(e)mergent Voyageurs

As I mentioned recently, my friend, the late Harry Lehotsky was named to the Order of Canada, our nations highest civilian honour. I think we need to acknowledge the significance of this appointment, as it was given on the merits of Harry's selfless service and missional passion for our neighbourhood and city. Not only does this stand as a tribute now, but will be recorded and remembered for generations to come. Therefore, I thought it was fitting to read a column that Harry wrote reflecting on the importance of our history and heritage.

A History Lesson Well Worth Remembering - May 23, 2004 - Winnipeg Sun
by Harry Lehotsky

I entered the classroom, already assuming I would hate not only the next hour, but the entire semester. I was at Central High School and I was sure that this history class would be every bit as rotten as its predecessors.

More accurately, I guess it wasn’t really history that I hated. It was the way we would review a thick textbook and be tested on names of people who did things I didn’t care about, in places I didn’t know, at times which didn’t matter to me.

Not caring about the dates, places and people, it wasn’t surprising that I didn’t do well on history exams. I suppose it’s human nature to dislike the things we’re not good at, to enjoy forgetting the things we can’t remember.

I recalled my other history classes. Normally, as the lectures droned on, I was busier daydreaming about the future than focused on the past.

I was not unlike most adolescents. It was at a time in my life when the girls across the room trumped the courageous women of history – no matter what they had achieved. It was a time when the bully in the schoolyard seemed much more significant than some foreign dictator or dead politician.

I came into the class expecting more boredom, anticipating continued frustration. But this teacher was different.

When he spoke of historical people, he introduced them in such a way that I could almost imagine meeting them in the neighbourhood.

When he explained events, he described them in a way that I could almost imagine being there.

This was no rote recitation of names, dates and places. He introduced us to people we could care about, situations we could hate, dilemmas we could feel. As we speculated and argued about how we would have acted in similar circumstances, he took the opportunity to introduce even more of the historical context.

That year at Central High, my perspective toward history changed. I started to understand importance of looking backward.

I remembered that history teacher again this week as I made my first visit to the Manitoba Archives.

I’m trying to find some old pictures of life in the West End for a large display in a building we’re renovating. I’m looking for early 1900’s pictures of homes, businesses, churches and schools. Snapshots of kids at play, of people at work. By the way, if you have some good old West End pictures, please give me a call at 775-4929.

I mentioned this to George, a friend from church that reminded me of my old teacher – the one that kindled within me a respect for history.

George spent many years researching and guiding the restoration of some of the important historical landmarks in and around Winnipeg. The first time I talked with him about his work, I quickly discovered that his passion for history transcended his occupational responsibilities.

I couldn’t think of a better friend with whom to travel to the archives.

It felt like I was entering a museum filled with invaluable exhibits. There were two levels of security. One as we entered the building, and another as we approached our destination. Drawers of index cards and shelves of binders provided links into banks of filing cabinets filled with old pictures. There were other cabinets with news clippings, posters and oversize prints.

Once inside, we were met by some of George’s friends. Folks with a similar respect for our heritage. One of them, Randy, had found an amazing picture of a building we’re renovating on Ellice Avenue.

As I searched the files for pictures, I found some great snapshots of Winnipeg’s history. I’m already excited about returning to the Archives.

While there, I also caught some of the discussion between George and Randy. They reminisced about old times and old buildings, some restored and others lost.

I could understand their disappointment with politicians and bureaucrats that had auctioned off architectural jewels for cinderblock boxes built to maximize profit.

As I listened, I realized it’s about more than buildings. It’s about the way we respect or disrespect our heritage.

I remember watching a movie in the 70’s where a guy laughed as he ripped off the rear view mirror in his car. “When you’re traveling this fast,” he quipped, “what’s behind you doesn’t matter.”

That’s a silly attitude toward rear view mirrors, and a downright dangerous attitude toward history.

In life, as in architecture, you can never move so fast that your past can’t catch up to you.

Our historians are more than the keepers of bygone names, dates and places. They do more than provide pictures of old buildings. They provide an important lens through which to interpret the present.

We need to listen when they talk.

Having had a month of intense, over- book schedule, I was a tad nervous going into last week of teaching on our Discipleship Training School (DTS), where I would be helping the students engage the ideas and practices of what it means to be a truly missional community.  A core theme of my teaching is building authentic and true community through a process of brokenness and restoration through the pattern of the cross (see this post for a general overview).  I tried to instill in them a sense that the depth and quality of the community's relationships, lived openly before the world, is a central expression of missionality.

