Beyond Church Walls: What Christian Leaders Can Learn from Movement Chaplains [Interview]

Beyond Church Walls: What Christian Leaders Can Learn from Movement Chaplains [Interview]

by Stacie Mickelson, Director of Applied Research & Consulting

People who profess no faith affiliation, often called "nones”—as in "none of the above"—comprise nearly 23% percent of the U.S.'s adult population. How do we develop meaningful connections with a generation that might never enter a church building? We sat down with anti-racism activist and spiritual director Tracy Bindel to discuss this question.

“How do we develop meaningful connections with a generation that might never enter a church building?”

SM: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself – what you do with your time?

TB: I spend a lot of time bolstering and equipping social justice activists in the Boston area and beyond. I do that through Lenten spiritual direction, and I also run Circles (supportive contemplation-action groups) mostly for young people—Millennials who are engaged in some sort of justice work in the world. 

SM: You use the term ‘Nones’. Can you explain what that is?

TB: It seems to be a word that is quite popular among faithful Millennials. There’s a group of people who are deeply spiritual and longing for deep and faithful community, and they aren’t willing to be affiliated with large institutional religions. 

SM: What is Movement Chaplaincy?

TB: It’s an emergent field. It’s somewhere at the intersection of the multi-faith chaplaincy that you would see in a university and the traditional chaplaincy like in hospitals. It recognizes that people are in the world doing work together and need support—and more dynamic support—to do this work for the long haul.  

At SURJ Boston, when we have meetings, between 3 to 500 people show up. When you have five hundred people anywhere, you need all kinds of support, you don’t just need programming. Conflicts come up. Interpersonal stuff comes up. People don’t know how to navigate bigger questions on race, privilege, etc. Those are actually spiritual questions. 

“[Movement Chaplaincy is] somewhere at the intersection of the multi-faith chaplaincy (that you would see in a university) and traditional chaplaincy (like in hospitals).”

There are a lot of deeply faithful people thinking about, How do we actually shepherd this movement towards health and wellness, as we seek to dismantle systems of injustice?

SM: Are there places for churches to engage in movement chaplaincy?

TB: I think there’s a huge need for churches to follow the leadership of people in movement building work right now. But there’s hesitancy I see. 

I don’t have a lot of criticism of the church. But I think we could be doing more if we would trust that the Spirit is working outside of our walls, and that it’s okay for us to wander out and not be afraid of what could happen. I think the hesitancy I see mostly has to do with fear of “those people”—a separation between spiritual and secular people, which I don’t believe really exists.

TIPS FROM THE FRONT LINES

If you’re interested in learning more about engaging ‘nones’ or getting involved in anti-racism work, Tracy has some practical tips for you:

1. Learn New Spiritual Language.

Listen to the podcast “On Being”, which brings together intersections in spirituality. It will give you the language to access people outside of the spiritual language that you currently have.  

2. Check Your Fear.

Consider what you internally fear in people who don’t have the same values and faith that you do, because God is not afraid of that. Ask yourself: How much of my discomfort is just language translation? Where do I need to learn how to speak a different language to reach and connect genuinely with these people? And where do I fear our differences in values?

3. Support & Learn from Those Doing Frontline Ministry in the 21st Century.

I think most people in the United States know it’s bad to be racist. But most people  don't actually know what it means to live into a practice of anti-racism. Go and find the people who do. I guarantee there are people in your community who are trying, whether that’s through meditation or policy work or legislation. There are different ways people are committed to practicing that value. Go and learn from them—that is applied spirituality.

4. Look For God Already at Work.

If we were to pose the question as, “What do you know about God?” rather than, “Do you know him or not?”, we would enter into a much more dynamic conversation. I just like to put on my curious exploration hat and say, “I wonder where God might be at this meeting? Maybe I’ll go see.”

5. Invest in Church-Based Community Organizers.

Anti-racism work is deeply spiritual. But there are thousands of people outside church walls who are also talking about it, and churches need to be in relationship with them—we need to be more coordinated and connected. Will your congregation support someone to spend dedicated hours each week coordinating with other parts of the movement to do this work well? My really big hope is for churches to hire community organizers to connect and organize congregations around these social issues.

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TRACY BINDEL

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Tracy is an anti-racism activist and spiritual director who describes her work as Movement Chaplaincy, an emergent stream of chaplaincy that supports activists and social justice movement builders. She is a co-founder of Freedom Beyond Whiteness, a nationwide network of contemplative action circles, and she works locally with the Boston chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), a network of 3500+ people that is comprised of many small issue-based working groups.

