Advocacy AND Evangelism

photo by Jan Adams

Yesterday a group from my parish put on their walkin' shoes and witnessed to Christ crucified at the anti-war protest in San Francisco. As Dominic Orlando has commented with reference to his play Juan Gelion Dances for the Sun, "there is no such thing as pro-wealth, pro-war, pro-torture Christianity." The Church desperately needs to prove Dominic right.

St. John's may well have been the only "out" Christian group at this protest of some 10,000 people. One woman walked by, eyeing the St. John's contingent suspiciously. "What are you doing here," she demanded.

"We're here in solidarity with those working for justice and peace," replied M. M.

"I've never seen you at any of our meetings," the woman pressed him.

"And I've never seen you at our worship services," M. M. shot back without missing a beat! Then he handed her a flyer about St. John's. Who says doing justice and doing evangelism are incompatible?

Liturgical Direct Action

Last night we celebrated our midweek Eucharist on Mission Street across from the site where a young man, Russell Cummins, was brutally murdered Tuesday evening and three other people were injured. It was important for us to be in solidarity with our neigbors and offer a sign of reconciliation and healing in the midst of violence. Just as the Body of Christ is broken for us, so the church is called to be "broken open," vulnerable and available to share in the suffering and redemption of the world.

Sometimes we have to leave the safety and familiarity of our lovely chapels and make the connections between the structures of violence that leave dead men on our streets and the self-giving love of the One who comes to reveal and overturn those structures, inviting us to work for a world without victims or perpetrators. Please remember Russell and all victims of violence: in our homes, in the Mission neighborhood, in our nation, in Iraq, and around the globe.