Opportunities continue to present themselves, more so now since my participation in E&J Day at the capital on 4/28. It is a practice that helped me remember my worth as a minister and my ability to nurture my passion in engaging with a community in servant leadership. Andy and I represented the church as a body living in the community of love, nurturing each other.
May 1, 2009
Opportunities
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May 1, 2009
Equality & Justice Day – NY State Capital
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On April 28, I participated in a rally for equality and justice at the New York state capital with 2000 people. We were an incredibly diverse crowd, including constituents from the far reaches of the state. We spoke with those who have been voted into office to represent us. We spoke so that those representatives would recognize the common interests and the needs of the people of New York state. We know the stories of our lives shed light on why passing into law GENDA (Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act), Dignity (Dignity for all Students Act) and same-sex marriage is the way to opening civil rights to LGBT in order that we all might flourish.
April 16, 2009
Good Friday – Way of the Cross
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Last year, the 1st year, we walked around the block, Andy and I, in the freezing cold wondering what the year would bring; believing God has a hand in it all; hoping that we could come to know the neighborhood and learn to be community together.
This year, we have the experience of a year lived on this block. We have shared the street with ambulances, police cars, taxis, fire trucks and kids throwing the ball to each other. (more…)
April 1, 2009
Letty Russell wrote:
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Out of a starting point connected to those who are marginalized comes the theological spiral that Beverly Harrison has called a “liberation social ethics methodology” and Katie Cannon calls “emancipatory praxis”. This style 0f theologizing in a continuing spiral of engagement and reflection begins with commitment to the task of raising up signs of God’s new household with those who are struggling for justice and full humanity. It continues by sharing experiences of commitment and struggle in a concrete context of engagement. Third, the theological spiral leads to a critical analysis of the context of the experiences, seeking to understand the social and historical factors that affect the community of struggle. Out of this commitment to action in solidarity with the marginalized, and out of sharing of experiences and social analysis, arise questions about biblical and church tradition that help us gain new insight into the meaning of the gospel as good news for the oppressed and marginalized. This new understanding of tradition flows from and leads to action, celebration and further reflection in the continuing theological spiral.
from Church in the Round
March 27, 2009
Alice Miller wrote
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Finally someone who has deliberately undergone [one's] own destiny in all its tragedy will also detect more clearly and more rapidly the suffering of the other, even if [one] must go beyond it. [One] will not be able to mock strange feelings of any kind if [one] can take [one's] own seriously. [One] will no longer go round the vicious circle of contempt.
February 24, 2009
COMMON GROUND
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As the Body of Christ in community, church has a role. Since CWAC is a movement in response to oppression, we covenant to filter conversation through the following (you can hold us accountable in loving support):
1. The starting point of theological thought and action is the experience of social oppression.
2. The goal of theology is human worth, the possibility of being a person within a just order of society.
3. Theology is praxis. Theology takes place in just action and the struggle for a new society.
These tenets were taken from Elisabeth Moltmann-Wendel’s A Land Flowing With Milk and Honey (1989).
February 23, 2009
Invitation to Join Work Area Meeting
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The Open National Coordinating Team meeting in White Plains, NY, will be meeting March 13-15. Follow this link to learn more: CWAC Meeting
The Church Start/Redevelopment Team (Ministry Development) will meet on Friday, March 13th at 3:00pm. We will be gathering to discover what BEing church looks like in ministry as new church starts and revitalizations. We are stepping out into communities as church – the Body of Christ. What exactly does that look like?
It looks like a communion table that always has room for one more.
It looks like a place where every pew is a sacred space of sharing
It looks like a time/place in which no voice is valued above another.
It looks like a place where everyone is a participant, not a visitor.
It looks like …
We would love to be able to come together to talk about how this is lived in reality – here, now, today – in our ministry.
February 19, 2009
“Breathing Space”
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I need mentors to guide and inspire. I need mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers of the church, the body of Christ, for me to grow in the call to the servant leadership. Our Church Within A Church Movement is about BEing the church today, with justice, mercy and equality overcoming the push to conform to the will or the way of a socialized hierarchy of worth. At times I lose focus as I lose heart.
I have discovered that I especially need the companionship of a woman of wisdom born of experience in visionary work. (more…)
February 19, 2009
A Covenantal Celebration of Renewal
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I began writing this covenant renewal service with a friend at work who wanted to celebrate five years of marriage and to heal a rift in their lives. It was exciting to plan and take part in this event since my friend has never “gone to church” and is married to a Catholic. Because I am ordained in a church movement, how we “do things” is evolving within the tradition. I have discovered a place of freedom where I can be responsive to the situation specific to the people gathered, looking forward to the designs of the Holy Spirit rather than conformity to a rule. Good thing, since conforming is not a high priority in life.