During the weeks teaching, one of the students was moved emotionally as they worked to break through the challenges that kept their relationships stalled.  Frustrated, passionate and crying, she said:

"How can we expect to be missional in the world if we cannot have open relationships with each other?"

It is an excellent question.  If the Gospel we proclaim is the promise of restoration and salvation in our relationships with God, each other, ourselves and Creation, yet fail to walk it out in our lives together, how can we expect our words to have any authority?  We are not saved by our work, but the work of salvation, by necessity, will produce- no, demand- transformational change in our lives together.

And yet, as I considered this, the reverse question also presented itself:

"How can we expect to live in transformed and restored relationship together as community if we are living missionally in the world?"

At the end of my week of teaching, I presented our students with a project: They were to come together as a team and consider a missional endeavour they engage together.  However, I required that they do so following the values and processes of true community in the process.  Immediate they began hitting challenges in the relational aspects of the project.  As a result, they (predictably) began to escape into organization, rules and efficiency- essentially the seeds of institutionalism.

Stepping in, I required them to go back to the the requirement that, no matter how frustrating or inefficient, their highest value was to do their task as a true community.  As they pushed past the discomfort and inclination to internalize their feelings, it took only a few short minutes for several people to be weeping, sharing deeply personal areas of brokenness exposed by the process.  Out of this experience, their "project" is being shaped by something far more personal, more real.  They are moving past "good" program and looking at call to restoration and reconciliation that is at the heart of our missional vocation as the Body of Christ.

So in the end, we all begin to see in a very real way that to be missional community is an essentially integrated whole.  We cannot be truly missional if we are not fiercely pursuing the costly process of restoration that only comes through the Cross.  Equally as important is the reality that it is truly when we are thrust into the missional context of a broken world that we presented with the environment and impetus to be that community.  One is not more important than the other.  Neither does one come before the other.  They are simultaneous and intimately integrated parts of the same whole.

To be missional community is more than simply adding a missional vision and practice into our current congregations.  This is important and healthy, but because the mission of God is significantly about the restoration of a dis-integrated Creation, a reconciliation of relationships that were meant to reflect and glorify the nature of God- because of this, it necessarily must redefine the very way in which we are community.  Missionality not only defines our posture towards the world, but equally towards each other within our communities and the larger Body of Christ.

In the same way, it is when we find ourselves in the dangerous and liminal reality of missional engagement with the world, if we resist the impulses to escape into institutionalism and shallow "false community", that we are plunge into an environment that is rich for the formation of the true community.  When faced with relationships and circumstances that ask questions that do not fit our formulaic approach to faith, we are given the opportunity to explore within ourselves the barriers that keep us and others from discovering God.

Suddenly, Jesus revolutionary articulation of God's ulimately command for His people becomes clearer:


Emerging Church, Missional, Community

Today, while teaching on missional community, I showed my collection of Jesus images to the students, reflecting on what each seemed to reflect about Jesus, what the world thought of Him and what of Him they see in us. One picture which drew attention was this one- "Homeless Christ" by Deb Hoeffner. While a bit of a pretty boy, I think the quality of this painting is quite good and the message a simple, but important one.

What do you think? What does it say to you?


Emerging Church, Missional, Art

My good friend Brother Maynard dropped me an email giving me some very exciting news. It seems that Harry Lehotsky, our good friend who died last last year from pancreatic cancer, has been to the first rank of the Order Of Canada. As our nations highest civilian award, this acknowledgment of Harry's missional commitment to God and his community is an exciting one. I am sure he would have not liked all the fuss, but it is well deserved. Check out the last couple of months of my Tuesday posts for samples of Harry's former column with the Winnipeg Sun.

An interesting article was also brought to my attention, which is getting some good play in the blogosphere, at least within Canadian circles. It is entitled "How Canadians Can Save The American Church" by Earl Creps. It is worth a read, as well as the comments that follow. As a friend mentioned in an online forum, it might have been more aptly titled "'Why Canadians Need To Save The American Church", but it has some interesting insights.

