No more Sins By Silence. Stopping Domestic Violence in Indiana

Brenda Clubine; founder of Convicted Women Against Abus

The Indianapolis metro area has suffered through a horrible year for domestic violence.  Angela Warnock in Brownsburg.  Beth Stayer in Zionsville/Anson a week earlier. Just before Christmas, Yvonne Kretzer was murdered by her husband in Plainfield.  There were 65 deaths in Indiana last year attributed to domestic violence.  Every day 1000 people seek help from domestic violence in Indiana alone.

Last night at Lockerbie Central United Methodist and Earth House, we screened the documentary Sin By Silence and heard from filmmaker Olivia Klaus.  Most amazingly, Brenda Clubine was there.  She is featured in the documentary and it was her work and vision that created Convicted Women Against Abuse; an innmate support and advocacy group that transformed California’s Domestic Violence laws.

Brenda was serving seventeen years to life for defending herself against her abusive husband.  Last night was the 1 year anniversary of her release from prison.

There is so much to be said about the movie and last night’s gathering.  There were tears, standing ovations, and a commitment to make Indiana free of all violence.

Thank you so much for the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence for  organizing this screening and bringing Ms. Clubine and Ms. Klaus to Indianapolis.

Filed under: Earth House, Thursday Night Film Festival, community, documentary, family life, film, film review, movie review, prison, prison justice, prison ministry, rememberances, united methodist , Indianapolis, Indiana, Earth House, lockerbie central, death, united methodist, documentary, zionsville, Brownsburg, violence, domestic violence, angela warnock, beth stayer, plainfield, anson, Yvonne Kretzer, Convicted Women Against Abuse, deaths, abuse, california, brenda clubine, sin by silence, olivia klaus, Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Should we care (and does it matter) that the Indiana UMC’s headquarters will be relocating to a suburban corporate business park?

It looks like the Indiana conference of the United Methodist church (my conference) is moving their headquarters to a business park.  Not A  good decision.

What kind of message does it send for a church to be headquartered in  a corporate business park?   What does it say that the Bishop moved his offices out of the city and into the suburbs?

I understand that the new statewide conference needs more office space in one centralized location. I have no problem with that.  I just don’t see Jesus, the early Christians, or John Wesley basing their movement in a privately owned business park, disconnected from neighborhoods and culture.

Indiana needs the United Methodist Church to have a bold and prophetic voice. I strongly believe that is how our church will survive and thrive.  Speaking out for the hungry and sick.  Visiting the prisoners. Caring for creation. Rebuilding our urban core and rural heartlands.

The vantage point of our conference staff won’t be any of those places.  The view from the new headquarters will feature acres of soulless business parks and an interstate, located in one of the richest zip codes in the state.

Filed under: Christians, church, jesus, prison, prison justice, prison ministry , bishop, Business Parks, Carmel, christianity, church, early christians, Hamilton county, headquarters, i-465, indiana conference of the united methodist church, Indianapolis, interstate, jesus, john wesley, methodist church, northside of indianapolis, propethetic voice, united methodist church

From United Methodist Emergent-cy to United Methodist Emergent insurgency?

There has been some push back on a recent post from the United Methodist Reporter comparing the early Methodists to the emergent church. I thought the analogy made sense and was excited about it.  I also wrote about it on my church’s blog.

Rev. Dan Dick who is my favorite UMC blogger and probably the most prolific UMC blogger was not impressed. From his “United Methodist Emergent-cy”:

I read the article in The United Methodist Reporter the other day, and it left me scratching my head.  I cannot figure out how some of our most intelligent thinkers in the church see the emerging/emergent church as a modern-day Methodist movement.  Missional, yes, but evangelical?  Only the later independent and mainline churches that undermined the original intention.  The Methodist movement went to the streets, extending a fairly strict orthodoxy on an unsuspecting world.  Not so, emerging church. The Methodist movement aimed at the lower classes — the workers, blue collar and otherwise, with little advanced education.  Emergent?  Primarily the privileged classes with above average income and education (with some exceptions).  Methodist movement governed by rules, regulations, and protocols.  Emerging/emergent… not so much.  Methodist movement ruled by a hierarchy; uhm, not so’s you’d notice in the emerging church.  Context is hugely different.  Sources and backgrounds, very different.  Focus, fundamentally different.  Energy — okay, energy and passion pretty close (but you can say the same of American Idol).

