Crisis of faith in lands split by walls

When Sol Kelley-Jones was writing her powerful play about the people on the margins in the West Bank and on the U.S.-Mexican border, religious themes were only a subtext.

These, after all, were the stories of the people she encountered during a three-month stay in Palestine last spring and then a summer near Tucson working on the border. They were stories that often have a political edge, which is not surprising given how much politics affects the realities of life in these regions.

There are walls that separate people in both places, walls built by governments seeking to keep people out in the name of protecting those who are on the inside. The walls divide people in ways that the best of religious traditions would not accept, even though religious reasons may well be cited as justifications for the walls.

But for someone coming to this play – The Birds That Are Your Hands -- with a sensitivity for the religions dimensions at work in these two places, Kelley-Jones has managed to bring issues of faith into a sharp focus.

(You can read more about the play in my column in the Cap Times. The play is running at the Broom Street Theater through April 19.)

She said in an interview that in both Palestine and in the border region, she found that it was people working in faith-based aid groups that performed amazing tasks, often putting themselves at risk. What motivates her is progressive politics more than a specific religious commitment, yet she shows in the play her deep understanding of the religious tensions at work in these societies and in the lives of individuals.

There is the Jewish commitment to living an ethical life reflected in the ruminations of an old Jewish man who ponders what his country is doing to the Palestinians in their midst.
“Europe has always has a habit of hating Jews,” he tells the audience. “Now we can be colonizers. It is the Palestinians who pay the price for Europe’s anti-Semitism.”

He shakes his head in disbelief. “Jews – my people – are pondering the merits of concentration camps. I have live too long.”

Later, Jewish woman who is a rabbi talks about losing her faith in the Holy Land after witnessing what was happening there, then finding her faith restored when she began to bond with women in refugee camps – “my Muslim sisters.”

When the Palestinians face a crisis, they cry out the traditional Islamic prayer, “Allahu Akbar.” This is usually translated “God is great,” which often seems odd in a moment of tragedy. Kelley-Jones offered a more nuanced translation: “God is greater than this.”

But for a priest in the Arizona desert, the notion that God is great is mocked by the dead baby he finds. It is one of the heart-wrenching scenes in the play. The priest is kneeling, holding a rosary in his hands, reciting Jesus’ words from the Gospel of Matthew about how “I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me to drink.”

Then he looks up in anger at what people who call themselves Christians are doing to the immigrants who are dying in the desert. He mocks their words: “Who does this Jesus Christ think he is? He’s not with the program.”

As the priest’s despair over what he sees deepens, his posture shifts to the Muslim position for prayer, head touching the ground. He still holds the rosary, reminiscent of the Muslim prayer beads.

“I pray and I doubt,” he cries. “I pray for forgiveness for my doubting. God will care for you ... and the desert fills with bodies.”

Kelly-Jones does not offer any easy answers to the doubts of the priest or the rabbi or the Islamic characters in her play. She simply poses the questions for people to weight against their own faith traditions. It is provocative theater at its best.

Finding a place in a changing religious landscape

Two studies that have come out in the past few weeks raise some interesting questions for those of us who are part of the United Church of Christ.

The first study -- The 2009 edition of the Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches -- reported that the UCC was declining in membership faster than any other Protestant denomination. We were down 6.1 percent between 2006 and 2007, according to the data the UCC gave to the yearbook.

We were not alone in this decline. The two largest Christian denominations in the U.S. also reported declines -- 0.59 for Roman Catholics, 0.24 for Southern Baptists. They had been steadily growing in the past. The fastest growing denominations were the Jehovah's Witness (up 2.12 percent), the Mormons (up 1.63 percent), the Assemblies of God (up 0.96 percent).

The second study looks at the overall shifting of religious identification over a 20-year period. The headline - Christianity is shrinking as a proportion of the U.S. scene and people calling themselves non-religious are increasing. The study is called the American Religious Identification Survey and you can find it by clicking here.