While I appreciate Earl's perspective, the danger of this kind of post is to create caricatures of both nations that can be too one dimensional and simplistic to be fair. It isn't that the US church is in desperate need of our Canadian wisdom- or rather, no more so than any national or cultural expression of the church needs the diverse and objective insights of others. Given the power and influence of the US- politically, economically, spiritually, missionally, etc...- perhaps they are in great need of support, but not because they are somehow more deficient. As Canadians, there are areas to which the US church has great wisdom for us.

As a dual citizen, the interaction between Canada & the US is interesting to me. I have posted on this topic several times myself. That being said, I would be interested in hearing my American (and other non-Canadian readers) perspective. I also want to hear from Canadian, so all are welcome to weigh in.

Emerging Church, Missional, Canada

True Community: To Know and be Known - April 18, 2004 - Winnipeg Sun
by Harry Lehotsky

Last weekend, our family enjoyed a short visit to Marion, South Dakota. Aside from having a great time visiting with family, this visit was particularly instructive about the meaning of community.

We visited to celebrate Easter with Virginia’s family and her mom’s 80th birthday. At first blush, one might figure Marion, with its population of 900 people, doesn’t have much to offer visitors. There’s no spectacular illuminated bridges, no arenas, no rivers, and no remarkable tourist attractions. But communities are more than the sum total of their tourist traps. And I’ve come to appreciate Marion for lots of different reasons.

Shortly after arriving in town, I picked up a local paper. What I found was instructive not only about small-town life in Marion, but also about big city attitudes and problems in Winnipeg.

There were the obvious differences. There was the front page story about the addition of two different storage bins for 1.6 million bushels of grain. The size of the structure and concept of storing that much grain was staggering for this city slicker.

Scanning the front page, I also quickly got the idea that perhaps the most significant news in Marion related to their kids. Local businesses sponsored an Easter egg hunt. A report of the High School junior-senior prom. Achievements of youth were highlighted. Several high school students were profiled.

There was a great story about local high school students that voluntarily partnered with 25 seniors (called “town elders”) to tutor them on computer skills.

There was lots of news about local seniors, as well as related groups and programs. I sensed a bit more respect for elders there than I feel from many people around our neighbourhood.

There was a section entitled “Down Memory Lane,” with snippets of newspapers from 70, 50 and 30 years ago. From fifty years ago: “We know for sure that there is clean money in Marion. The other day one of Bill Tieszen’s overalls was run through the washing machine during the weekly wash. When ready to wring out the overalls, the ladies found a roll of bills in one of the pockets. The money came out clean and practically good as new.” Now that’s a marked difference from recent money laundering stories in Winnipeg.

The County advertised the $20 daily rental of a 110 gallon weed and pest sprayer. I figure that’s even one step beyond privatization. Looking around our neighbourhood lately, I’d definitely consider renting one of those “street sweeper” or “mobile vacuum” trucks for a day just to clean up a few back lanes in our neighbourhood.

My boys went out one evening to play basketball with their cousins in the playground of the local high school. They were shocked when a local cop drove by and informed them that they needed to be home before curfew.

All weekend, our boys noticed the bikes unlocked and unguarded on front lawns and sidewalks. This seemed to amaze them more than anything else.

City council published a summary of their minutes on page seven. They included the name of the guy that got paid $275 to renovate the men’s bathroom at City Hall. They even published the 10 cent per hour raise given one of their employees, Terry Lape, bringing his salary up to $10.10 per hour.

The school board published the agenda for the upcoming school board meeting and even published the school lunch menu for the following week.

I scanned the rest of the paper, unprepared for the biggest shock of all – the “Local News” section.

Here in Winnipeg, the local news section usually includes news of beatings, shootings, political conflicts or bureaucratic gaffes.

In the small town paper, it seemed people were reporting much more personal things. One couple received numerous mentions in different paragraphs. First, it was noted that they visited Sylvia, Agnes and Wanda at the Tieszen Home on March 26th. A few paragraphs later, it was noted that the same couple were breakfast guests of Rev. and Mrs. Marv Wall at the Prairie Grill on March 27th. A few paragraphs later, someone reported that they were seen at the Schmeckfest at Freeman on April 2nd.

I shook my head with both humour and trepidation. If such news appeared in the “local news” section of Winnipeg dailies, I’m sure somebody would be getting sued for breaching privacy or anti-stalking legislation.

I know it’s not a perfect town. And part of me would be nervous living in a place where everyone knows almost everything about everyone else.