I am anxious to do more toward gathering people for shared spiritual events of celebration and healing in the love of Christ Jesus. I faithfully pray for the opportunity to help shape and care with people gathered to BE church, the body of Christ, in expressions of our common “Belovedness” lived in diverse experiences. I have talked with individuals who are really interested but extremely cautious about getting too quickly involved. This weblog may help us begin to carefully connect with each other. People may understand more about what I represent as an ordained servant leader. I am sure, like this renewal service, the nature of the services over which I preside will be formed around those of us involved. That’s the most exciting part for me. (more…)
February 7, 2009
Heartbreaking Potential – you can act
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This is a movie from the Courage Campaign in California. It is truly poignant. I encourage all, no matter your thoughts on same-sex marriage, to see this video and ponder the effects of potentially being forced to divorce your spouse.
Or, you can go to http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/divorce
Perhaps this begs a question. If you don’t believe they should be married to each other, who do you believe they should marry?
February 7, 2009
Preventing Tyranny of the Majority – a tool.
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This is an offering from the Power Flower discussion at the last national meeting in October. I hope it gives further food for thought and, at least, keep the issue of -isms in the forefront of dialogue.
Privilege is one of those very strange things. Those who lack it generally recognize it as either something to envy or something to despise. Those who know they have it and are inclined to have more, manipulate it to their own advantage. Then there is the great, largely clueless majority who, if asked, will tell you they don’t have privilege – they are just as downtrodden as women, people of color, GLBT or whatever other group they may name. Sometimes I think that the invisible unflective privilege is the most heinous and insidious.
To fully understand privilege, we have to first unpack its two close relatives – bias and prejudice. While we tend to use these words interchangeably, they are quite different. Bias is an ingrained preference for or against particular things, and it ranges from the mundane to the notorious. Preferring strawberries over apples is a bias, as is having a preference for white people or against people of color. One is relatively harmless and mild, while the other may be hurtful to both persons involved. Prejudice is pre-judgment based on some criteria or bias. It is one thing to be biased towards whites, but another to prejudge the characteristic of white as better than all other possibilities. Prejudice elevates bias to an action or belief system that is illogical and not just hurtful, but potentially truly harmful. (more…)
January 20, 2009
The Inclusive Ordination Service
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This is a video compilation of key moments in the Church Within A Church service of extraordinary ordination. Revs Annie Britton and Jenna Zirbel were ordained in the Methodist tradition in an ecumenical service. What can you say, it was a beautiful event – one that changed us forever. Praise God!
January 20, 2009
Reflection on Immigration
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This was also originally posted elsewhere, but has been re-posted here with permission.
Narratives are a powerful tool for communicating, but even more so they can be immensely important in the process of self-reexamination. This is a reflection on a chance encounter that opened my eyes even more the lives lead by some immigrants in the U.S and to my own place of privilege. (more…)
January 20, 2009
Community Building – Sin or Grace
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When faced with urban decay, homelessness, drugs and other crimes, as well as the cultural depression that occurs within a blighted area, some communities take action. The results of that action can be visible, sometimes manifested in cleaner, safer, more optimistic environments. Sin and grace are both visible in the steps taken to “clean up” neighborhoods. It appears, at least to this observer, that the initial effort to resolve the problems, as described above, can eventually turn into efforts to take care of our situations. My observations thus far indicate the existence of a substantial amount of self-interest in revitalization actions taken, as opposed to acting primarily for the larger good of community. (more…)
January 17, 2009
How a Closed Mind was Opened
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Professor Emeritus Arlo Duba, long-time conservative retired Dean of the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, shocked many with this revelation. It is well worth the read.
“I rejoiced when the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was given the authoritative interpretation that precluded homosexual participation in the ministry of the church in 1978. I thought the issue was settled once and for all. I continued my smugness for more than twenty years when the denomination repeatedly confirmed that interpretation. I was simply so certain that I never read any of the literature being produced about the issue.
Then my Bible reading and study led me to the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-39).”
Read the full article at: “How My Mind Was Changed” Written by Arlo D. Duba
Appearing online at the Presbyterian Outlook website, Sunday, 28 December 2008
Rev Jenna Zirbel