Now, I might be missing the point of Rev. Dick’s argument because there is a bunch to unpack here.  This is just the last part of the first paragraph of his post! And Dan is also right when saying that the translation of emergent thought and praxis into mainline/mainstream churches has been mostly disingenuous .

But Ill start with this paragraph and see where the conversation leads, if anywhere at all.

1.  “The Methodist movement went to the streets, extending a fairly strict orthodoxy on an unsuspecting world.  Not so, emerging church”

I think part of my confusion with Dan’s post is that he is referring to a longer emergent conversation that I am not aware of.  My understanding of the emergent church is based on the conversation/movement that has coalesced around Emergent Village with voices from a few others who aren’t as directly tied to EV. Think Rob Bell and Shane Claiborne.

The emergent church doesn’t have a “fairly strict orthodoxy” but there are definitely some guiding principles.  From the Emergent Village website:

• Growing”: which indicates our desire to develop as the dreams of God for the healing, redemption, and reconciliation of the world develop.
• “Generative”: which means that we expect our friendship to generate new ideas, connections, opportunities, and works of beauty.
• “Friendship”: Because we firmly hold that living in reconciled friendship trumps traditional orthodoxies – indeed, orthodoxy requires reconciliation as a prerequisite.
• “Missional”: Because we believe that the call of the gospel is an outward, apostolic call into the world.

Though this can’t be construed as “orthodoxy,” perhaps we can see this as A Wesleyan Quadrilateral for the 21st century? Or anti-orthodoxy?  And taking that “fairly strict orthodoxy to an unsuspecting world”?  While most Christians during the last decade plus spent most of their time dreaming of  mega churches and political power in the vehicle of the religious right, emergent folks were quietly organizing their churches and theology for  a post-Christian right America.

2. “The Methodist movement aimed at the lower classes — the workers, blue collar and otherwise, with little advanced education.  Emergent?  Primarily the privileged classes with above average income and education (with some exceptions)”

Are emergents in the prisons, in the fields, in the unemployment lines, at the Wal-Mart? Probably not enough–but what church is?  There are of course some very smart people who head up the emergent conversation–but didn’t John Wesley go to Oxford?

Tony Jones likes to tell the story of Trucker Frank–a pastor-turned truck driver–who embodies working class sensibilities.   Here is a video of Trucker Frank.   Most emergent folks I know are intentional about building a “church” that includes the poor and working class– and art kids!

3.  “Methodist movement governed by rules, regulations, and protocols.  Emerging/emergent… not so much.  Methodist movement ruled by a hierarchy; uhm, not so’s you’d notice in the emerging church.  Context is hugely different.  Sources and backgrounds, very different.  Focus, fundamentally different.  Energy — okay, energy and passion pretty close (but you can say the same of American Idol).”

Yes, the energy and passion of the early Methodists and the emergents are “pretty close” but I wouldn’t say that the emergents’ passion is “American Idol”-esque.  Most of the emergent leaders don’t make much of a living through there writing and church leadership gigs.  There has to be a real passion to keep this thing moving!

There isn’t an emergent hierarchy and Emergent Village has just got rid of its national coordinator position.  But there was seemingly much room to operate within the hierarchy of the early Methodists –especially on the North American Frontier. Here is a quote from Wikipedia bout those early Methodist circuit riders:”

They traveled with few possessions, carrying only what could fit in their saddlebags. They traveled through wilderness and villages, they preached every day at any place available (peoples’ cabins, courthouses, fields, meeting houses, later even basements and street corners.

It was those efforts that built the early Methodist Church and made it the most importan protestant denomination in the country.  Many of the Emergent leaders carry on this same spirit–minus the hierarchy.

Now, I don’t think the Early Methodist movement inspired the emergent convesration all that much–but that both originate from a similar historical place.   I think the emergent conversation overall  could give many UMCers  room to operate in ways that could potentially challenge and transform the United Methodist Church into something much closer to what Wesley was all about.

Filed under: Christians, Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, bible, church, emergent church, evangelism, prison, prison justice, prison ministry, shane claiborne, theology, united methodist , American idol, blue collar, Christian right, circuit riders, Dan Dick, early methodists, emergent, emergent village, emerging, factories, hierarchy, john wesley, methodists, missional, orthodoxy, postmodern, prison, prisons, rob bell, shane claiborne, tony jones, trucker frank, united methodists, Wal-Mart, Wesleyan Quadrilateral