Letter to the Editor of the St. Joseph News-Press re: MO SB 590

I wrote the following  for The Dialogue, the newsletter of the church where I serve, First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ of St. Joseph, MO.

Below is a letter I sent to the St. Joseph News-Press in response to a proposed law now making its way in the Missouri Senate regarding undocumented immigrants.  My perspective comes out of a deep belief that Jesus’ command of us to love our neighbors includes undocumented immigrants.  Similarly the Bible speaks strongly about people of faith showing hospitality to strangers and immigrants.  I hope you will join me in opposing Missouri Senate Bill 590.

• petition opposing MO SB 590 
• statement against MO SB 590 Missouri Immigrant and Refugee Advocates

Letter to the Editor of the St. Joseph News-Press

In his February 6 column, Steve Booher writes in support of Missouri Senate Bill 590, which would require local law enforcement to check the legal immigration status of anyone they suspect of being an undocumented immigrant and local school officials to check the status of every child in their schools.  Mr. Booher does not see a problem with local officials doing the job of the federal government or passing a law that has already been blocked by the courts in other states and sees no possibility that innocent people might be harassed by such procedures.  Much more reasonable was Ken Newton’s February 14 column which pointed out the burden this law would place upon our already overextended schools.  I hope Mr. Booher read Mr. Newton’s column.

SB 590 resembles in large part recent legislationpassed in Alabama.  That law’s provision requiring schools to check the status of children was immediately blocked by a federal court.  The provision requiring local law enforcement to check the status of anyone they suspected of being an undocumented immigrant resulted in, among other problems, the arrest of aGerman Mercedes-Benz executive and the ticketing of a Japanese Honda employee.  The state saw an immediate drop in interestfrom international business.  The effectsupon agriculture have been extremely negative since it depends upon immigrant laborers, who are now leaving the state.  In sum, the effects of the law have been so bad that Alabama’s governor and legislators who crafted and passed the law now all admit that it must be changed.

Given those disastrous results, why would we want a similar law in our state?  It would be far better if Missouri chose instead to pressure the federal government to retool our nation’s broken immigration system.  Instead of passing laws that would damage our state—laws designed for partisan political gain in an election year—our state government should be working to recognize the positive difference documented and undocumented immigrants make in our state and finding ways for all to have a path to work here legally.

In addition to not passing bad laws, I would ask our state leaders (and our local newspaper columnists) to each make an effort to meet and talk to just one family of undocumented immigrants.  Rather than finding threatening foreigners intent on destroying America, I believe they would look into the eyes of parents and children who want nothing more than a good safe life.  If they dared to set aside cheap political profit for the courage to look fellow human beings in the eye, I feel sure they would find not “illegals” or “criminals” but good people who only want what any of us want—a good community in which to raise our children.

I realize that expecting politicians and newspaper columnists to choose courage and human decency over xenophobia and scapegoating is perhaps not realistic, but I believe such virtues are possible—even in an election year.

Rev. Chase Peeples

First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of St.Joseph, MO

Faith in Action in the News

As I mentioned in my last post, FCC St. Joseph is a proud part of Faith in Action.  Here's the local press coverage of last Sunday's annual meeting by KQ2 and the St. Joseph News-Press.

Over 1168 miles!!!!

I wrote the following  for The Dialogue, the newsletter of the church where I serve, First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ of St. Joseph, MO.
 

1168 miles!  That’s the number of miles FCC’s own Sheryl Webb drove in 2011 for Faith in Action.  Primarily, she has driven elderly people to doctor’s appointments and for specific treatments.  These folks are members of our community who cannot drive themselves and lack family to do so.  They need more than a ride; they often need someone to give them an arm to lean on as they walk to the car and a hand to hold as they wait at an appointment.  Sheryl has provided all these things as a Faith in Action volunteer.

During worship services, you may have heard me mention Faith in Action, one of the ministries of our church.  First Christian helped start FIA back in the early 1990’s to organize volunteer caregivers for people with HIV/AIDS in our community.  Over time, the county health department took over that role (FCC’s own Kelly Kibirige is the HIV/AIDS nurse for Buchannan County and would be glad to talk with you about volunteering).  Faith in Action evolved into an organization that helped people with a variety of medical conditions through volunteers coordinated by Heartland Hospital.  Eventually, Heartland and area churches decided that needs could be better met if the churches made this ministry their own.

