Almighty GOD, Father of unending love and mercy,
we bring this outreach to you; asking for your blessing:
We come as broken and sinful vessels,
yet we are willing to be made whole -
To be used for your purpose.
Give us peace, as we go,
so that we can show your peace to others.
Sharing your hope and peace with a world, so in need of your touch.
It is something we neither take lightly
nor do we try it in our own power.
It is only in YOU that we have the strength to be the hands-of-Christ,
stretched out to a lost and hurting world.
We pray that we bring no offence
and that those we meet will see, in us, only the love and
compassion you have for them.
It’s in the name of Jesus Christ,
who lived, died and rose again,
that we may have eternal life, that we pray.
Amen
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
"The Dennis Project" 2014... (Part 2)
So, the question was, “How?”
• How do we reach out in love?
• How do we reach out without offending further?
• How should such an outreach look?
• How do we specifically “fashion the Gospel” for this specific people group?
• How will we be received?
In all honesty, our answers to the “How?” of this outreach took a great deal of prayerful consideration, consultation and re-re-re-thinking.
The greatest help, by-far, in the planning process, was having my awesome wife (Miki Kinkead) to help and to suggest and to pull-me-off-the-ledge as we kept hitting roadblocks and obstacles. We were on the same page: She had friends who were ‘un-churched’, not because of their thorough examination of the faith and a choice not to believe. But, because they did not find a place of peace, for their specific situation; in many who claimed the name of Christ. So, she was a valuable support in this outreach and enough can not be said of her humble-greatness and loving-care for others. Without her, this would not have happened, and GOD used her to make this a success.
So, first we talked to our friends. Looking for support & thoughtful suggestions: We told them about our hopes for the outreach and we asked for support in finding the answers to “How?”… We talked to everyone, clergy, lay, conservative, liberal, folks of various denominations, ministers, Christians, un-churched friends, gay, “straight”, you name it…. This is a testament to a good, diverse and inclusive circle of friends. I once heard someone say, “If all your friends are Christians; you don’t have enough friends!” I think this goes for any “adjective” – If all your friends are ___(white, rich, straight, educated, etc…)__; you don’t have enough friends!” So, having a diverse pool of people to consult, is a great thing and a blessing from GOD. But, even in this diverse group, we immediately found that we had waded into a stream that was neither easy to ford, nor peaceful to float:
Of course, there were a few who immediately said they were willing to help in any way. These are the true outreach-warriors; those who will go to any end to help a neighbor, shine the light of Christ or stretch out a loving hand to someone in need. For these folks we thank GOD and are blessed to have this handful of Christian friends in our circle.
But, what came as a great shock to me was the ‘push-back’ from so many ‘brothers & sisters’ in Christ. The sentiment, that this group of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered and Questioning people is, not unlike the lepers of old, completely untouchable and unworthy of such an outreach:
• I had e-mails from local clergy who said that there is no good and holy way to do such an outreach, because of the potential violence that could ensue.
• Many voiced a fear for our personal safety. Something that had NEVER crossed my mind to consider. We were going there in peace and were planning on meeting a peaceful people & we had no fear. But, this was a true concern of MANY who offered an opinion.
• I was also told, by a fellow clergy-man, that to reach out the LGBTQ population, you have to do it one-on-one so that when you tell them that their lifestyle is sending them to Hell, they can confront your message ‘without backup’.
• A well respected clergy-man friend even told me that he predicted nothing by “disaster” from such an outreach and that if we did not go in loudly “calling them out of the sin of Sodom”, we would not be honoring GOD with speaking the “true” Gospel.
• One dear, but un-thinking lady said, “No, that’s just too sick. I’m tired of hearing about them.”
Now, you could easily say that I should not have been surprised by these reactions. I have been doing out-reach ministry for some time and am familiar with not getting a lot of support from fellow members of congregations, or even the wider Christian community. I was once told, while a part of a fairly wealthy suburban parish, that “these folk would rather through money at an issue than to do anything about it.” In that church, we found that to be sadly true, generally. People in all Christian settings, I suppose, will gladly sit and hear the stories of missionaries and foreign ministers and will watch cleanly edited film footage of need, and read glossy brochures about the poverty and deprivation either in a far-flung part of the World, or even right here at home. Some will take the need to heart and write a check or give a donation, but VERY few will get out their beds on a Saturday morning to minister to the needy, or travel to a mission site or march in peaceful protest for the cause. This is a sad and far too common indictment on the Christianity of modernity & something I pray we find a cure for, in this generation.
A “cure”, for it is a deadly disease:
• Wealthy Christians will travel the African grasslands or Indian countryside to explore nature, yet never step off the bus to “be Christ” to the impoverished locals all around them.
• We will gladly walk past the homeless man, on the street corner, in winter; while we guzzle our 36oz, $6 cappuccino and never offer the poor man a dime.
• And, our “Brothers & Sisters” in their comfortable and well adorned beds will do nothing to offer even a clean mat for an orphan, in a 3rd world county to rest on.