Almost 20 years ago, in 1990, the survey reported, 86 percent of Americans described themselves as Christian. That percentage is now 76 percent. Likewise, in 1990, about 8 percent of Americans declared no religious affiliation. That is now up to 15 percent. And Wisconsin follows a similar pattern -- see this story from the Wisconsin State Journal.

So does this mean we should all crawl into bed and put our heads under the pillows? I don't think so.

These trends are useful to know about and to try to understand. They reflect the changing landscape in which we live. They provide material to think about as we look at we describe ourselves as followers of Jesus. But they really don't have much to do with what I believe as an individual.

My affiliation with Christianity grew out of my family experience as a child -- I was raised Roman Catholic -- but it has been shaped and refined by my experiences as an adult. I have made a conscious decision to be a Christian and I have chosen the UCC as the place that I think best enables me to deepen and live out my Christianity. Others may have chosen other denominational expressions or the non-denominational, evangelical Christianity that is has grown so much in this country over the past few decades.

I think I have something to learn from the evangelicals, from the disaffected, from Muslims and Jews and Wiccans and others. It may seem like it would be more fun to be part of a growing, thriving denomination. Within the UCC as an institution, there are all sorts of struggles about budgets and the staff and directions for the future. Those are institutionally important, but they are not at the core of Jesus' message.

That message is about loving God and loving others as we love ourselves. It's about working in this world to help it be the kind of place God created it to be. At Memorial UCC, that's what we are about. It's a vibrant community that sails against the tide of the trends showing up in these surveys.

That's not something to be smug about. That's all the more reason why need to nurture God's spirit in our midst and let it affect how we have an impact on the people and the world around us.

Finding hope in Mumbai

Ebo Patel, who heads the Interfaith Youth Core and is one of the great voices of our time for getting across the faith divides in our world, wrote this about how Mumbai avoided a religious battleground after the terrorist attacks there late last year.

60 Minutes on Israel/Palestine

Watch CBS Videos Online

After the fighting in Gaza

Ebo Patel, director of the Interfaith Youth Corps and one of my favorite people these days, offers a view of the current catastrophe in Gaza that I have not seen elsewhere. He moves beyond the predictable rhetoric to try to find ways to hold American Jews and Moslems in conversation even in the midst of warfare.

You can read his column at the On Faith site of The Washington Post/Newsweek.

The Green Bible

The Good Book goes green

Here's a column from the Cap Times about the new Green Bible.

Christians in Bethlehem

One of my interests (and one of the partnerships for Memorial UCC) is the situation of Palestinian Christians in the West Bank, especially in Bethlehem. Here are three links from Christmas 2008 that provide insight into the current situation:

From the New York Times:
Palestinians Work to Jolt West Bank Back to Life

From CNN:
Christians in Bethlehem (includes interview with Mitri Raheb, pastor at Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem) -

Christmas in Bethlehem

Memorial at Back Bay -- the crew

For a slide show, click here.

Hanging up the hammers

Let's start at the end. About 20 of us were sitting around the living room in our trailer, having finished off a shrimp boil put on by Don Morgan from the Back Bay staff. Our group of nine shared the meal with about a dozen folks from Congregational UCC in St. Charles, Ill. And then people began to talk about what the experience of the last week meant to them.

For some, it was the satisfaction of the work they did on the houses. For others, it was coming face to face with people who are homeless. For still others, it was the joy of new relationships with people from their own congregation and meeting those from others. Some talked about the conversations they had with people who had survived the hurricane. One woman from Illinois said what she saw this week was what church is really all about. Many reflected on the vast array and energy of volunteers from the UCC and from other denominations who have come to the Gulf Coast and New Orleans to help people.

There were reflections on the things that disquieted people as well. Several mentioned the sense of discouragement about the long-term prospects for Biloxi, to say nothing of the poor who live there. Others talked about the greed that has siphoned off recovery money to the wealthy that should have gone to programs to aid low-income people.

Those of us working on Darrell's house wrapped up our work at mid-day, having reframed all the walls and installed five new windows. There is more work to be done there, but that will be picked up by the next group. We all gathered with Darrell outside his home for good wishes to each other and a prayer together. And then we were on our way.

