|
"The Episcopal Church has a great and definite mission
to undertake on the urban scene."
So said Bishop Coadjutor Leland Stark to a Special Diocesan Convention in 1958. Forty years later, in 1998, the
members of the North Jersey Episcopal City Mission heard those words as extra- ordinarily prophetic as they planned
a series of urban hearings for the Diocese of Newark.
Pivotal to the 1998 hearings and the need to re-examine the impact of unemployment, homelessness, health care,
schooling, immigration laws and the environment on the lives of the people of the cities of the Diocese of Newark
were the national hearings sponsored by the Urban Bishops Coalition in 1978. One of those hearings was held in
Newark, and Bishop John Shelby Spong responded to the learnings of that day in To Hear and to Heed, the report
of that earlier listening time.
Listening to the City
"The inner city is populated by the victims of our economic system. They are the unemployed, the powerless,
the exploited. Many of them suffer from cultural or linguistic alienation. They are devalued, and the image of
God that we Christians believe is in them is violated. A church that will not address the forces that devalue any
human life is not an institution that will be taken seriously in the city. We must get beneath symptoms and address
systemic causes.
"The theological principle of Incarnation must be the modus operandi of urban church strategy. The church
that clings to the style and values of a departed era or social structure will not survive in the city. A fortress
church that exists to preserve an outpost of what used to be is doomed. Money that is spent to perpetuate that
kind of church life is money that is wasted. If a church is to live in the city, it must develop an indigenous
life -- and an indigenous liturgy. The church must belong to the people it seeks to serve. Even the people who
never come inside the church building to worship must feel that the church is their ally, friend and co-worker
in the struggle for human justice. Only a church so perceived will live in the city.
"The ministry of social service may well be important, but it is not the appropriate focus for today's church.
Social service is something done to or for the recipient. It is not appropriate today for two reasons. First, the
church doesn't have the resources to be an effective social service agency. Second, social service finally makes
the one served dependent. It ministers to effects -- not causes. Time after time, the hearings emphasized the need
for the church to identify with the movement for community organization and that funds available for a serving
ministry be channeled to indigenous community organization structures, not expended in private church-run social
service activities. Our task is to enable the citizens of the city to take charge of their own destiny, to fight
their own battles, with the church, for Christ's sake, standing by their side as an enabler and an ally."
(John S. Spong, To Hear and to Heed, 1978)
Held during the first week in November at St. Paul's in Paterson, Grace Church in Newark and Grace Van Vorst in
Jersey City, the hearings had as panelists all three bishops and clergy and lay leaders of the Diocesan Council,
Standing Committee, Department of Missions, Episcopal Church Women, Commission on Ministry and Trustees.
Recognizing that New Jersey is the country's most densely populated state, Newark its most crowded community, that
98 percent of local revenues come from property taxes and cities have a shortage of taxable properties set the
stage for understanding the problems of our urban centers.
Testimony was heard from experts in the fields of community development, tax policy, banking practices and the
environment. People on the front lines of providing shelter and health care, educating children, counseling immigrants
and addressing substance abuse told the stories of men, women and children caught in what one panelist described
as a "spider web of poverty."
Following each hearing, the panelists reflected on what they had heard, identified pressing issues needing to be
addressed and began to think about ways in which diocesan structures might be altered and existing agencies strengthened
to address the complex problems which face our urban communities.
Two underlying causes of the disease of our cities became clear. Racism and poverty lie beneath every one of the
issues addressed during those three days.
Racism Jack M. McKelvey, Bishop Suffragan
"Racism is easy to define. It is the abuse of power by a racial group that is more powerful than another group
and the abuse of that advantage to exclude, demean, damage, control or destroy the less powerful group; a belief
that some races are by nature superior to others. Racism confers benefits upon the dominant group that include
psychological feelings of superiority, social privilege, economic position or political power.
"Put more simply, racism is prejudice coupled with power. It disfigures the image of God which is present
in all of us.
"Though it is easy to define, it is considerably more difficult to convince or convict' a person and a society
of the racism which is at the core of its urban issues. As Kathy Stanton, late Executive Director of the Interreligious
Fellowship for the Homeless stated, the root of homelessness is housing, and racism lies at the root of the root.'
"Why is it that we find it so easy to blame the victim when the victim so often seems to be a person of color
and among the minority? Is it because that person really doesn't matter in the scheme of things? Why also would
we allow the following alarming statistics in the State of New York go unattended?
"Eighty percent of people in prisons are black males between 18-25 years of age; more young men in this age
group are in prison than are in college; seventy percent of inmates are in for minor offenses; prisons are a $40
billion dollar-a-year business. Why don't we put more resources to work in education and addiction recovery programs,
training and job development? Why can't we seem to realize that money spent in prevention is better than money
spent in incarceration and lost lives? Is it racism at work? Is it the uninspected belief that some people, the
less affluent and the minority without power, are somehow more expendable than others? Is this not, at least, a
plausible explanation?
"How can we live with the fact that Newark and parts of four surrounding counties have the lowest rate of
age appropriate immunizations in the country? How can we allow asthma to continue to rise among children in urban
areas when it can be readily prevented? How can we live with the knowledge that there will be 5,000 children orphaned
by AIDS in Newark by the year 2000? Is it, or is it not, racism which allows people in power and those in positions
of authority to look at these facts and not be outraged?
"Isn't it cause for great concern that one educator had to remind the gathered assembly that urban education
has to begin by convincing others that urban children can learn? Why should it be otherwise, unless it is racism
which has blinded us to the child of color who wastes away without either hope or encouragement? Why can't s/he
make a difference in this world? Why are we not offended into action when urban schools have classes which are
much too large in number for teachers to teach and students to learn -- unless racism says that's all they really
deserve?
"What is it within the dominant culture which makes its inhabitants believe that they can run from the fear
and perceived evils of the urban areas without having any responsibility for the circum- stances which produce
the urban blight often so evident? How can a citizen of northern New Jersey truly believe that s/he can hold out
and not accept some responsibility for conditions which exist? Is it racism, the perception that some people and
some classes of people are more privileged and deserve more than others?