It seems that our dedication to the “Great Commission” gets more and more diminished as time marches on & there will surely come a time when the call to “go and share the Gospel & baptize” is replaced with, “I wish someone had done something…” Very sad & constantly perplexing to me!
So between the disparaging calls to reconsider this outreach and the inaction of those not moved enough to help; GOD did bring us a core group of wonderful people who were able and willing to offer the support and help we needed to take this outreach to the streets. And truly, this was a diverse group… “Diversity in unity” was what saved and empowered this outreach & GOD used the effort and, with our rag-tag group, GOD touched us & we KNOW that He touched others through our efforts.
To be continued……
• How do we reach out in love?
• How do we reach out without offending further?
• How should such an outreach look?
• How do we specifically “fashion the Gospel” for this specific people group?
• How will we be received?
In all honesty, our answers to the “How?” of this outreach took a great deal of prayerful consideration, consultation and re-re-re-thinking.
The greatest help, by-far, in the planning process, was having my awesome wife (Miki Kinkead) to help and to suggest and to pull-me-off-the-ledge as we kept hitting roadblocks and obstacles. We were on the same page: She had friends who were ‘un-churched’, not because of their thorough examination of the faith and a choice not to believe. But, because they did not find a place of peace, for their specific situation; in many who claimed the name of Christ. So, she was a valuable support in this outreach and enough can not be said of her humble-greatness and loving-care for others. Without her, this would not have happened, and GOD used her to make this a success.
So, first we talked to our friends. Looking for support & thoughtful suggestions: We told them about our hopes for the outreach and we asked for support in finding the answers to “How?”… We talked to everyone, clergy, lay, conservative, liberal, folks of various denominations, ministers, Christians, un-churched friends, gay, “straight”, you name it…. This is a testament to a good, diverse and inclusive circle of friends. I once heard someone say, “If all your friends are Christians; you don’t have enough friends!” I think this goes for any “adjective” – If all your friends are ___(white, rich, straight, educated, etc…)__; you don’t have enough friends!” So, having a diverse pool of people to consult, is a great thing and a blessing from GOD. But, even in this diverse group, we immediately found that we had waded into a stream that was neither easy to ford, nor peaceful to float:
Of course, there were a few who immediately said they were willing to help in any way. These are the true outreach-warriors; those who will go to any end to help a neighbor, shine the light of Christ or stretch out a loving hand to someone in need. For these folks we thank GOD and are blessed to have this handful of Christian friends in our circle.
But, what came as a great shock to me was the ‘push-back’ from so many ‘brothers & sisters’ in Christ. The sentiment, that this group of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered and Questioning people is, not unlike the lepers of old, completely untouchable and unworthy of such an outreach:
• I had e-mails from local clergy who said that there is no good and holy way to do such an outreach, because of the potential violence that could ensue.
• Many voiced a fear for our personal safety. Something that had NEVER crossed my mind to consider. We were going there in peace and were planning on meeting a peaceful people & we had no fear. But, this was a true concern of MANY who offered an opinion.
• I was also told, by a fellow clergy-man, that to reach out the LGBTQ population, you have to do it one-on-one so that when you tell them that their lifestyle is sending them to Hell, they can confront your message ‘without backup’.
• A well respected clergy-man friend even told me that he predicted nothing by “disaster” from such an outreach and that if we did not go in loudly “calling them out of the sin of Sodom”, we would not be honoring GOD with speaking the “true” Gospel.
• One dear, but un-thinking lady said, “No, that’s just too sick. I’m tired of hearing about them.”
Now, you could easily say that I should not have been surprised by these reactions. I have been doing out-reach ministry for some time and am familiar with not getting a lot of support from fellow members of congregations, or even the wider Christian community. I was once told, while a part of a fairly wealthy suburban parish, that “these folk would rather through money at an issue than to do anything about it.” In that church, we found that to be sadly true, generally. People in all Christian settings, I suppose, will gladly sit and hear the stories of missionaries and foreign ministers and will watch cleanly edited film footage of need, and read glossy brochures about the poverty and deprivation either in a far-flung part of the World, or even right here at home. Some will take the need to heart and write a check or give a donation, but VERY few will get out their beds on a Saturday morning to minister to the needy, or travel to a mission site or march in peaceful protest for the cause. This is a sad and far too common indictment on the Christianity of modernity & something I pray we find a cure for, in this generation.
A “cure”, for it is a deadly disease:
• Wealthy Christians will travel the African grasslands or Indian countryside to explore nature, yet never step off the bus to “be Christ” to the impoverished locals all around them.
• We will gladly walk past the homeless man, on the street corner, in winter; while we guzzle our 36oz, $6 cappuccino and never offer the poor man a dime.
• And, our “Brothers & Sisters” in their comfortable and well adorned beds will do nothing to offer even a clean mat for an orphan, in a 3rd world county to rest on.
It seems that our dedication to the “Great Commission” gets more and more diminished as time marches on & there will surely come a time when the call to “go and share the Gospel & baptize” is replaced with, “I wish someone had done something…” Very sad & constantly perplexing to me!
