Why I support the "occupy" movement...

The Rev. Deon K. Johnson

One of my friends from New York called me earlier in the week pretty upset. He lives in New York City and had a chance to go to the "Occupy Wall Street" protest area and was shocked that Trinity Episcopal Church, Wall Street, had opened its doors to the protesters. He could not imagine why a church would welcome those who were protesting and still be "followers of Christ."

"No right Christian would support something like that." I won't repeat what I said in response but it got me thinking about why the Episcopal Church, and me as a priest for that matter, would support the Wall Street protesters.

So here are three reasons why I support the "Occupy" movement…

1. It is what Jesus would have done! Actually it is what Jesus did! Throughout his ministry Jesus continued to put before the authorities of his time the poor, the widows and the marginalized. "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh." Luke 6:20-21

Those who were forgotten by his society were the ones Jesus lifted up as examples of those going into the kingdom of God. From the woman at the well to the man born blind Jesus primary care was for those whom society conveniently forgot or dismissed.

Those who are occupying the different cities throughout the world seek to remind us that there are many marginalized folks that are an inconvenience to our comfortable lives; the poor, those for whom opportunity has been taken away.

2. It is about equity and seeing our lives as being shared. One of the worst concepts that has crept into our society and vocabulary is "self made" or "I did it by myself." There is no such thing as "self made", it takes a community for any of us to achieve success and one of the things that Jesus tried very hard to remind the Scribes and Pharisees (and us for that matter) was that they did not create themselves.  It takes a village to get us where we are and the occupy folks are forcing us to see ourselves not in a vacuum but as an extended web of connection.  In God's view none of us are any better than the other we are equal receivers of divine love. Maybe we need to start living like it.

3. It's about Economic Justice. During a time of cutting back and downsizing, when people have lost their jobs and homes and livelihood it seems odd that a select few would benefit disproportionately while others are losing their shirts (literally).

One of the things that has annoyed me to no end, right here in Michigan, is our State Legislature's  plan to balance the state budget on the livelihood of the poor. Michigan currently pays $5.00 a day in cash assistance to those living below the poverty line. As a way of reducing the state's deficit there is a proposal not only to reduce that amount but to limit the length of the poor's eligibility for such aid, while something as simple as raising the beer tax by $0.05 would practically balance the state budget. [Correction...the Legislature has already passed the reduction of cash assistance measure AND made it retroactive. Almost 25,000.00 children will be kicked off the rolls of assistance in order to balance the state budget. I wonder how long it will take our conservative/fundamentalist sisters and brothers to get to Lansing to start lobbying for the rights of the widows and orphans that no longer receive assistance.]

As Christians we are to be champions on the side of the poor. The occupy folks remind us that we are to be the ones fighting for their cause because in the poor we encounter none other than Jesus himself. "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me."

We are called to witness in the tradition of Jesus to inequities in society and maybe for just that reason alone I support the "Occupy" movement. 

IMAGINE: Mission

By Jenny Ritter

IMAGINE: Mission

Good Morning. My name is Jenny Ritter, and I am your Parish Coordinator, and Co-Director of Christian Education and Formation. I was asked by the Stewardship Team, to spend some time reflecting on the M in imagine… “Mission”, and then share my thoughts with you.

Where do I begin? The word “mission” can lead you in many different directions. What we “Do” on our own and what we “Do” as a whole… as the members of St. Paul’s.

Everyone has a “Mission”; we are all called into the “Mission” of God in particular ways.

What area in the community do you feel called to serve?

Feeding the hungry? Do you help with the Fish & Loaves program, or with Gleaners?

Are you called to prayer? Are you a member of the DOK or Prayer Chain?

What about the Homeless and forgotten? Have you volunteered with the R.E.A.C.H. program?

Do you “Sing out you Soul” in the Choir, teach Sunday school, or lend you neighbor or stranger a helping hand?

Were you a LACASA angel, helping women and children in need? Or are you called to bring the Good News of Christ to the Lonely, Sick, and the Poor?

Have you taken communion to the sick and shut-in? Set the Altar, worked at a Boutique, English Tea, or Art fair to help those in need?

Served on the Vestry, participated in Service and Outreach projects, Search Committees, or Strategic Planning? As we work towards the future together.

Shoveled the snow, painted, swept, planted a garden, donated money to help with Building and Grounds or hosted a “Coffee Hour”? So that St. Paul’s would be a place of welcome, and hospitality, to all who walk through our doors.

St. Paul’s is a Parish that has continued to serve not only its members but the community that surrounds us, and then some.

The good news for us is that we are not alone in this “Mission”. We have the Holy Spirit guiding us, comforting us, empowering us.

And we have each other, and the Church, and together, participating, resourcing, networking, and supporting each other, we can continue to live into the “Mission” of the church.

Jesus tells the eleven disciples in the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28, to “Go” – go 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 I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

I am with you always…

The people of St. Paul’s have been answering this call for over 130years.

“Joyfully growing, giving, and serving in all ways in Christ.”

As we continue to grow Spiritually, and in community, let us remember not only our personal "Missions”, but how we as a member of the Household of God, can continue to serve in all ways, and to never be afraid, for God is with us Always.

Imagine...identity

Jeff Ellison is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. 

For the stewardship campaign this year, the stewardship team is asking each of us – you, me – to imagine who you want to be in your spiritual life and what it is you hope for St. Paul’s future.  What is it to imagine?  I think of imagining as looking at the world and seeing it differently than it is now.  It is hope for the future (“What would it be like if – ?”), and it also fills in things we don’t know with what we imagine them to be.  So the word “imagine” will be the topic to ponder this year.  And we’ll do it in a unique way.  We’ll look at the word “imagine” – seven letters – as an acronym that stands for seven different words.  Each Sunday, one of us – today, it’s me – will share a few things on one of the words in that acronym.  The first “I” word in “imagine” is “identity.”

So what is my identity?  How do I identify myself?  How do I imagine myself to be?  This is not something I think about often (or perhaps ever, in the conscious, deliberate way I have since being asked to speak on this).  But pondering it, the things that come easily to mind are what I am to others: I’m a father to my boys and a son to my mother.  I’m a brother.  I’m a friend and occasionally a best friend.  How I relate to others is part of my identity.  It adds to my concept of self, of who I am and who I imagine myself to be.

Part of my identity – of who I am – includes how I imagine God and how I imagine my relationship with God.  That relationship with God brings me here, to St. Paul’s.  Every one of us has a story of how we found this place.  For some, we were brought by our parents or by a friend.  For others (I count myself in this group), we just found it, this small building, sitting on a hill, that a town grew up around; I walked into this place out of curiosity, to see what goes on here, asking how is God present in this place. 

In your personal story, the reason you came here may merely be interesting history.  The person who brought or invited you may have passed away or moved on.  But you’re still here.  This reminds me of the story of Ruth, who when her husband died, was urged by her mother-in-law to go back to her own people.  But Ruth said no.  She told her mother-in-law: don’t ask me to leave you.  “For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.”  Ruth claimed as part of her identity the community she had married into, even though her husband – the one who brought her to that community – was gone. 

In the same way, we are part of St. Paul’s – it is part of our identity – even though the reason we first came through that door is not what brings us here today.  For instance, I am here not because St. Paul’s is a small building on a hill, although it is that.  I’m here searching for God and, in blessed moments, finding God.

What brought you here?  How is St. Paul’s part of your identity?  How do you look for God – how do you find God – here?