But perhaps we city slickers have moved too far in the opposite direction, cloaked in all our pseudo-sophistication, privacy legislation and big brother paranoia. We’ve lost a little too much of the blessing of knowing and being known by the people around us.

Well, it is upon me. Strangely, it feels no different, as I am told and teased it must. This coming Sunday, on February 18th, 2007, I turn 30. As I say, it does not feel any different. I don't dread the turning of a new decade in my life with any chagrin. At best, it is a milestone at which I consider the future, something that has preoccupied me a great deal of late.

At any rate, with the busyness this weekend surrounding my birthday and my teaching in the DTS the following week, I am not sure I will be able to keep my regular blogging rate. I'll do my best. Have a great weekend!

 

 

Next week I will be teaching on our DTS on the topic of Missional Community, one of my deepest passions. Part of my teaching, which focuses on the idea that our understanding of Jesus shapes the nature of the community we become, I show a slide show of over a hundred images of Jesus. They are drawn from a broad spectrum, from iconography to parody. Over the next few Fridays, I want to use this art reflection time to look at some of the images and get your feedback.

While I do not know the name or artist of the above piece, it always hits me hard. I will hold back from sharing here and do so later in the comment section. However, I want to hear from you.

What does this painting say to you? How does it make you feel? Where do we go with what glean from it?



Emerging Church, Missional, Art

Having grown up in the Evangelical Covenant Church in Canada, I was very excited to hear about the development of group called The Young Pietists. The Young Pietists are (from their website):

A group of student, lay and clergy leaders who are committed to empowering the next generation of church leadership; witnessing to biblical justice through holistic and embodied discipleship; and serving and actively engaging the Evangelical Covenant Church so that together we may more faithfully embody the ekklesia, the ‘called out’ body of Jesus Christ.

Building on our rich heritage as pietists who value using our heads, our hearts, and our hands in ministry, we affirm our inherited history in the Evangelical Covenant Church and desire to contribute to its future story. This movement intends to gather, encourage, organize and send out young leaders committed to holistic and embodied discipleship in our church. It is not intended to be programmatic or exclusive - but rather a safe and focused space where young leaders can take part in creative conversation and influence the shape of our church’s communal life.

I am eager to see how this movement plays itself out and matures, as well as the impact that the denomination allows them to have on the larger Covenant Church community. It is my hope that this is the first of many such creative missional endeavours to be born within established churches communities. This kind of change does not require some radical departure from denominational foundations. Check them out!

(Also, check out The Narthex, a theological publication committed to renewing a movement for justice within the Evangelical Covenant Church)

Emerging Church, Missional, Justice

"The servant-leader is servant first... It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. . . . The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant — first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likelythemselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or at least, not be further deprived?”

When I posted on Missional Leadership on Monday, I posted assuming most people were familiar with Robert K. Greenleaf. From the emails and comments I received, I realize that isn't necessarily the case. Therefore, I wanted to take this post to introduce you to him and his important contribution to the development of servant leadership.

Born 1904, Robert K. Greenleaf is often referred to as the father of the Servant Leadership Movement. Inspired by Hermann Hesse's "Journey To The East", Greenleaf believed that the most effective form of leadership was that of a servant. Where many speak of servant leadership in shallow terms giving little more than lip service, Greenleaf saw in explicit detail how these values could (and should) transform leadership in all areas of life. His pivotal book "Servant As Leader" is still seen as foundational text for leadership and management theory.

Perhaps what surprises people most when introduced to Greenleaf and his ideas is that his primary field of application and teaching was the business world. Though seemingly "secular" in his authority, his writings reflect deeply spiritual values and overtones. This integrated view of leadership makes his ideas deeply missional, with full life application.

His other works include:

Teacher as Servant: A Parable
Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness
The Power of Servant Leadership: Essays
The Servant Leader Within: A Transformative Path
Servant, Leader & Follower
On Becoming a Servant-Leader
Seeker and Servant: Reflections on Religious Leadership

If you have not read any Greenleaf, go out today and pick something up. It is well worth it.

"A fresh critical look is being taken at the issues of power and authority, and people are beginning to learn, however haltingly, to relate to one another in less coercive and more creatively supporting ways. A new moral principle is emerging, which holds that the only authority deserving of one’s allegiance is that which is freely and knowingly granted by the led to the leader in response to, and in proportion to, the clearly evident servant stature of the leader. Those who choose to follow this principle will not casually accept the authority of existing institutions. Rather, they will freely respond only to individuals who are chosen as leaders because they are proven and trusted as servants. To the extent that this principle prevails in the future, the only truly viable institutions will be those that are predominantly servant led" (Robert K. Greenleaf, "Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power & Greatness" pg. 24).

