Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a gathering/conference in Philadelphia. One of the reasons that I went is that it was being held at Broad Street Ministries, which is housed in the building of a congregation that was closed during my tenure on the staff of the Presbytery of Philadelphia. When we closed the congregation, the Presbytery decided to hold on to the facility, since it was located in a particularly interesting area… smack dab in the middle of a vibrant and diverse community of movers and shakers, artists, students and the homeless. We dreamed of many things that the facility might be used for… a community center, a shared space for the Presbytery offices and the University of the Arts, a new worshiping community, etc. And so I went to Philly curious to see what had become of the place.
The first time that I entered old sanctuary, I was amazed. The old pews had been removed and replaced with circles of chairs. Above, the ceiling had become an amazing art installation that included windmills and origami swallows. The stained glass windows remained as did the somewhat tattered appearance that comes from years of deferred maintenance. The walls contained other original artworks, including a contemporary re-working of the Lord’s Prayer. Elsewhere, the facility contained space for eating, gathering and serving the community at large.
When our group gathered for worship and the piano began to play a meditative “Fairest Lord Jesus” I found myself weeping. Tears of joy fell as I realized that ‘it had come to pass’… God had blessed the wild imaginings of that Presbytery and had brought something new and wonderful out of the ashes of that old congregation. What a gift to be able to come full circle and see how God’s faithfulness is at work in even the most difficult struggles that we face. It gave me a comfort and hope to sustain me in the sometimes difficult work that we all undertake together.
Broad Street Ministries is not a congregation, but a ministry that serves the community with food, conversation, social services and yes, upwards of 250 people gather there for worship each week. Their staff includes an Ambassador of Welcome, an Arts Marshall, a Dean of the Center for Subversive Theology, a Director of Social Services, and others. If you’d like to find out more (and I recommend that you do), you will want to check out their website: www.broadstreetministry.org
And now, for the content of the conference : The title of the gathering/conference was “Pastoral Leadership Gathering.” We — well, OK, they — were mostly under 30, mostly white, mostly pastors, and mostly skinny. We gathered to experience and then to theologically explore the work of Peter Block, particularly his book, Community: The Structure of Belonging. I am very excited about this work and the possibilities that it offers for Christian leaders. Though he insists that he is not a Christian, most of us concluded that Peter Block is in denial about that… we found his work to have a deep Christology at its core, and he admits to being heavily influenced by Walter Brueggemann. If that’s not enough to interest you, let me offer the following tid-bits from his work:
- The core task of leadership is to build community.
- Creating Community requires the courage to acknowledge that we need each other. It is also a choice for restoration over retribution; connectedness over fear.
- Leadership chooses relationship over technology, gifts over deficiencies, and possibility over problem solving. Leadership is about being host, not hero.
- Communal transformation occurs in public, in assembly, in meetings, when we are reminded we are part of something larger.
If you are intrigued (and I hope you are), I invite you to join me in the following: Buy the book and read it over the next 6 weeks. Then, let us gather for food, fellowship and conversation around these ideas in late January. (I’m thinking Jan. 27th).
Feel free to post ideas/comments here on this post, to share with others on this topic.
Shalom y’all!
Rebecca
Thoughts & Images from the Heart 
I’m intrigued by the idea of a group book reading & gathering. Would like to commit, however I don’t know that I can in January. I’ll also be in Montreat on January 27th for the first weekend of a four weekend Con Ed program offered through McCormick Seminary. Keep me in the loop!
Will do Dan. I think there will be plenty of opportunities for conversation around this book.