Two links you might want to pursue:
A column for the Cap Times about gratitude
An audio of a sermon about the trip -- click on the Nov. 18 service.

It's been a great week. Thanks to all of you back home for your care and support and prayers on our journey. See you soon.
Phil

Mississippi leaves out the poor

The Nov. 16 New York Times has a fascinating story about how Mississippi has used only 10 percent of federal post-Katrina aid to help its low income residents. You can read the details by clicking on the headline: Poor Lag in Hurricane Aid From Mississippi

On Nov. 25, The Washington Post ran an article that looked at the disparity in Biloxi's recovery. You can click on the headline: Biloxi's Recovery Shows Divide

A waitress' story

As our waitress was clearing dishes off our table at the end of dinner at the Biloxi Schooner in the downtown area tonight, she started telling us her story. Her name is Shalom and she has lived in Biloxi for about six years -- right through Hurricane Katrina. Next month, she is moving to San Antonio. She simply sees no more future in this city.

She said her house was destroyed in the hurricane. Now rents are so high she cannot afford to live here. It's hard to find a gas station, her kids are not getting the kind of education she wants them to have. Many former residents have never come back, she said. Others have already left. She talked about her sadness at leaving, said she wants to come back to visit, but said she cannot stay living here now.

She asked whether we were visitors or volunteers. "Volunteers," we said. She thanked us for taking the time to come down to her city and wished us well. We wished her well, too. She was off to the kitchen and we were off to our trailer.
Phil

Hitting the wall

Each morning at 7:30, our work camp group gathers with others from Eagle River, Illinois and Connecticut for morning briefing with Leah Lyman, the volunteer coordinator; Craig, the construction supervisor, and Don Morgan, who oversees the whole volunteer effort. This morning, the room was extraordinarily quiet as people dragged themselves in. The pace of the work was taking its toll.

That's the way it went all day long. At the work sites, lots got done, but the bodies moved at a more sluggish pace. Numerous folks were at new work sites. The painting job at one house where Denise, Mary and Linda had been working was done. The huge project in Gulfport was scaled back, so John H, John Van O and Jim were free agents this morning. The three of them along with Mary and Linda went to work at a new site where the focus is on the renonvation of the interior of the house. Lots of painting of doors going on there. Denise helped out at the Loaves and Fishes noon meal program and also worked with the group from St. Charles, Ill. at their work site. Howard, David and I continued at the house we have been working on all week, with Howard taking a lead role in putting in new windows -- a major feat of creative engineering. (See pictures above.) The windows are in straight, but the house is crooked, so the windows look a bit odd from the outside. We won't get all the windows done on Friday, but we've made significant progress on that house.

As we settled in for the night (interrupted briefly when we turned on the heat, only to have all the smoke alarms start blaring), folks were reflecting back on the week. It was Howard to articulated something many of us had noticed -- no end to the number of times people would say thank you to us. Sure, the homeowners said thanks, but so did the folks in the hardware stores and at the restaurants and anywhere else we stopped in the Biloxi area. These folks are struggling to bring their communities into the future against great odds and they sure are glad some people from around the country are at their sides week after week.
Phil

Tales from the trailer

Sure, we're all busy working down here. But one of the best parts each day is when the nine of us gather in our trailer and tell stories -- stories of the day or stories of our lives.

John H, John VanO and Jim spent the first three days working at the site of a new house under construction in Gulport, about 10 miles away from Biloxi. This has been ... er ... a challenge. It's a huge, complex house, being built for three related families. This is not a typical project for Back Bay, but it is one the mission took on. It is a project, however, beyond the scope of volunteer labot. So it has not gone well, or, as John Hilliard said, "That place is nothing but trouble." The rafters are not going up well, the doors and windows don't fit, the list goes on and on. So today, at one point, our intrepid trio went to Home Depot to buy a tape measure. Once they got back to the work site, they realized that none of them had picked it up off the counter at the store. Back they went. And so it goes.