"What would it take, what will it take, to help all of us realize that we are one New Jersey? As the cities
go, so go we...eventually.
"Racism has left in its wake a terrible devastation, Will we look at the signs around us? Will we observe
the incarnation of its devastation and seek a conversion of the heart, or will we continue to blame the victim
and say we have no need of them?' Racism is as racism does...or doesn't do?" (Jack M. McKelvey from an article
in The Voice, May 1999)
Poverty and the Threads of the Web
Poverty, the dictionary tells us, is the state or condition of being poor -- lacking the means to provide material
needs and comforts. As the panelist quoted earlier said, it is a "spider web" in which can be found hunger,
homelessness, the absence of health care, poor educational opportunities, toxic environments and lack of jobs.
Alice duPlessis of the Hudson County Urban League charged us to recognize that when parents are poor, children
are neglected and often are taken out of the home and put into protective custody. If New Jersey's WorkFirst program
is to succeed, safe, inexpensive, licensed child care centers are a must.
It is a paradox that the United States is experiencing unprecedented affluence and increasing poverty at the same
time. "New Jersey has two societies -- one well off and one poor, and the latter is preponderantly made up
of city dwellers, minorities and women." (The Reshaping of New Jersey, NJ Council of Churches 1988)
Glenda Kirkland, Executive Director of Isaiah House, a shelter in East Orange, said to the panelists during her
testimony "If Jesus walked into Newark I think he'd be very ashamed of us."
Let's take a look at Newark as an illustration of all our cities. "The majority of its people are those usually
defined as minority populations: 66% are African American and 20% are Hispanic; in addition there is a large and
diverse immigrant population, often undocumented and largely uncounted. They are only 50 percent as likely to be
married and therefore more than twice as likely to be a single parent or grandparent raising children alone. Children
in Newark are only half as likely to have married parents who live together and ten times as likely to be homeless.
"People living in Newark are twice as likely not to have finished high school and only half as likely to have
graduated from college, despite the fact that several are within walking distance. They are more than twice as
likely not to be employed, with a large number having been unemployed for so long that they are no longer even
looking for work, putting them twice as likely to be below the poverty line of $12,600 for a family of four --
or $1,000 a month in a city where the median rent is $400.
"Fewer than a quarter of Newark people own their homes, and their living quarters are older and crowded. Most
live in multi-unit high rises, with households of six or seven members." (J. Carr Holland, Rector of Grace
Church in Newark)
Homelessness
What are the implications of these numbers in regard to affordable housing and the existence of homelessness among
the people of our cities? Carla Lerman of Episcopal Community Development reminded us that the concept of home
contains most of our basic values -- the place where we will be welcome, safe, protected and where we belong --
where we gather our family. And we set a standard of housing that should be decent, safe and sanitary. That means
everything in working order, doors that close, windows that open and can be locked, heat that keeps rooms warm,
a toilet, sink and tub or shower which work. There should be two ways to get out of the building and exit doors
are not nailed shut. Not fancy -- just decent, safe, sanitary.
She helped us understand the crisis of the 90s in providing affordable housing. Back in the 1940s a common rule
of thumb was for a family to set aside 20 percent of its income for its housing needs. In the 70s that percentage
rose to 30; by 1995 it had increased to 50. However, there is also a severe shortage -- in 1970 there were 6.5
million affordable housing units, in 1995 only 6.1 million; but the demand had grown from 6.1 renters in 1970 to
a potential of 10.5 million in 1995.
Carla helped us also to understand the societal dilemma that less than one third of low income renters receive
any housing assistance whereas homeowners receive subsidies through mortgage interest, property tax and capital
gains tax deductions, most of which go to middle and upper income owners.
Glenda Kirkland of Isaiah House charged us to recognize that in other cultures poverty and homelessness are treated
as failures of the systems but in ours we assume that people have done something to cause their problems, and we
see our job as fixing the problems rather than changing the system.
What can we do as people of faith? First, recognize that the housing shortage and homelessness are a public policy
issue and not something that the private market can correct. Second, lobby -- by letter, phone and in person --
for an increase in the realty transfer tax and for vouchers tying government subsidies to private rentals. An increase
in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit which funds neighborhood preservation could also make a difference. "We
need to clamor for more Section 8 certificates, more subsidized housing, more affordable housing. Shelters are
not the solution." (Kathleen Stanton, Director, IRF of Bergen County)
Tax Policy
New Jersey is burdened with 1,600 separate units of government -- all with taxing authority. There are sales and
excise taxes, property taxes, income taxes -- and all are levied on individuals, families and businesses. So many
city dwellers are in the lowest income bracket (less than $36,000), and yet their total tax bill amounts to 15.6
percent of income compared to only 6.2 percent of those people in the top income bracket ($404,000 or more).
There is an over-emphasis on property taxes in New Jersey, which tends to weigh disproportionately on city dwellers
because of the shrinking acreage available for taxation in our urban centers. In an average state, less than a
third of tax revenues come from the property tax, but in New Jersey that figure is 45 percent, and the state-wide
average of property that is tax exempt is 14.7 while in Paterson it is 30.8; in Jersey City, 34.2; in Newark, 65.1.
What can we do? One answer is to work for a better understanding of tax policy, considering the possibility of
a state-wide property tax which would equalize the burden among all 567 municipalities and go a long way toward
equalizing the amounts spent on public education.
Education
The school districts in all three cities have been taken over by the state, to little perceptible change in function
or capability. The basic question which needs to be asked is, why do so many people believe city children cannot
learn? Is it racism at work, as Bishop McKelvey suggests? And perhaps classism? A continuing dialogue is taking
place throughout the state as to the comparative merits of public, private and charter schools. The major question
needing an answer is how the public schools can be adequately funded if a voucher system is adopted; if charter
schools siphon off students, parents and financing; if property taxes remain the funding base.
According to Maureen Fonseca, Dean of St. Philip's Academy, edu-cation costs $12,000 per year per pupil in the
City of Newark, and there are 4,800 Newark students in private schools compared with 50,000 in public schools.