In 2008, I was a part of the reorganization of Faith in Action and today I serve as chairperson of its governing board.  Although FIA still receives some support from the Heartland Foundation (free office space at Hope House, etc.) and some logistical support from Heartland Hospital (IT support, etc.), the organization is governed and financially supported by St. Joseph churches.  First Christian is one of them.  Rather than being a non-profit organization, FIA is a coalition of 29 churches and organizations that provide volunteers to help low-income people (often seniors and disabled people without family support) in a variety of ways.  If St. Joseph churches choose not to make FIA happen, it simply disappears.

A great thing about FIA is its diversity.  Member churches include Roman Catholic, mainline Protestant and evangelical Protestant ones.  FIA churches come from downtown, southside, northside and the east side of town.  Each church provides volunteers who provide ministry to people through transportation to doctor visits, building wheelchair ramps, minor home repair, phone calls to seniors living alone and many other ways.  Here are some highlights from the wonderful work done by FIA over the last year:

• 2,235 Volunteer Hours 
• 12,122 Volunteer Miles driven 
• 875 rides provided 
• 7 wheelchair ramps built 
• Numerous home repairs: new handrails, a screened-in porch, storm doors, kitchen cabinets, fixing a leaky roof and weatherizing windows

During these difficult economic times, FIA helps people who would otherwise not be helped.  The clients helped are often referred by social service agencies that for one reason or another cannot provide what is needed.  These folks would fall through the cracks without the volunteers from St. Joe churches.  An important by-product of the work of FIA volunteers is that low-income seniors who do not have support from family are able to live independently in their own homes rather than facing the choice of moving into a care center or possibly becoming homeless.

I am very grateful to Melissa Miles who took on the role of First Christian’s FIA team leader.  She is the one to talk to about volunteering with FIA.  If you can drive, call a lonely senior once a week on the phone, drop off food from Second Harvest, perform minor home repairs or do yard work, you can volunteer for FIA.  Is God calling you to serve by putting your faith into action?

Grace and Peace,

Chase

An Award I Share with First Christian Church

I wrote the following  for The Dialogue, the newsletter of the church where I serve, First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ of St. Joseph, MO.

I'm catching up on blog posts.  This one was written on Jan. 25, 2012
 

On January 23, I was given a great honor, The Center for Multicultural Education of Missouri Western State University gave me the “Drum Major for Justice” award at its annual awards banquet.  The award is given to individuals at Missouri Western and in the larger St. Joseph community who have worked for justice in the tradition of Martin Luther King, Jr.  I was humbled to be one of three recipients of the award for 2012. 

The award takes its name from MLK’s remarkable speech, “The Drum Major Instinct” in which he declares that we all have the desire to be out front and to be leading the band.  Yet, Jesus taught us to serve others and to embody the Kingdom of God’s ideal that the least shall be the greatest.  At the end of the speech, he states that at his funeral, he does not want long speakers describing his many awards.  Instead, he says, “If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice.  Say that I was a drum major for peace.  I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”

I was more than humbled to receive the award; I was a little overwhelmed, because if there is any award in our community I would ever desire to receive, it is this one.  For someone to say that you are standing up for God’s vision of justice in the same tradition as MLK is not only an honor; it is also quite daunting.  Any conscientious person receiving such an award would naturally think of her or his many failures to do enough for the cause of justice.  I know I certainly did.

I was given the chance to share a few words when the award was given out.  I declared that this great honor was one I shared with the church where I serve, First Christian Church of St. Joseph, MO.  In whatever way I have been able to speak out and work on behalf of marginalized people in our community, it is only because my church has supported me doing so and has been there with me.  During my first year here, I spoke up at a city council meeting in support of a new homeless shelter which faced opposition and FCC members were there with me.  I have made my beliefs very public about the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in both church and society, but it was the membership of FCC which voted to be open to and affirming of all people, including LGBT people.  By taking often unpopular stands like these in our community based on our understanding of a loving and just God, our church has faced criticism from those outside the church and has even lost some members.  Yet, it is the church’s determination to stand on principles of justice that make me proud to be its minister.  So, I accepted the award, but as I did so, I stated publicly that it was First Christian’s award too.