Last night, Mary had us all in stitches as she read selections from the Wisconsin Outdoor News that John Van O brought along. As she read through "Cuffs and Collars" about DNR arrests and citations of hunters and fishers, she combined naivete about hunting with deadpan delivery. Why would someone be arrested for hunting bear with seven dogs, she asked, in a tone that suggested maybe even one dog would be too many. (John Van O explained that hunting rules say you can only use six dogs.) By the time the evening was over, we figured if we had taped the conversation, we could have given "Guys on Ice" a run for its money.

Denise has managed to set up a running battle with John Rodgers, the leader of the St. Charles, Ill. group. John doesn't think much of Spook, our adopted black cat outside the trailer. So he needles Denise, who in turn needles him. We think ... think ... they will both survive the week.

Dave, Howard and I have been working on the inside of a house of a man who violated historic preservation rules by painting the exterior of his home blue and white because he is a Dallas Cowboys football fan. We've been fantasizing about repainting it green and gold just before we leave on Friday (and just before Dallas plays Green Bay at the end of this month).

This a group that loves a good story ... and the stories never stop. What a great bunch to be with.
Phil

Willing hearts

One of the highlights for people who come to Back Bay for work camps is attending worship services on Wednesday evenings at Main Street Missionary Baptist Church in Biloxi. Rev. Don Morgan, who is associate for volunteer services at the mission, is also connected with this church. So folks from Wisconsin and Illinois and Connecticut gathered with about a dozen Biloxi residents to sing a few hymns, hear a bit of scripture, form an improptu gospel choir under Don's direction and then hear Don preach. And can he ever preach!

His theme was that a willing heart and a made-up mind with availability and ability can get the job done. He applied that to those of who are here as volunteers this week. One reminder -- that many folks back at our home churches have a willing heart, but not the availability to come to Biloxi. He urged us to thank them for their support in prayers and in money to help get all of us here (so thanks, y'all). He also talked about how those of us with willing hearts were learning this week to do a lot more than we thought we were able to do. Lots of heads nodded as he said that.

After the service, John H and John VanO met a woman whose house they had worked on last year. This afternoon, Dave and I were talking with the man whose house we are working on this year and he told us how he had been baptized at Missionary Baptist Church when he was a child.

So this night tied a lot of threads together in an interesting way. We ended by forming a circle around the sanctuary, holding hands and saying the Lord's Prayer. People from many backgrounds, from many points on the compass, all came together in this wonderful moment.
Phil

The whole experience

Biloxi after Katrina +2

Driving around the streets of Biloxi two-plus years after Hurricane Katrina swept across this metropolitan area, it's easy to get lulled into thinking everything is well on the way back to normal.

Sure, there are still wrecked buildings like the souvenir shop you see above on the coastal highway -- U.S. 90. Sure, you can still see boards on some houses and empty lots where other houses used to be. But just before we arrived in Biloxi, the massive new bridge between Biloxi and Ocean Springs opened, replacing the one ripped apart by the hurricane. The neon lights of casinos fill the night sky, and these resort centers are making record profits. The main building at Back Bay Mission is all fixed up and looks beautiful.

Rev. Shari Prestemon, the executive director of Back Bay, offered us a view of the scenes not so immediately evident when she talked to our work camp group Monday afternoon. Of the 450,000 people living in the metro area of Biloxi, Gulfport and Ocean Springs, 40 percent earn less than 80 percent of the median household income. And what is the median household income in these parts, you ask. It's $48,000. That means that 80 percent of the families live on less than $38,500. That does give them much to work with for fixing up a house or buying a place to live.

That's the big issue, Shari told us. Land values are skyrocketing as people hold out hope that casinos will buy their land. That has frozen the market for new housing. Insurance costs have escalated beyond what many people can afford, often exceeding the value of mortgage payments in housing escrow accounts. Many people are choosing to live without any homeowner's insurance. "The insurance is a real mess," Shari said.

So while the glitter of Biloxi is returning for tourists, here's what Shari and her crew see on the back streets.