To Bret Schundler, Mayor of Jersey City, charter schools are able to lower that cost while providing a more flexible
and innovative environment.
What can church people do? Invite school communities -- educators -- to Sunday forums to show interest and ask
questions about basic philosophy, the potential for assistance and how to become a public witness for better educational
opportunities for all children. Would the local school system accept assistance from church members? Another possibility
could be to turn church facilities into locations for after school tutoring programs and homework halls.
Dean Fonseca again: "We want to work with the whole child, not just open doors; academics are important, but
we have to open hearts."
Environment
The environment impacts all phases of life, especially, as we learned, the lives of children living in the city.
A study undertaken by Drew University chronicles the disproportionate presence of incinerators and toxic waste
dumps in areas where people have low political clout to prevent their placement. Cheaper electricity, a benefit
of energy deregulation, also brings higher pollution as controls are loosened. One result -- a dramatic increase
in the cases of childhood asthma. Lead poisoning, another threat to children, comes from old buildings, in the
paint, the water and the soil.
What to do? Keep environmental issues alive among members of the congregations, make the connections between depletion
of the rain forest in South America, tornados in Kansas, Hurricanes in Honduras, fires in Florida. Highlight the
impact of pollution on health and well being; encourage an appreciation of our global community.
Health
The number of health care issues found in the city is frightening, especially in today's climate of limited access
to appropriate care -- asthma again, especially from the dust of cockroaches, ever present in urban housing. Lead
poisoning, boarder babies as a result of AIDS and substance abuse among the mothers, hypertension, heart disease,
teen pregnancy (often as a result of statutory rape), AIDS patients unable to afford available medi-cations, victims
of domestic violence -- all are prevalent in urban low income neighborhoods.
Elizabeth Piano, of the Gateway Maternal & Child Health Center, maintains that the availability of health care
is not the issue, but rather the attitude of the clients. Good health is part of a relation-ship where one is in
control and feels good about him/herself.
Newark has a higher infant mortality rate than anywhere else in the state. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is decreasing
in many areas, but not among poverty populations. Black women are three times more likely to die because of complications
of pregnancy. The rate of childhood immunizations among Newark's children is the lowest in the country, while it
also had the highest incidence of lead poisoning.
What to do? Jim Pruden Head of St. Joseph's Hospital Emergency Room cites the need for clinics; one creative suggestion:
employ a parish nurse to roam the community providing preventive health care and treatment for illnesses and injuries.
Participate in discussions about managed care with the medical people in our congregations. Piano sees the church
as the natural center of community life and suggests the need for tutoring programs, coordination of transportation,
supportive networks for single parents, establishment of neighborhood health resources. "Poverty is the over-riding
issue," she says.
HIV/AIDS
The enormity of the HIV/AIDS crisis was portrayed by Lyn Headley-Moore of the St. Barnabas Center. While overall
the numbers are down, the rate continues to be high among African Americans, Latinos, 21-24 year olds, persons
who are sexually active and drug users. Five thousand children will be orphaned by the year 2000; as of last June
there were 25,857 cases in New Jersey with 30 percent in Essex County. As the disease progresses, its victims become
helpless and sometimes homeless. Among St. Barnabas' ministries is the providing of 3,000 meals on wheels monthly
and the maintenance of a food pantry.
What to do? Initiate educational forums, consider starting a hospice/housing ministry such as Corpus Christi in
Jersey City, provide meals and/or groceries, support people through their grieving process, both before and after
death.
Addiction
What is there to say about addiction substance abuse except that it is a horrendous problem that affects so
many other issues: poverty, homelessness, crime, inability to hold a job. According to two of our presenters --
Straight & Narrow in Paterson and Newark Fighting Back direct intervention and rehabilitation are critical.
Don Ransom on Straight & Narrow: S&N treats over 900 male alcoholics every day, men ranging in age from
10 to 72; most are indigent, but some were once wealthy.
What can the church do? Become an advocate for existing programs; recognize that juveniles are especially at risk,
as are women -- the hidden abusers; work with other institutions such as the schools, police and health departments.
People in recovery need the support of the entire community.
Immigration
The complexity of the issue of immigration was brought into clear focus by Dennis Johnson, director of American
Friends Service and by Douglas Stevenson of the Seamen's Institute. Undocumented immigrants and other "illegals"
number more than 5 million in the U.S. Raids are used by employers as a tool to harass workers who are beginning
to organize. Non-U.S. citizens who are convicted of relatively minor crimes can be deported on the basis of 2-3
misdemeanor charges. A growing problem is the increasing number of shipping companies which go bankrupt and abandon
their ships and crews .
What can churches do? Become welcoming communities, hold ESL classes, provide education on the violation of civil
and human rights. The political asylum center in Elizabeth needs pastoral visitors. "We believe that no person
is illegal," said Johnson.
Prisons
Prisons are where we keep "the enemy" locked up. Sandra Peters, co-ordinator of the Anti-Racism Dialogues
for the National Church, says that the prison population changed once our understanding of the enemy changed. We
once knew who the enemy was, and we had a military-industrial complex. We lost our common enemy with the end of
the Cold War. "The new enemy is the person living in an inner city; he has a cap and a jacket, he is black
and you are told to be afraid of him," said Peters. "Out of that, we now have the prison-industrial complex."
The evidence she presented was compelling: 80 percent of those in prison are young black men. Over 70 percent of
those in NY State prisons are there for minor misdemeanors. Prison towns have replaced college towns as a political
favor to upstate conservative areas. Lobbyists even petition for new prisons in their towns. Prison construction
is a dollar-for-dollar match between money which used to be spent building colleges and is now being spent building
prisons.
What can be done? Support the Prison Moratorium Project, asking money to be re-directed to communities. Support
the Prison Voting Project no one should lose their citizenship because they are jailed. The best way to prevent
recidivism is to offer a job to a young person. Go into the prisons to visit not only to let the prisoners know,
but also to alert those who work in the prisons that someone cares. Fight racism. Organize to change the laws.