When I spoke at the banquet, I shared a story from my father’s experience that has guided my own sense of working for God’s justice.  When my father was a young minister at a small white Baptist church in Texas, an African-American family began attending.  When word got out that the new young preacher was fine with African-Americans coming to his church, other such families began attending.  After a time, the original family desired to join the church, but the white members insisted on a church business meeting first.  Members of the church who had not darkened the doors in years showed up to vote to refuse membership to the African-American family.  My father went to meet with the family and to share the news of the church’s rejection of them.  They were gracious to the young minister and considered the decision to be just another example of the larger racist culture, yet my father left their home feeling that he should have spoken up and fought for their inclusion.  He never forgot that feeling of regret.

To give my father credit, throughout his career as a minister he routinely worked to overcome divisions between blacks and whites.  One of the last churches he served was located in a small town in southeastern Virginia which literally had a black side of the tracks and a white side of the tracks.  He baptized the first African-American person in the church’s long history and did so over the objections of some church members.  Even with many occasions for standing up against racism on his resume, my father never forgot about the time he failed to do so.  I learned from him that any short-term discomfort, opposition or rejection you may face for standing up for the justice of God pales in comparison to the regret you will feel for not doing so. 

In my ministry, I have tried to stand for God’s justice even in the face of opposition, because I know that in the end each of us must face our own conscience and our God.  I am proud to serve a church that feels the same way.  Together, may we at FCC continue to be “Drum Majors for Justice” and work for the dignity of all God’s children. 

Grace and Peace,

Chase

The Domestication of MLK, Jr.

I wrote the following  for The Dialogue, the newsletter of the church where I serve, First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ of St. Joseph, MO.

I'm catching up on blog posts.  This one was written on Jan. 18, 2012--the week of the MLK, Jr. holiday.

I’ve been listening to the Republican candidates jockeying for their party’s nomination.  I’ve been reading about the Obama campaign ramping up for this year’s election.  I have channel surfed the talking heads and pundits.  I heard the reporters talking about poll numbers.  Although I have encountered discussion of the problems faced by our culture, those problems are always framed in terms of who will win the political horse race rather than in terms of justice, especially not the type of justice spoken of by the Hebrew prophets, the early church and Jesus.

On this week of commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, we need his prophetic take on God’s justice more than ever.  We, as a nation, need to hear not the MLK of sound bites or platitudes, but the MLK who inspired people to risk their lives for justice.  We have domesticated MLK and made him as inoffensive as a greeting card.  We have lost the man who not only fought against Jim Crow but risked the support of his own African American base speaking out against the Vietnam War.  He was assassinated in Memphis working for higher wages and safety standards for sanitation workers—both Caucasian and African American.  When even his own people wanted him to play it safe, he chose to heed the demands of justice. 

What would MLK say about the “War on Terror” and our nation’s militarism?  Read the words from his speech about the Vietnam War ("Beyond Vietnam"--April 4, 1967) and see if they are relevant today:

“Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on. . . A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. . . There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war.”

What would MLK say about the ever-widening gap between the wealthy and everyone else?  Read his words from the same speech ("Beyond Vietnam"--April 4, 1967):

“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered. . . A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”

What would MLK say about the rhetorical and legislative attacks upon Latino immigrants (documented and undocumented) and upon lesbian and gay people so prevalent today?  Read his words about racism against African Americans and ask yourself if they are not just as relevant regarding the oppression other minority groups today (Martin Luther King, Jr., Where DoWe Go from Here: Chaos or Community?):

“If a man asserts that another man, because of his race, is not good enough to have a job equal to his, or to eat at a lunch counter next to him, or to have access to certain hotels, or to attend school with him, or to live next door to him, he is by implication affirming that that man does not deserve to exist.  He does not deserve to exist because his existence is corrupt and defective. . . Racism is a philosophy based on a contempt for life…Racism is total estrangement.  It separates not only bodies, but minds and spirits.  Inevitably it descends to inflicting spiritual or physical homicide upon the out-group.”