* Emergency assistance given out since Katrina by Back Bay -- which was already helping the poorest people here before the storm -- has increased by 500 percent. In 2006, Back Bay provided assistance to 3,300 people.

* About 11,000 people are still living in FEMA trailers.

* Many other people are still living doubled up with family or friends.

* An influx of Latino workers brought in by contractors and casinos has added to the housing crunch, with employers sometimes stuffing a dozen people into a small house.

* Homelessness continues to be a big issue, with people living in their cars, on the streets, under bridges. There is only one small homeless shelter, and that serves victims of domestic violence.

As we work on building a house for three families struggling to go on after the hurricane, as we paint the exterior of one house and rebuild the interior of another, our group from Memorial is making just a small dent in a huge crisis of affordable housing here. In the process, we are learning up close the pervasiveness of poverty and the on-going impact of this region's largest natural disaster.

Phil

Scenes from Back Bay

Here are some shots from our work at Back Bay. The shot of Denise, Linda and Mary is at the house they are helping paint. Howard, Phil and Dave are at the house they are reframing with Pastor Pat Tucker from the UCC church in Eagle River, Wis. Her group is in the trailer next to ours. They have their own blog on their web site.

Hard at work

Today was our first real work day in Biloxi. John Hilliard, John Van Overbeke and Jim Mayhew went off with a crew to Gulfport to put up roof rafters on a new house for three families. It's a very high, steep and ususual roof. (Think about the roof at Memorial and you'll begin to get the idea.)

Denise Brandl and Mary Upshaw went with a group painting the exterior of a house in Biloxi. This also involves some work on window frames and the like. Phil Haslanger and Howard Cosgrove were working inside a house helping put up interior wall frames. Dave and Linda Michael got lunches ready for our group as well as the 13 or so people from St. Charles, Ill.

We are likely to stay on these jobs all week.

We also met with Shari Prestemon, the executive director at Back Bay. She told us a lot about the current situation in Biloxi and the work of Back Bay. More on that in a future post.

Just know for now that we all feeling like we put in a good day (that means people are feeling tired) and that we celebrated Jim Mayhew's 65th birthday and Howard Cosgrove's 60th birthday this evening. That ... and a game of euchre ... was a great way to end the day.
Phil

Pictures from Biloxi

Greetings from Biloxi

Our work crew from Memorial UCC has settled in for the night. We arrived by car (John Hilliard, John Van Overbeke, Jim Myhew and Howard Cosgrove) and by plane (Phil Haslanger, Denise Brandl, Mary Upshaw, Dave and Linda Michael. By midafternoon, we had settled into our trailor at the Back Bay Mission site. Then we were off to New Orleans to explore a bit of the city.

Katrina remains a dominant presence here. On the flight from Memphis to Gulfport, I was talking with a woman who lives about 30 miles north of Biloxi. "Did Katrina affect you?" I asked. "Five and half feet of water," she replied. She and her three children -- then ages 5, 7 and 12 -- had taken refuge at her mother's place in another community before the storm. But even there, they watched water with white caps rush down the street. At their home, water destroyed everything. They lived in trailor for a year or so, now they are back home.

As Denise, Mary and I drove from the airport in Gulfport along the Gulf Coast to Biloxi, we saw a study in contrasts:
* The white sand on the beaches, carefully tended but still pretty unsafe as a result of all the debris washed up by Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005.
* Palm trees snapped off and dying on one side of the street, bushes manicured into the shape of dolphins in front of a resort on the other side.
* Brand new buildings next to empty lots next to the shells of buildings torn apart by the storm.
* Stretches of emptiness offset by casinos rising high into the sky, neon lights flashing.

And so it goes.
Phil

Ordination observations

Two colleagues wrote their takes on ordination day.
Gordon Govier, a long-time Madison journalist, handles press relations for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. He wrote this on his blog, All God's People.
"Late Career Clergy: Their Number is Growing"
Bill Wineke is a columnist for the Wisconsin State Journal and a UCC minister. This appeared as his column on Nov. 3.
Truth has its way of prevailing