Community Organizing
Sometimes the most significant information comes from the most surprising source. Paul Pantozzi, president of Provident
Savings Bank in Jersey City said, "Before you can market yourselves, you have to get in front of the community
to ask, What are your needs?' It makes no sense to develop what you think will serve: you first have to ask the
folks out there." This is the first step to community organizing.
Tom Nickerson, Geoff Curtiss, Larry Bembry, Laurie Wurm and Myrna Solar pointed out that the most potent resources
for revitalizing the city are the churches. "We are better at planting seeds," said Nickerson. There
are a variety of models currently operating: ACORN (not a faith-based model), IAF (Industrial Areas Foundation)
or ICO (Interfaith Community Organizing). Curtiss pointed out that, "In organizing, you develop relationships,
not programs. You try to get programs to build what they are supposed to be doing, rather than organize to do those
programs."
What to do? Support these efforts, facilitate networks with other churches and help with securing startup funding.
Church property can be offered for creative community uses, convincing people that our cities are a good place
to invest time, talent and treasure.
Some Reflections
John P. Croneberger, Bishop Coadjutor
After reading twenty pages of my notes on the Urban Hearings held last November, three recurring themes demanded
focus and attention: housing, jobs, youth. In each of those and all of those, I heard Carla Lerman's words which
I paraphrase as: "Passing resolutions is not nearly as important as being resolute." Taking a piece of
paper to a shelter or a food pantry or the North Porch that indicates the diocese supports housing, jobs and children
is of limited use.
In fact, supporting shelters, food pantries and children's resources can in themselves become immoral if those
activities become ends rather than means, when somehow we become more of the problem than the solution, as we participate
in more subtle forms of racism and classism by helping others but managing to keep them where they are at a distance
from us.
Then, just when my despair reached up to encircle my throat, I saw and remembered voices and faces from the Hearings:
some gentle and some strident; some beautiful and some challenged by all that life had presented, but all resolute
determined to be present as the Body of Christ to the world and in the world; offer-ing a cup of water and willing
to change the world one by one if need be. Urban guerillas, both lay and clergy, called by God to do ministry in
the City.
In the Genesis Tower of Babel story, the plan of the people was actually to build a tower and a city...but since
they had some basic things to work out, God scattered the people over the face of the earth, "and they left
off building the city." (Genesis 11:8) Then in the finale in Revelation, we read about the new heaven and
the new earth, and the Holy City, the new Jerusalem.
I give thanks to God for those who have chosen to return to the building of the city. I pray that we will claim
that building as an integral part of the vision of the Diocese of Newark.
Dale Gruner, Deployment Officer
The testimony given at the Urban Hearings and the conclusions drawn from that testimony have significant impact,
it seems to me, on the direction of congregational development in our cities. It is well known -- and our experience
in this diocese confirms -- that congregations which focus on survival have less and less chance of surviving,
while congregations that can clearly identify their mission become attractive communities in which to worship and
exercise ministry and from which to proclaim and live out the Gospel. For our existing urban congregations, their
ability to develop into healthy and growing places of worship will be directly correlated to their ability to connect
with their surrounding communities and evolve outward looking missionary actions serving the needs of those communities.
For some, this will require a "change of focus" of significant magnitude; for all, this will require
continued education, inspiring leadership (lay as well as ordained), and a major commitment on the part of diocesan
leadership to provide the resources (human and financial) to enable such mission and ministry to take place.
Further, if we intend to take seriously our mission as Episcopalians "to restore all people to unity with
God and each other in Christ" (BCP, p. 855), we must develop non-traditional and innovative ways "to
do church," particularly in our urban communities. While each locality will demand somewhat different approaches,
combinations of "store front" ministries tied to outreach/social justice ministries and regional or area
coalitions will be essential if we are to succeed.
These will not happen overnight; again, they will require a serious commitment of financial resources and clergy
and lay leadership over the long term to become vibrant and effective. To accomplish this, we must study and learn
from experiences in places such as the Diocese of Los Angeles as well as the Sheffield models to inform our approaches.
And we need to learn from our own experiments in Jersey City, Newark and Paterson.
Congregational development as suggested above will require skilled urban clergy (priests and vocational deacons)
who understand community activism as part of their call to mission and ministry to God's people, working in conjunction
with committed and trained lay leadership. The Diocese must actively recruit clergy with this type of experience;
actively recruit and train clergy and laity who are interested in and committed to urban ministry; seek to raise
up persons from the communities we serve to enter into this ministry as priests, deacons and lay leaders. It will
take a significant investment of financial and human resources over an extended period of time to accomplish these
tasks.
It seems clear from the Hearings, for example, that one of the major impediments to an expanded and dedicated lay
leadership emerging from these communities is financial. With people working two and three jobs simply to survive,
there is no time left for ministry. In all likelihood, we will need to fund not only lay education and training,
but lay positions as well.
The bottom line question for me: Is the Diocese willing to step up to the challenge of spreading the Gospel in
our cities?
Albert Jousset, President of Standing Committee
I agreed to attend the Urban Hearings out of a sense of my responsibility as a leader in the Diocese of Newark.
Giving up three consecutive 8 to 10 hour days was not something I looked forward to. In all honesty I also thought
one day would have been sufficient. I was sure day two and three would be repetitive and boring. I was wrong.
In reflecting upon those three days, my first thought is how transformed I was by the experience and the testimony.
I thought I was aware of urban life and the problems of poverty, disenfranchisement and despair. In reality I had
no idea. Like many of us who are suburbanites, I was only aware of the symptoms which are reported in the newspapers
and on television daily. The roots of the problem became quickly and repeatedly apparent:
The "web" of poverty and despair is systemic and buried deep within our political and cultural mores
There is a "disconnect" between urban, suburban and rural communities including the religious community
There is a misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of the reason for and depth of poverty, the need for housing,
jobs, education and their interconnectedness
These truths were brought out to me in a sharp relief over the three days of the hearings. Although I attended
out of a sense of responsibility as a diocesan leader, I left with a new sense of responsibility as a committed
Christian and a human being. I also was determined to do something. In January All Saints (my congregation) began
to host a worship service for the Hispanic immigrant community nearby, led by an Hispanic pastor. It is a beginning.