What should we say about MLK today?  He told us what he wanted said about him in his incredible sermon “The Drum MajorInstinct.”  (This was misquoted on theMLK, Jr. monument in Washington, D.C. and will soon be corrected.)  In it, he described the human tendency to be like a drum major—being out front, getting all the attention, leading the band, etc.  He declared that Jesus taught a different way of humility and service.  Then he declared how he wanted people to think about him after his death:

“If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. . . Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school.  I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question.  I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked.  I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison.  I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.  Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice.  Say that I was a drum major for peace.  I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”

God save us from domesticating Martin Luther King, Jr.  Help us to hear his words anew today.

Grace and Peace,

Chase

What is Circle of Hope?

I wrote the following  for The Dialogue, the newsletter of the church where I serve, First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ of St. Joseph, MO.

For about a year now, the name Circle of Hope has shown up on our church calendar on the second Monday evening of each month.  FCC members have naturally asked since we have a women’s circle called Circle of Grace if this is a new women’s circle?  Unfortunately it is not another women’s circle, but fortunately for our community, it is a non-profit organization working with families containing individuals with physical and mental health issues.  Among the many services they offer, they meet once a month at our church building to offer a support group, “Focus Empowerment Group,” for parents raising children with physical, mental and/or emotional health needs.  They have dinner together, and then the children have their own session while the parents get to share their stories and struggles with one another.

The FCC Administrative Board voted in 2009 to allow Circle of Hope to meet in our building, because there is a great need for mental health care and support of families who have children with mental health needs.  I have gotten to know a few of these parents who somehow manage to work, hold a family together and raise multiple children, some with and some without special mental, physical and emotional needs.  They are often exhausted from caring for their special needs child and the once-a-month meeting may be the only time they get a break and can interact socially with other adults.  As with any support group, they benefit from sharing their stories with other parents who know the struggles they face.  Circle of Hope provides them with a meal, transportation, child care and most of all an opportunity to feel they are not alone in their struggles.

If your family or a family you know is struggling to raise a child with special physical, mental or emotional needs, I urge you to give Circle of Hope a try.  You can call them at 816-671-9190, or visit their website.  You can also find them on Facebook by searching for “focusfamilysupport.” 

Offering meeting space to a group like Circle of Hope is an important ministry that our church can offer to the community.  We have a church building that contains more space than we use-- 90% of the building goes unused most of the week.  We may not have the funds to contribute to worthwhile organizations in our community or to start our own, but we certainly have unused space!  It is simply good stewardship of our resources for First Christian to share our space with groups that make the kind of difference Circle of Hope does.  

Of course, Circle of Hope is not the first community organization we have hosted in our church.  The Alzheimer’s Association has maintained an office on the third floor of our building for a number of years providing essential support to families caring for a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease.  Later this month, we are hosting an orientation workshop for Dream Seekers of St. Joseph, a new organization that provides mentors to people looking to break out of poverty.  Once upon a time, FCC also hosted Alcoholics Anonymous groups and other organizations.

There is always a temptation for churches to shut out the community around them and forbid the use of their building by outside groups.  Sometimes churches give in to this temptation because doing so is an inconvenience and other times they do so out of a misguided sense of the church building as a museum that must be kept free of contamination.  Of course the church’s property should be respected and groups should be considerate of church events, but in my experience community groups are usually so grateful for the free space that they will gladly respond to all such concerns. 

A church refusing to share its building with outside groups is essentially idolatry—an idolatry of church buildings—spending more energy, attention and money on a building than upon the God who calls people to share what they have with others.  As with all things, the people who make up a church must ask the question, “Does this building belong to me or to God?”  If church people answer the former, then they have not read the story of Jesus Christ well.  As Paul said, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.”

I am proud to serve a congregation that has the “same mind” as Christ Jesus when it comes to sharing our building.  The lives changed for the better by these groups are a part of the ministry we offer to the community around us.

Grace and Peace,

Chase