Capital District, February 2009 Day 03

Saturday, February 7, 2009

I enjoyed a long breakfast with Eugene and Japonica, who pastor the Baltimore Foursquare church. It meets in the basement of an old Episcopal church-building in a very poor (and rough) part of town. They are so committed to making a difference and being a presence in their community that each Saturday they clean the streets around their building. Eugene told me that the drug-dealers used to toss paper and trash on the ground right in front of the men in the church. After several weeks, the dealers moved to other corners when the men came. After several more weeks, the dealers actually began to bag their own trash and give it to the guys!

Because their heart is completely to give to people, as opposed to get something from the community, Eugene and Japonica are considering some interesting strategies for outreach. One of the most intriguing aspects of their plan is to lease a (small) building in the community, where they would conduct practical-helps programs like after-school tutoring, help with job application forms, basic nutrition and finance courses, etc. Japonica has worked in all sorts of city agencies, so she has lots of experience with community action activities. I had so much fun encouraging them and helping them “put feet to” their vision.

Because of the deep affection and trust we enjoy together, we also broached the somewhat-sensitive subject of African-Americans in Foursquare. We do not have many Black pastors, and we do not have a good track record of nurturing/keeping/promoting the few we do have in our Movement. They shared with me about the tension between entitlement (“Give me something special because I deserve it.”) and accountability (“Each of us is accountable for our own actions.”) with which they and their friends encounter in a large, mostly-white denomination. From a systemic perspective, I talked about the inability of an “office” in LA to bring about meaningful change.

Sincere and godly leaders (which we have in Foursquare) often succumb to one of two extremes (mistakes) when trying to erase decades of unintentional discrimination. One temptation I call the “poster child” approach: identify one or two “exceptional” Black ministers and hold them up as the picture of near-perfection. Everyone gets excited and starts congratulating ourselves. “Look, we have a success story!” But who does this poster-child inspire? Usually just the White guys who comfort themselves with the feeling that “our system isn’t so bad; look at so-and-so. He made it.”

The other trap that I’ve observed is “adopt an expert” approach: find an outsider with a successful (big) ministry, and outsource training/resourcing/discipling of Foursquare pastors to that expert. The plea we make as a Movement is that “we don’t know how to do urban/ethnic ministry, so let’s find someone who does.” I appreciate the heart behind the plea, but do we know how to do missions? Don’t we and haven’t we always just gone into countries, learned the language/culture and started ministries?

Eugene asked me if Foursquare would ever envision urban mission churches as just that—missions. Would we, could we support pastors in the inner city in the same way we support missionaries in other countries? I think we could; I think we should…

After our long breakfast, I just had time to drive to D.C. where I enjoyed a long lunch with four of our Spanish-speaking pastors and their wives. Picture this scene: eight people furiously speaking Spanish, tossing in a sentence or two of English to keep me abreast of the conversation; all nine of us sitting across from one another at a long table in a crowded Italian restaurant; each of us ordering something like a salad plus part of a pizza. Oh, and laughing together like at a big family reunion!

The ostensible reason for the meeting was to discuss a radio broadcast we’re going to do each week, featuring the Spanish-speaking Foursquare churches in our district. The one-hour program will be live, with a host (Julio), and it will feature one pastor-guest each week. I’ve give the idea some significant seed money, so we’ll see what God does with it.

Aside from that order of business, we laughed with and loved on one another. I have been deeply honored and fulfilled because of the deep and profound connection God has given me with my friends who speak Spanish. I believe they feel completely safe with me, and as one of the guest lay-leaders said to me, “All the Spanish pastors, they really love you so much Dr. Brown.” Music to my ears…

By the time I got back to Baltimore and did a bit more writing it was time for dinner! I went to PF Chang’s where I ate Kung Pao Shrimp while reading my TIME magazine. Back in my room an hour later, I finished the rough draft of the rest of the article I mentioned yesterday.

Kingdom Perspectives on the Financial Meltdown, Part 2