The Missional Imagination

A while ago I was chatting with a teacher who was talking how difficult it was to teach at the school they were at.  Transience and a almost nomadic existence of the families had a constant turnover of kids and on top of that, many parents were totally disengaged from the education process.  I see that at work and also at home with Mark's friends who have been moved out of his school to another one in the pursuit of cheaper rent, divorce, or eviction.  It isn't the kid's fault but of course they pay the biggest price.

At work I have been studying demographic trends for two projects I am working on.  Part of it is looking closely at the neighborhoods we serve.  I also need some comparison neighborhoods and I have been using Mayfair (where we live), Lawson Heights (where I grew up), Lakeview (where I used to work), Nutana (where I like to go for coffee), and City Park (again, it's the coffee).  I know data interpretation is a science and art and I don't claim to have an understanding of either but when I look at Riversdale/Meadow Green/Pleasant Hill/King George (note to self, take some better photos of these places and upload them to Wikipedia) and compare them to those other neighborhoods, it shows how serious the need is in these neighborhoods.  I was looking at some crime stats the other day and I thought that they were high for the year but they weren't even for the year, they were for the month.  Before I dismissed them, I thought back to the day that Wendy was grabbed in our car while waiting for me outside of work and also the evening I was grabbed by a drunk while walking home from the theatre with Mark.  In Wendy's case, she was okay and in my case, being 6'4" and sober was enough to deal with the situation but looking back at it, there is a lot of violence here.  Of course on top of that there is the poverty, the disintegration of family values (I was talking to one agency where older sisters were pimping out younger ones), rampant drug use, illiteracy, and the gangs.

Now I know this is an academic exercise since almost no one plants churches in poor neighborhoods (why would you where there is wealth in the new suburbs?) but do we ever ask ourselves what is the best way to make an impact on urban communities and could there be a better way to positively make a difference other than hold worship services other than a Sunday?

Of course there is.  When one looks at what is making a difference in most inner cities, they are not churches.  In Saskatoon there is The Bridge, the Friendship Inn, the Saskatoon Food Bank, White Buffalo Youth Lodge, the Salvation Army Community Centre, Egadz, Quint Community Economic Development Corporation (a non-profit organization founded by residents of the five core neighbourhoods in 1995. When a community meeting concluded two years later that affordable housing was key to solving inner city problems, Quint stepped forward with solutions. By 2002 they had helped over 100 low-income families with children become homeowners. These families pay, on average, $33 less on their mortgage payments than they did on their previous rental payments) and other organizations who provide a wide variety of services for the community.  While there are some wonderful churches and cathedrals downtown, they serve a different demographic and are not involved many social justice issues.

My question is what if we started to start ministries and ideas that had the community in mind as opposed to planting another church, what would they look like?  I think of Harambee (I love their history), Urban Rest Stop, a small scale family housing program, third spaces like the Freeway, or the Franktuary (read the story), or places like the Simple Way, Mustard Seed House, or the Hawthorn House. 

My other question is what if we made a commitment to the places abandoned by the empire?  I expressed my frustration before about the 1000 Christians descending on the west side to "clean up the place" for a day.  I guess it gives warm fuzzy's to people who don't actually shop, live, or even visit the lower west side but I am talking about making a long term commitment to a place that are often left behind.  These places aren't just in the inner city either.  I was outside of Ottawa a couple of years ago and some of the rural communities look like the last the good thing that happened to them was during the Diefenbaker years.  I think of what former NHLer Joe Juneau is doing up in northern Quebec. 

When I have shared these discussions previously, one of the questions that comes up is sustainability.  Of course all of the links I have given have shown sustainability over the years in a variety of ways but there is a bigger question that we don't often address and that is the unspoken idea something has to support a salary (often of clergy) to be worthwhile.  Until we figure out a way to fight our addiction to a paycheck from the church, the mission of many churches will be to provide employment for pastors.  Are we courageous enough to take a risk knowing that it probably won't pay off but because it is the right thing to do and do it in some of the poorest neighborhoods where they may be no pay off?

Well, others have and made a big difference.  Real change always starts at the fringes, someone said something or the other about faith and a mustard seed once...