So between the disparaging calls to reconsider this outreach and the inaction of those not moved enough to help; GOD did bring us a core group of wonderful people who were able and willing to offer the support and help we needed to take this outreach to the streets. And truly, this was a diverse group… “Diversity in unity” was what saved and empowered this outreach & GOD used the effort and, with our rag-tag group, GOD touched us & we KNOW that He touched others through our efforts.
To be continued……
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
“The Dennis Project” 2014… (Part 1)
For some time, it has been my hope to find a way to help mend the rift between the Church and the hurt & mistrust felt by many in the LGBTQ community. I have known gay men & women who have openly attested to the fact that the Church was not a welcoming and caring, safe place for them when, in truth, the Church should always be a safe refuge of peace to all who come to her. Knowing that there are many kind and caring Christian brothers and sisters, within Christendom, who lovingly treat everyone they meet with the compassion and dignity that Christ demands of His people; I knew there must be some way to reach out, in total love & the truth of Christ’s compassion and saving grace, and to show these dear people that there is a GOD who cares for them and who wants a saving and peace-filled relationship with them & that He proved that fact; in the death His Son died for them, on the Cross.
But, the question was, “How?”
The Church is full of well thought out and already-undertaken approaches to this question, approaches that stretch from pole-to-pole with attempts to ‘fit’ such an outreach into various denominational or theological or preferential ministry-boxes:
• Our friends in the über-progressive ‘churches’ believe that affirming & even celebrating all sexual-behavior is the key to breaching the divide that separates.
• At the opposite end of the spectrum lies the group that believes that Homosexuality is so twisted and so evil that there can be no good Christian approach to “sharing the Gospel” within such wretchedness.
• I’ve also come across this odd, “Not in my backyard” approach – The NIMBY approach: This is a group of people who say they would do nothing to harm or demean a gay or lesbian neighbor or acquaintance, but that “it’s not my fault” that some Christians are acting hurtfully to them, so I’ll have nothing to do with ‘fixing’ the problem. This lack-of-an-approach approach is the same tact taken by the majority of the German population as their Jewish friends and neighbors were being carted-off to death, before WWII & the same action-of-inaction that we see in our efforts to help the homeless and those in need, on the streets. People just do not want to get involved.
On this journey to find the right and holy approach, I have been met with each extreme approach… And, both extremes fall way-short of the goal of sharing the true peace of Christ’s love with a people who often feel hurt by the very ones who claim the “Christian” name. There must be a “right” way…
A personal note: Why this subject “hit’s home” so deeply with me runs deeper than just having friends, in the LGBTQ community, who have felt this hurt from “Christians”. This outreach project takes it’s name from a very personal situation. I had a relative who was gay: He was born into an abusive and worldly family and was treated as a burden by often seemingly uncaring parents bent on satisfying their personal hopes and wishes without much consideration for their child’s needs. He was, as a young child passed from relative to relative and was rarely settled in one place for long without being uprooted and passed to another relative in another far-flung place, away from the people he knew or the ones who most cared for his welfare. Eventually, he settled with his mother, after his father left to “take up” with a number of other women. But, by this time, his life was on a destructive path of crime, a number of imprisonments and actions that seemed to scream for the care and comfort of a loving family, that he never really knew. He grew up in a very different world in a very different time. The societal ‘norms’ of that day were much more exclusive and he wound up hiding his sexuality, for quite some time, from nearly everyone he knew. But, “in the closet” at that time, the community was being inundated with a new sickness that began taking the lives of so many gay men. This was a time when retro-viral drugs had not been ID’ed as a reasonable combatant to the HIV virus; and many times, those who were falling ill to the virus had no means of seeking or ever finding treatment. By the time that better medicines were made available, the virus had already ravaged his immune system and there was no stopping the infections and minor illnesses that would eventually take his life. He died in a facility, far from his family and without the care and comfort of people who should have been there to bring peace. A few years before he was diagnosed with the virus, he did find peace, for his soul in a local faith community. For a time, he lived a life dedicated to service and care for others and was a well known and respected member of that faith community. But, as has been said, this was a different time. As his disease progressed, he lost contact with his faith community. I do not believe that he lost faith, but the community in which he found his peace with GOD did not support him as perhaps they would today. And, as stated earlier, he died alone and nearly “put away and forgotten”.
I have to say that I feels an amount of guilt in not having known of his struggles until he had already passed away. I know that, in death, he was comforted by the whole company of Heaven, as he had put his trust in Christ and had the hope of Salvation; that he found in his baptism. But, this does not relieve an uncaring family of guilt, for the way he was treated. The name for this outreach is in honor of him and I so look forward to seeing and getting to know his full story, on day, in eternity; when we are reunited in the glowing love of Jesus, as we gather around GOD’s throne.
So, to conclude this blog entry, I will quote a good friend who so often says, “More shall be revealed!” Getting this story out and inviting other to join us on this journey to bring GOD’s peace to a hurting people is not a small task, so watch for more updates, information about our recent activities and the hopes we have to expand this outreach and to make a real difference.
The peace of CHRIST to you all!
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