Emerging Church, Missional, Leadership

Previous Post - Missional Leadership

This weekend, as we were out in our neighbourhood, Kim & I noticed a couple of young men being arrested. Both were wearing gang colours. We took a deep sigh, knowing what this meant. The gangs were on the rise again, which meant we'd have to be more careful in the months to come.

Some might expect that we would be scared by such a development. In fact, while we aren't foolish about it, this is by no means one of the more frightening aspects of missional living. As Harry's article explains, it is sometimes the simplest thing that can scare us.

 

Why it's scary trying to help... - March 7, 2004 - Winnipeg Sun
by Harry Lehotsky

Did you ever really want to help someone, but didn't know what to do? Or even what to say?

It’s a privilege when people trust you enough to open up about their problems. It’s also humbling to realize their willingness to be vulnerable is accompanied by an expectation that you will care and perhaps be able to help.

One night last week I visited with a couple in our neighborhood. They were honest about their troubles as well as their desperation to change. Using crack cocaine, struggling with a very rocky past, unemployed and penniless. But they stressed that they wouldn’t be asking me for spare change. What they wanted was some real change – a change of life.

I realized that a request for money would have been easier to deal with than a request for help and change. You can give someone some spare change, walk away, and feel you’ve done your two bits. But if you listen to the problems and involve yourself in the solution, it’s no longer easy to walk away.

These folks had read some of these columns and felt that I might understand their struggles. They had heard about some of our church’s good work in the community. So I met with them, despite my fear of letting them down.

I liked this couple, and I really wanted to help them make important changes in their lives.

As we talked, however, I had to confront some nagging internal doubts. “What do you have to offer someone that’s penniless, jobless, struggling with crack, and a past beyond your comprehension?”

These thoughts are less about inferiority or inadequacy than a realistic reminder of my limitations. I’ll speak the truth as I see it. I’ll encourage. I’ll brainstorm. But, in the end, I know I’ll eventually leave that apartment, and they’ll still be on their own struggling against the night.

Fortunately, they knew we were way past a quick fixes and magic wands. They had traveled a long time in some deep ruts and it would take time and effort to get on a better road. So we had a good talk, a prayer and some resolve to meet again.

As I left their apartment, nothing much had changed about their situation – except now they weren’t quite as alone in the struggle. And we were all moving in the right direction.

In wanting to help others, we are confronted with our own limitations. We face our own fears of failure even as we try to help others past their failures.

I guess that’s what keeps many people from offering any help at all.

Last Friday, I was one of several speakers addressing a gathering of Mennonite leaders wanting to address poverty in Winnipeg.

One person commented on how scary it is to deal with “needy” people. I asked him what he meant.

He responded honestly, “I guess I don’t like failing. I work hard to resolve problems. I judge myself based on how many problems I fix or how much challenges I conquer. I’m driven by achievement. That’s why helping others scares me. I don’t have control over all the factors leading to their success.”

One woman commented, “The issues are so huge! It gets so overwhelming that I don’t even know where to start. You can give up hope before you start.”

But rather than quit in the face of all they couldn’t change, they brainstormed some creative ways to help in community revitalization.

One suggested that at least one of every ten times eating out could be dedicated to exploring some small restaurant in the inner city. They could make a point of occasionally shopping at some smaller business in a struggling community. They could encourage the business owners with their words as well as their cash.

Does this change the world? No. But it does brighten the day of that business owner and it builds a sense of city-wide community.

Another suggestion was that individual suburban churches could partner with a specific block in a neighbourhood like ours. Maybe renovate a house. Perhaps volunteer some time for helping on a community clean-up or barbeque.

Does this eradicate all hunger, crime and poverty? No. But it builds relationships which do more to help than throwing dollars at problems.

Another shared the experience of employers that “tithed” the time of their employees to an inner-city agency or cause. Imagine that! After 36 hours of working for the company, the employer allows his employees to work four hours for some community endeavour. And paradoxically, the employees’ productivity increases rather than decreases.

There’s no magic fix for the morass of urban decay. But there’s always something good you can do as a neighbour.

Emerging Church, Missional