I give thanks for the opportunity to learn and grow.
Clara Horsley, President of Episcopal Church Women
The experience of the Urban Hearings must continue if we as a diocese are to be knowledgeable about the constantly
emerging needs of the unfortunate among us . If we take seriously Christ's reminder that "the poor you will
always have with you," we need to hear where they are, who and what organizations are attempting to meet their
needs and then reflect seriously on what we have heard. Reflection and "feedback" time was a healthy
part of the hearing process.
Many of the issues brought to our attention at the 1998 hearings were not attested to in 1978 -- homelessness,
the rise in crime and violence, the lack of good public schools, inadequate health care for both children and adults,
road blocks in the immigration process, environmental issues that adversely affect poorer communities. Still, as
in 1978, there is the lack of adequate housing.
The persons selected to give testimony shared their sense of near despair at times and "burn out" when
the people of God appear often not to understand root causes of the problems nor offer positive, realistic support
and assistance.
To be a "hearer" this time around, as opposed to giving testimony twenty years ago, gave me the opportunity
to hear all of the presenters and thus be more aware of the interrelatedness of the issues.
Much of the focus was on the needs of children, providing an opportunity for the diocese to identify ministry and
participate positively in helping children look forward to a healthier, holistic future.
Michael Rehill, Chancellor
I am a child of the suburbs. I live in the house I grew up in in River Vale, a small, affluent community in Bergen
County. I attend the same parish church where I was baptized as an infant more than fifty years ago. But I am no
stranger to the city. I went to law school in New York City and spent the first five years practicing there, and
I had an office in Newark for ten years. But at the end of the day, I drove home to the comfort of my suburban
home. The city was a place to work; it was easy to avoid seeing the people of the city. In Newark, I could get
to my office without even setting foot on a city street. I had eyes, but could not see. I had ears, but I could
not hear the cries of the poor, the sick, the hopeless. Now my office is no longer in the city, and I only go to
Newark or New York for business, the theatre or the business of the Diocese.
For three days last November I was blessed with the privilege of attending the urban hearings. It was three of
the worst days of my life. It was also one of the most moving experiences of my life...for in those three days
of listening to the stories of our cities, I saw our Lord hungry, and thirsty, a stranger, homeless, naked, sick
and in prison, and all I could think about was that passage from Matthew's Gospel. How can we see the Lord hungry
and give Him no food, thirsty and give Him no drink, a stranger and homeless and not welcome Him, naked and not
clothe Him, sick and in prison and not visit Him?
Like the Sadducees, I have tried to live according to the Law, but I know now that I have not done enough. I can
never do enough. I confess that I have long been a tither and foolishly took pride in doing the very least that
was expected of me as a child of God. I have devoted much of my professional life to providing affordable housing
to the poor and foolishly took pride in what we had ac- complished. I believed that the Church in the Diocese of
Newark has been doing much to meet the needs of our Lord, and it is easy to take pride in what we have accomplished.
But we as a Church have not done enough. We have shelters and food pantries and housing...but we still have countless
men, women and children especially children who are so desperately in need. It makes me want to cry.
The Lord came to us on those three days last November to tell us that we need to do more. We must do more....much
more.
Peter Van Brunt, Trustee
One of the speakers at the hearing in Jersey City, Jack Egan, put it well when he said, "Hearings (can) give
the illusion of being heard." A number of us from all parts of the diocese came together over three days for
well-conceived outlines of the challenges facing many persons in three of our large cities. It would be so easy,
indeed it would be our "usual" reaction to react passively and unemotionally to the stories we heard
and return to our homes and churches with the comfortable belief that, "Wasn't it too bad about those people
in...Newark, Paterson, Jersey City, but, well.....how could we possibly help them?"
On the other hand, through the consciousness raising of a number of our "urban clergy" we can dispel
the notion that we are sepa- rate, self-contained churches and realize that all of us are members of the body of
Christ. Through this membership, we are united one to another. We can use the examples raised by the hearings to
come together as a diocese urban, rural, suburban communities of faith. By acknowledging that the social ills
that were demonstrated at the hearings are not only to be found in the inner cities, we can erase the delineation
between the cities and the rest of the diocese. Through understanding and believing that all of us are affected
by the plight of the homeless, the refugee and the inadequately educated, the sick and the jobless in all parts
of our diocesan community of faith, we can see ourselves as the "they" we often would rather ignore.
I came away from the hearing in Jersey City hopeful that the Diocese of Newark can pool our abundant resources,
our incredible depth of talents and resources from all of the congregations of our diocese. Together we can actively
work to make a significant change in the lives of all who live in the northern counties of New Jersey.
Louie Crew, Urban Hearings Recorder
As I reflect on my experience of the urban hearings, I am reminded of words I used as my part of the sermon preached
at the consecration of the Rt. Rev. John P. Croneberger as Bishop Coadjutor last November just two weeks after
the hearings themselves.
Each time God's spirit has petitioned the church to open up to yet one more excluded group, we have been warned,
"If we started accepting them....if we let in Samaritans, we won't be a Jewish organization any more, and
the next thing you know we'll have to let in the uncircumcised." And they were right. "If we let in lesbians
and gays, we won't be a straight church anymore." And they were right. The next thing you know, we'll have
to let in....
Who will come next? It's a good warning, worth our heeding. 2.75 million people live in our diocese. And God loves
those of us only as much as She loves every one of them. There is much good news for us in that, but we must have
ears to hear it. Many of those 2.75 million have great spiritual hunger and yet believe that God could not possibly
love them. But they might begin to believe in God's love if you and I love them first. Do you want to see God?
Go to the least of your sisters and brothers. Do not be ashamed to love and be loved by them. Do not be ashamed.
Do not be ashamed.
Geoff Curtiss, NJECM Co-Chair
What have the urban hearings revealed?