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Churches: Community Development is the New Community Service

Churches: Community Development is the New Community Service

By Bethany Slack, MPH, ARC Associate in Public Health & Wellness

Churches can have whole-health impacts in their communities. But churches who want to engage the physical needs of a local area need intention, planning, and a fuller picture of Christian love.

At the 2018 GO Conference in February, I attended a workshop called, “Bringing Life to Your Community, “ led by Archbishop Timothy Paul, President of the Council of Churches of Western Massachusetts (CCWM). There he presented a practical vision for engaging the whole-bodied needs of a local area.

The Archbishop reminded us of the insight (often attributed to Teddy Roosevelt), “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Members of a community sometimes don’t know how much churches care until they see us helping to address pressing physical needs.

CCWM fleshes out Jesus’ “do unto others” call into thoughtful ways that churches can discover community needs and develop sustainable programs. The main insight I took away from the workshop was the difference between community service and community development.

Community SERVICE vs. Community DEVELOPMENT

When I was growing up, my church took serving the community very seriously. Our small groups and youth groups regularly volunteered at the church’s food pantry or community clothing distribution center. Our hometown of Harrisonburg, VA, was a prime destination for immigration, so our church helped sponsor refugees and immigrants for resettlement in the US.

Our church also maintained a fund for helping out with community needs. My dad administered the fund for many years, instilling in me a value of thinking beyond the needs of our own family. In my adult life, I’ve volunteered at free clinics and resource centers for the homeless. So community outreach is rooted deep within me.

But I would call my outreach experience “community service.” The Archbishop presented a model for something quite different—community development.

As a public health professional at EGC, I’m developing a Boston-based program to help Christian leaders and healthcare professionals across the city convene to address end-of-life care needs. But I’ve not been involved in community development work connected to a particular church body.

Community development involves going out into the community and doing a needs assessment, discovering with local partners:

• What are the needs and opportunities of this community?  

• With whom can we partner?

• What is the role of our church in the community?

• What is our responsibility to the community?

• How can we help build the community around us?

With the projects CCWM has developed from this discovery process, they’re not just giving out food or other items, but they’re trying to build the community’s own capacities. For example, CCWM is involved in mentoring youth, providing counseling, and other activities that help people get back on their feet or overcome their past.

Fullness of Life, Fullness of Ministry

CCWM’s approach is inspired by John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (NIV). For CCWM, “life to the full” includes five pillars of community health: spiritual, educational, economic, health, and social.

According to their “Vision 10:10” strategy, each of these five areas is an opportunity for the church to strengthen its surrounding community. Some of the ways CCWM has invested in these pillars in Springfield neighborhoods include:

• opening a hotel to create jobs and revenue (economic)

• obtaining a grant to mentor youth with incarcerated parents (social)

• providing counseling for gambling and opiate addiction (health, social)

CCWM developed each of their initiatives in response to needs they observed in the community. For example, their interest in treating gambling addiction stems from the arrival of a new casino in Springfield.

My Next Steps

I’d like to see my current church come together to begin conversation about our role in the local community. That kind of shared discovery is not something I’ve seen. Mostly I’ve seen programs develop from the top down from the leadership, or even from the leadership practices of the churches that planted them.

We’re in Belmont, MA, and my husband and I have been a part of the church there since it was planted. As far as I know we haven’t yet held conversation about what it means to be in Belmont or our role in the Belmont community. We’ll need to also have some theological discussion around what it can mean (and doesn’t mean) to “be the church” beyond our walls.

My first step is to get together with one of the elders of the church and say, “Here are my thoughts about our serving the community. What do you think?”

We already have community outreach activities, and I don’t know how they came about. There may be these kinds of discussions going on behind the scenes that I don’t know about. Those of us not on the planting team haven’t yet had much influence on the kinds of community work the church does. So my first step is to connect with my church leadership.

I think God is inviting me to be open to what community development might look like to my church leaders. I’m not in leadership at the church. Yes, community development is on my heart, but I want to hear what’s in the hearts of the leaders too. Anything we do as a church, I’d want it to be coming not from me, but from the church as a whole.

For Reflection

• Many of us attend churches outside of our home neighborhood or city. How does this reality affect our potential for community impact, individually and corporately, for the positive or negative?

• Most of us attend churches that meet in a fixed location, whether owned or rented. How do we view our “place” in the neighborhood? Is it merely a space to gather, or is there potential or even responsibility to play an active role in seeking the good of the community?

Bethany Slack, MPH, MT, is the Public Health and Wellness research associate at EGC. Her passion is to see Jesus’ love translated into improved health and health justice for all, across the lifespan and across the globe.