Words we will hear on that last Sunday before we join Jesus on his journey into Jerusalem:

I am about to do a new thing.

Yesterday, I preached about us doing something different this Lent. Instead of a Lent of anguish and guilt, we are getting "out of the desert and up on the mountaintop" where we can glimpse the Promised Land God has in store for us.

Christ Church Cathedral lives God's mission of "restoring to unity all people with God and each other in Christ" through embracing our five core values -- Spirituality & Faith, Diversity, Communication, Growth and Service. It is through these that God is doing a new thing through us -- right here, right now.

And so we say with Isaiah: "Now it springs forth."

And so we ask with Isaiah: "Do you not perceive it?"

For the next six weeks, we will be searching and dreaming together for what that new thing might  be. We'll be doing it together as a Cathedral community and individually in our lives. We'll be asking the questions:

What is the new thing God is trying to do in our life?
What is the new thing God is trying to do in my life?

What will that look like?

For starters, throughout Lent, our preaching at 10 am on Sunday will be on this theme "I am about to do a new thing." Our preachers -- the Rev. Canon Amy Cortright, the Rev. Kathleen Wilder and me -- will guide us through the Old Testament readings for the season and look at different aspects of what God's "new thing" might look like.

*We'll have a series of wonderful guests who will help us reflect on God's new thing in their life and ours:

Sunday, Feb. 24, 11:30 am - Grammy Award winning musician/composer Terence Blanchard is our Black History Month potluck speaker and will talk about his creating new works out of the stories of our past.

Sunday, March 3, 9 am – former Alderwoman Kacie Starr Triplett will join us to talk about how God moved in her life through Anna Brown’s death to lead her to give up her seat and dedicate herself to improving health care for the homeless.

Sunday, March 10, 9 & 10 am – The Rev. Kathleen Wilder of Centenary UMC and The Bridge will lead our forum about her journey to give up a life in corporate America and dedicate her life to ministry and ending homelessness. She will also preach at 10.

Sunday, March 10, 11:30 am – Susan Marino, Head of School for Lafayette Preparatory Academy, will talk about our new partnership with LPA in a Cathedral community forum.

Sunday, March 17, 11:30 am – Representatives from Bridge Bread and HomeFirstSTL will be at coffee hour and available for conversation about these possibilities for deepening our partnership with The Bridge’s efforts to end homelessness.

*We have 10 youth who are going through confirmation class and deciding whether to commit to being a part of God's new thing in their lives by taking an adult profession of the Christian faith.

*On Good Friday evening, we are doing a new thing by hosting the inaugural "Good Friday Blues" -- a partnership with the National Blues Museum and Magdalene St. Louis ... amazing blues music at the foot of the cross that will draw new people into Christ Church Cathedral and hear the "deep love meets deep pain" message of Good Friday in a new way.

We also want to hear your stories. What "new thing" do you find God luring you into? What "new thing" do you see God doing in your midst?  Leave it in a comment here or on our Facebook event page for Lent at CCC - https://www.facebook.com/events/534007439964897/.

What is the new thing God is doing through us? Through you?

First things first: Today's Bible Challenge readings

I don't know about you, but I've been having to try really hard to resist the temptation to skim over the Exodus readings recently as we do The Bible Challenge together. This morning, as I was reading the chapters about the building of the lampstand and the making of the vestments, something hit me.

This is insane.

These people are in the desert. They need food and water. They need protection from wild animals. And, the last thing they need is to be tied down with a bunch of carefully crafted non-portable things like the tabernacle and the court if someone should attack. Is this how they should be spending their time and resources?

From a "practical" standpoint, what the people of Israel are doing in the desert is absolutely crazy. But what they are really doing is putting first things first.

No matter what our situation, the first thing we always do is praise God. We do that trusting that if we take care of that, God will take care of the rest.

Praising God takes many forms. It is, as we say in the liturgy "with our lips and in our lives." We praise God with words and songs of praise, with glorious art and music. We also praise God as Jesus did ... healing the sick and spending time with the most broken and vulnerable.

We praise God first and don't worry about the more "practical" considerations. We trust that God will provide.

But there is one other thing. Part of praising God -- a huge part -- is giving deeply to that work. Moses had what might be the first capital campaign to raise the materials to build all this stuff ... and the people gave so generously that he had to say: "OK, stop! We have enough."

There's a church in Washington, D.C. that you've heard me mention ... Church of the Savior. More than any church I've ever encountered, it takes seriously Jesus' "Enter by the narrow gate" command. I was there this past October listening to one of their leaders talk about how they do stewardship. It's pretty simple.

Everyone tithes. Period. End of story.

Well what if someone has expenses that crop up --- a car wreck, medical bills, can't pay their rent? That's OK. The community will pay those expenses if necessary ... because that's how they love each other ... but they still pay the tithe.

First things first.

What if Christ Church Cathedral were like that?

Famous last words. Today's Bible Challenge reading -- The Great Commission

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ - Matthew 28:16-20

Those of us who are doing The Bible Challenge (reading the whole Bible in a year), finished the Gospel of Matthew today. There's kind of a breathless nature to this reading ... we finish Matthew today and dive right into Mark tomorrow ... but today's finale deserves at least a little pause to reflect. As I've sat with it this morning, three thoughts jumped out at me.

The disciples went to Galilee -- Even though Jesus sends them to "make disciples of all nations," where he told them to meet him first was in Galilee. Why is that important? Because Galilee was their home. We meet Jesus where we are. Our commission to follow Jesus starts at home, right where we are. Not coincidentally, that's often the toughest place to do it ... the place where the relationships matter the most to us and where we have the most to lose. It's easier to go from strange town to strange town and kick the dust off your feet if they start throwing cabbage at you ... but sitting at the family dinner table? That's hard work. And yet Jesus, like Paul McCartney sings, "Get back to where you once belonged."

Some doubted - If this isn't one of the coolest little asides in all of scripture, I don't know what is. The resurrected Jesus is standing right in front of them on a mountain ... and still some doubted. Perfect faith is not about never doubting. Doubting is to be expected. It's a sign of a real, engaged and true faith. Doubting is why we always follow Jesus in community. So that when we doubt, we have the faith of the community to carry us. The ability to own our doubts and still listen for Jesus and walk together with Jesus is the hallmark of Christian community. Some doubted? Damn straight!

Always - There is one promise of Christ ... and that is the promise of presence. We are not promised prosperity or health or respect or anything like it. We are not promised that our lives will not completely fall apart or that we won't be hit by a bus or that our best friends and spouses won't betray us. But we are promised that through it all, God will be with us. And if we are to follow Jesus together, that is what we promise to embody for each other. When the worst life has to offer happens to us, we can't promise to have the magic words to say to make it all better (those don't exist), we can't promise to fix each other, we can't promise even to make sense of it all. But we can look at one another as sisters and brothers in Christ and say "I am with you always, to the end." That is the greatest witness we can have of the Gospel of Christ to the nations of the earth ... we will love you and walk with you to the end. Do we really need anything else?

What do you think when you read the Great Commission? What jumps out at you?