First, they disclose how important the ground you walk on is in relation to what you believe. If you walk the city
streets and engage the people on those streets, your understanding of the human condition is radically different
from those who do not know this context. Most of the people who live in the geographical boundaries of this diocese
live in close proximity to poverty. However, more than 80 percent of the membership of our diocese rarely if ever
engages a person of poverty. The diocese exemplifies the huge chasm that exists between the rich and the poor.
Most of our churches are not located in places that can respond to this condition.
Second, the urban hearings disclose the quality of discipleship that is evident in people who have chosen to pick
up their mission and sacrifice their own self interests in order to respond to the breach between them and their
neighbor. Once again we heard sacred testimony of Davids who slay the Goliaths of this world by challenging systems
that corrupt and destroy the creatures of God. Time and again we heard witness to the power of the baptismal covenant.
People of faith have had to find alternative ways to live out that covenant because the institutional church had
withdrawn from the city.
Third, the urban hearings disclose how money determines whether there will be a church in a particular neighborhood
or not. Churches thrive in communities of our diocese where the median income is $75,000+. However, when the median
income falls to below $35,000 the church is in jeopardy of existing at all and is marginal in most communities
with a median income below $50,000. Clearly the dominant standard for our local parish church is to be a chapel
for the rich. The richer the community the more preponderance for churches to meet this need. The 19th century
model of a rural church serving the middle and wealthy class continues to dominate our understandings of parish
ministry.
Fourth, the urban hearings demonstrated once again the inability of the diocese to look holistically at Northern
New Jersey. We cannot understand the interrelationships between Paterson, Newark and Jersey City with the larger
systems of Northern New Jersey. We fail to look at things in regional frameworks but have accepted the "home
rule" culture that pervades the politics and economics of our state. The Church has chosen to be invisible
and absent in addressing significant regional questions, and we have chosen not to collaborate with other like-minded
initiatives. Once again the dominant perspective is that my local congregation serves solely within a small local
context to meet local needs.
Finally, the urban hearings revealed the need for conversion and transformation. They reveal how closed off to
one another we are and how much we are determined by the environment in which we spend our lives. Most of our parishioners
have never walked into a public housing project to visit one of their parishioners, have never broken bread with
a member of their congregation at the local soup kitchen, have never sat with a child of their parish in a dilapidated
public school building, have never visited a member of their congregation in prison, have never clothed a member
of their congregation who was naked.
These images are not the characteristics that define the work of most of our congregations. Therefore our congregations
have become disconnected from their founder and the mission that this founder called us to live out.
Tracey Lind, NJECM Co-Chair
The urban hearings have taught us much about church and city. Where we go from here will be up to the diocese.
We could choose to ignore this report and allow it to sit on a shelf and collect dust. We could choose to adopt
the proposed resolutions but never allocate the resources necessary for their full and effective implementation.
Or we could choose another way the way of Jesus who told his disciples "to stay in the city."
"You are witness of these things. And see, I am
sending upon you what my (God) promised; so
stay here in the city until you have been clothed
with power from on high." Luke 24:48-49
The way of Jesus is clear. Jesus wants us to claim the city as a central part of God's creation; to hear and heed
his disciples in the city; and to develop an expanding and inclusive theology of and for the city. Jesus calls
us to create and support opportunities for ministry in the city which reflect this theology. In order to do this,
we need to allow for alternative structures and provide adequate and ongoing financial and human resources.
If we are going to honor the life, death and resurrection of our Lord as it manifests itself in our cities, we
must be open to possibilities beyond our current paradigm of congregation. This urgent and absorbing errand requires
that we think in new and creative ways, keeping the theological principle of the Incarnation as the modus operandi.
The Episcopal Church is in a unique position "to stay in the city." We are able to build bridges that
cross geographic, ecumenical, cultural, racial, ethnic and class boundaries. We are able to harness resources of
affluence and influence to support both urban ministry and public policies that affect urban life. We are able
to be at the center of urban power as well as at its edges. We are able, our God is able. Are we willing?
The Episcopal Diocese of Newark has chosen to lead in so many arenas. Will we choose to lead in the work of urban
ministry? In listening to the city, let us choose "to stay in the city" with a resounding Amen!
A Theology of Urban Ministry
Much of what is stated here is a summary of the 1984 Report of the Urban Strategy Commission of the Diocese of
Newark. It is based primarily on the work of the former Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, and his book
Christianity and the Social Order. In that 1977 work Temple asks, "By what right does the Church intervene
in the political/social/economic order and how should the Church intervene?" Today our question might be "What
role does the Episcopal Church play in the urban areas of the Diocese of Newark?"
By what right? In its most fundamental definition, we can describe the Church as did Archbishop Temple as "an
agent of God's purposes." God is active and present in creation, both calling and empowering us to share in
God's love and justice. Biblically, justice cannot be separated from love. Love never does anything less than justice
demands. God establishes a covenant community with Israel so that they might model God's primary attributes of
justice and faithfulness.
Moreover, the interrelationships both within the covenanted community of Israel and with those outside the community
are established by God to reflect compassion upon those who have the least status and the least resources to act
within society: widows, orphans, the poor, alien migrant workers, and foreigners. God does not impose justice;
rather God respects human freedom and God acts through history. Israel was called to do justice through prophets,
kings and even ordinary people. They came to know their God through acts of justice.
It is important to note that such acts of love, mercy and justice were not restricted to individual initiative.
Israel, the covenanted community, was called to establish just structures, to denounce unjust social systems. Israel
knew that life was meaningful and coherent because the nation believed that God was sovereign over history and
that immigration is, therefore, an eternal hopefulness because God could open ever-new possibilities. Love, equality,
inclusiveness, respect for others are all derived from this fundamental understanding of Israel's mission as God's
agent in this world.
It is interesting to note that the city becomes in Hebrew Scripture both a paradigm of human alienation from God
and a focus of God's redemptive action through the community's work of justice and mercy.
Cities became the focus of God's saving work primarily because they were the places where the poor, oppressed and
unwanted began to find themselves. From Jerusalem, Jeremiah wrote to the Babylonian captives encouraging them to
be agents of God's purpose in the city, "But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile,
and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare."
Similarly, we hear Deutero-Isaiah proclaim that it is the afflicted, the poor, the prisoners, the aliens who "shall
repair the ruined cities, the devastation of many generations." The city, therefore, becomes a critical arena
for God's redemptive ministry.
In Jesus, the Realm of God is both incarnated and proclaimed. With singleness of purpose, Jesus represents God's
covenant of justice and love with creation. Continuing in the pattern established in Hebrew Scripture, Jesus declares
that the Realm of God is to be found among the poor and the persecuted. Indeed, Jesus claims the mantle of justice
in his very first sermon.
The authority for his mission came not from the powers of the world, but from his complete identification with
God's purpose. Those who would claim economic, political or societal sovereignty over God's people were confronted
by Jesus in the name of the sovereign God. As Jesus notes, it is in our relationship to the least of our brothers
and sisters, that God's Realm is established. Our diocese's urban churches could be such a bellwether.
In the city of Jerusalem, Jesus challenged the authorities of his time by driving the money changers from the House
of God. Jerusalem represented for Jesus alienation from the true mission of God. Jesus lamented "O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children
together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" Our times still find that the cross
is in the city. Our churches must not compromise with the world, although indeed that has been the predominant
posture since the Emperor Constantine first recognized Christianity. Nor can our churches offer only relief. Rather,
the Church must be the visible signs of redemption, an outpost of the Realm of God, the agent of God's purpose.
The Church had no claim for exclusive and complete identification with the Realm of God, but the Church does possess
unique capabilities to establish God's purpose on earth. Its posture in doing God's justice is that of self-sacrifice
and servanthood, with a particular bias towards those who are dis-enfranchised or marginalized by a society that
demands a functional, economic purpose for all of its members.
The Church's credibility is demonstrated by its presence in the temporal struggles for justice. The style and means
of action vary with the time and character of the situation. To remain aloof, to claim to be a sanctuary from the
world, or to be blind to the concerns of the world, however, is to abdicate the authority and responsibility invested
in it by God. It is also a self-deluding fantasy. The Church cannot avoid the responsibilities of discipleship
if we worship the biblical God of justice and compassion.
The Church as the agent for God's purposes reveals the work of the Holy Spirit as initiator, comforter and sustainer
of our mission. In the literature of Hebrew Scripture, the manifestation of spirit is always followed by action,
binding together God's love and justice. It is through the Spirit that God is self-proclaimed as a living force
in history, eternally bringing new possibilities into the lives of people. The holy Spirit initiates the action
by which God's daughters and sons will know God.
The Spirit is also seen as the "comforter" to those whose hope is failing in their pursuit of justice.
Paul notes that it is with joy, peace and hope that the Church proclaims her message to a broken world. The Spirit
binds up all humanity into one body, not with a specific plan for action, but rather as a way of being. Paul contrasts
those actions that are contrary to the gifts of the Spirit (hatred and fighting, jealousy and anger, constant effort
to get the best for yourself, complaints and criticisms, the feeling that everyone else is wrong except those in
your own little group), with those actions which reflect the Spirit (love, patience, kindness, goodness and gentleness).
Frequently the life of the cities of our diocese reveal the former.
Finally, the Spirit sustains the agents of God themselves. The Spirit of God empowers us to be the ambassadors
of Christ reconciling the world to God's love and justice. For this mission the Spirit provides us, says Paul,
with "purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness...genuine love, truthful speech and the power of God."
In St. Luke's Gospel, the resurrected Christ admonishes his followers to "stay in the city, until you are
clothed with power from on high." It is in the city that God's definitive redemptive power of love and justice
will have its stage. It is in the city on the day of Pentecost that the Church is born. On Pentecost the new city
of Jerusalem is where the universal language of love overcomes the old divisions of Babel. The Spirit offers unity
and common purpose to those who are fragmented and alienated. Communicating with each other overcomes isolation
and exclusiveness. In the city a common life is celebrated, sharing goods, worshiping and eating together. In the
city God's Spirit is presented to the entire world in the form of a tiny nascent fellowship -- a church -- to be
the sign of salvation.
In summary, the living God chooses to dwell among people in the form of love and justice. The Book of Revelation
presents to us the completion of that mission in the new city. The new Jerusalem becomes the ultimate point of
reconciliation where God is present to all humanity and is accepted by them. Our temporal vision only allows us
to see this new Jerusalem as a mystical goal. We are not constructing a tower of Babel that reaches to heaven,
but rather we offer a humble hospitality where God can "pitch a tent" with the poor, the sick, the hungry
and those faithful in spirit. The new city will have as its ethos relationships empowered by love established in
justice. The Annunciation of the new city carries with it a denunciation of the old. New life for urban areas must
rise as the old life dies.
John, writing in the book of Revelation, says that the new city had no temple. Herein lies a challenge to the urban
church and indeed to all churches. Our mission is not to be self-sufficient, secure, prestigious, pietistic sanctuaries
apart from the chaotic, corrupt, self-serving quagmire of institutions, attitudes and expectations that give definition
to modern urban life. Our mission is to represent God in such a bold and courageous way that the city is transformed,
eliminating thereby the need for the temple. Our means of doing that is by loving one another, doing justice, forming
community, being a church of disparate others so that all nations might see the light of God.
In John's vision, the city has become the church, and the church has become the city. The "how" of making
the "city" the "church" in the Diocese of Newark may at times seem like an overwhelming task.
Yet, the hope we feel is founded in the faith that our efforts will bring us to the knowledge of the intimate relationship
with the love that is our God.
Some Conclusions
* The urban arena is a crucible of new and emerging forms of ministry which challenge our assumptions about definition,
organization, structure, leadership, hierarchy, energy source and effectiveness, as well as the present and future
of institutional forms of ministry.
* Most of the effective ministry which is occurring today in our urban areas is neither affiliated with nor supported
by the church or the diocese; however, that which is being done by churches or denominationally affiliated community
based agencies is neither well known nor supported by the church hierarchy.
* Purely programmatic or monetary responses to systemic societal problems are limited in their effectiveness to
bring about long-term or lasting change. Leadership which is characterized by active listening and community involvement
is critically important.
* Careful analysis of the problem as it is manifested in its particular setting is required before any action can
or should be taken. For example, the problem of AIDS in Newark, which has the 5th highest census among women and
children in the nation, is different from AIDS in Jersey City, which is number one in the nation in terms of newly
diagnosed cases.
* Careful analysis requires listening attentively to the advice and counsel of those who are most directly affected
by a particular societal problem or crisis, as well as those who have experience in dealing with the people and
the problem.
* Programmatic planning and development must be done with an eye trained to see the interconnections and varied
manifestations of prejudice and oppression related to race, ethnicity, gender, age, economic and educational background,
physical ability and sexuality.
* The Gospel comes alive for us and urban ministry become exciting when we see the social problem in terms of a
gospel project. When we ask "What gospel story is being enacted here in this place and in this time?"
our sense of mission is animated by the gospel spirit and becomes less of what we do for them and more of what
God is doing in the midst of us.
* Required diocesan leadership is one which sees and declares the urban area as holy ground, a place where the
church is committed to a dynamic and imaginative presence, which actively promotes reconciliation and spiritual
growth, creates possibilities which empower people to be responsible, loving human beings and supports the development
of new ministry as well as strengthening established ministry with resources of finance, talent, education, training,
supportive services and committed personnel.
Some Recommendations
1. The establishment of a Diocesan Urban Mission Commission whose appointed task would be to examine thoroughly
and critically the learnings and findings which came out of these Hearings and to explore the possible application
of conclusions drawn from them.
This commission should include in its membership the various categories of persons who were related to the Hearing
process: bishop(s), community leaders, members of diocesan commissions, committees and ministries, especially those
persons in leadership positions who were in attendance at the Hearings who were given a new vision and came to
a new commitment as a result.
Effort should be made to include among its membership representatives of those who are most deeply affected by
the crisis in our urban areas: people of color, women, the poor, the working class, people of different physical
abilities, gay men and lesbians, youth and the aged.
2. Some of the areas which need to be addressed by the Diocesan Urban Mission Commission are:
* Increase support of community/neighborhood organizing
* Retraining/deployment of parish clergy, laity and nonparochial clergy as community organizers
* Support of ecumenical ministries, rethinking models of ministry which are most appropriate for the urban setting
* Sponsorship at the neighborhood level of educational programs of housing loan and mortgage policies
* Advocacy and support of youth employment programs, with emphasis on the role of the church to provide motivational
support for those who have been deprived of it
* Advocacy for the poor and the powerless with respect to issues outlined in the hearings, especially: AIDS, addiction,
education, health care, housing, immigration, unemployment, youth, women and seniors -- in terms of diocesan and
state and local funding and policy issues
* Analysis of institutional forms of racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism and homophobia, as well as prejudice
and oppression based on ethnicity, age, physical ability, educational background
* Develop a mechanism to review use of church property and monitor church investments/capital outflow to urban
areas
3. Develop a position of Urban Missioner to mobilize networks of presence, deepen understanding and motivate advocacy
4. The Commission on Ministry should both actively recruit aspirants for ordination who are committed to ministry
in the city and provide training opportunities for that ministry for candidates for ordination to priesthood and
diaconate and for persons wishing to become lay missioners.
5. The Bishop Coadjutor begin to address the needs of the urban area in the House of Bishops, making it once again,
as it was in 1978, a national priority for our Church, specifically with a goal of reactivating The Urban Bishops
Coalition.
Testifiers
Paterson:
Carla Lerman, Episcopal Community Development
John Vincent, Urban Theology, Sheffield, England
Henry Coleman, Rutgers University School of Government
Dennis Johnston, American Friends Service
Kathleen Stanton, Interreligious Fellowship of Homeless
Lourdes Sanchez, St. Paul's CDC/Street Workers
Irene Sterling, Paterson Education Fund
Don Ransom, Straight & Narrow
Richard Williams, St. Paul's CDC/CityServe
James Pruden, St. Joseph's Hospital
Newark:
L.Bembry & L. Scott Pickens, Newark Fighting Back
Franklin (Skip) Vilas, Environmental Justice Consortium
Douglas Stevenson, Seamen's Church Institute
Maureen Fonseca, St. Philip's Academy
Elizabeth Piano, Gateway Maternal & Child Heal Consortium
Glenda Kirkland, Isaiah House
Olivette Simpson, St. James CDC
Sandy Accimmondo, Apostle's House
Sandra Peters, Anti-Racism Dialogues/Prison Reform
Lyn Headley-Moore, St. Barnabas' AIDS Center
Jersey City:
Tom Nickerson, Jersey City CDC
Carla Lerman, Episcopal Community Development
Paul Pantozzi, Provident Savings Bank
Richard Mingoia, Youth Consultation Service
Bret Schundler, Mayor of Jersey City
Alice duPlessis, Urban League of Hudson County
Geoff Curtiss, Interfaith Community Organizing
Laurie Wurm, All Saints' CDC
Daniel Connell, Christ Hospital
Jack Egan, Hudson County YWCA
Panelists
Paterson, Newark, Jersey City:
John Spong, John Croneberger, Jack McKelvey, Albert Jousset, Michael Rehill, Dagi Murphy, John Zinn
Paterson Only:
Steven Boston, John Hartnett, Marie Obermann, Robert Schiesler
Newark Only:
Lauren Ackland, Kathleen Ballard, Christopher Brdlik, Carlotta Budd, Esar Budhu, Barbara Conroy, David Hamilton,
William Heick, Clara Horsley, Diane Mayo, Catharine McFarland, Lawrence Taber
Jersey City Only:
James Callaway, Linda Curtiss, Martha Gardner, Paul Hunt, Elliot Lee, Gordon Tremaine, Peter Van Brunt
Moderators
Paterson:
Hank Dwyer, Tracey Lind, Kenneth Near, William Parnell
Newark:
Carr Holland, Elizabeth Kaeton, Mildred Solomon
Jersey City:
Geoff Curtiss, Scott Kallstrom, Harry Smith
|
