"You are NO PRIEST or reverend or whatever you are! You lie; You PROMISED!"
A woman called the church describing herself as an arthritis sufferer who needed a thanksgiving meal delivered to her. I asked for how many folks and her address, which I think she took to mean a promise for me to deliver, and she said, three children and her son. She did not seem to know her address. She called back a couple of times with a slight variation in the address, which put her squarely in the middle of the heroin and crack center of Kensington - Philadelphia; was it 3021, 3291, or 3921, she couldn't remember. I could have asked more questions, but did not; she could have been kept hostage, but it didn't feel like that was the case. I checked around to see who had what left and uncommitted, knowing that there were usually a couple of uncommitted turkey dinners on the eve of Thanksgiving. This year, there were none. I called back saying there were none, offering three suggestions on where a meal could be found, two in AA/NA facilities and one in a small neighborhood Episcopal Church, a simple bus ride away.
That is when the shouting began!
One of the greatest challenges facing the urban church is that need outweighs resources. We all know that, but it never changes the fact that it hurts. It was an Episcopal priest who said to me that when urban church membership increases, demands on resources escalate exponentially. As pastor/priest/rector of St. Mark's Church, Frankford, I am in relationship with hundreds of folks, maybe even a thousand? Everywhere I go, I encounter folks that I do ministry with. Everywhere I go there are prayers to be prayed, interventions to be called out, despair to hear and pray about. People are often astounded by how many names I remember, but it is only because I pray the prayers that folks ask me to pray that I remember their names. I am not perfect; I make mistakes; I forget to pray prayers; I let good people down, but I try desperately not to. The maximum level of efficiency for a priest is probably a little north of 150 souls. After that, folks, narratives, and faces blend together. Each person I listen to has a valid need and desire to only use resources necessary to solve their challenge.
A few days ago, a man I never expected to give a nickle to the church handed me a hundred dollar bill; not two hours later a woman, a home health care provider came, for the third time, to ask me for uniform money. Know that I handed her the bill knowing that I'll never see her or the money again, but praying that she uses the money to get the shoes and uniforms that she'll need to work. I pray that that simple gift gets her back into the work force.
I am sure that I get played every now and then. I am sure that there probably ways to help folks without giving them money, but what would Jesus do? Serious question. What would Jesus do? I think he might think through the needs and answer them as best as he could, and as Son of God, he could do a lot. Would he divide loaves and fishes and meet everyone's needs? I believe that he said, that we can't send folks away without feeding them, and then he fed them. Some of the folks that were healed may have needed spit and dirt, but he did what he needed to do to heal them.
I am not Jesus; I work with limited resources constantly trying to help those that some of the help that I can give might actually help them. One of my favorite passages by author Norman Maclean, is about helping others, “Each one of us here today will at one time in our lives look upon a loved one who is in need and ask the same question: We are willing to help, Lord, but what, if anything, is needed? For it is true we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don't know what part of ourselves to give or, more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted. And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us. But we can still love them - we can love completely without complete understanding.” A River Runs Through it is truly a great book.
And so she yelled at me. She yelled that I had promised to deliver a meal for her little family. I calmly listened and I believe that I was right not to go to the store, pull out my overextended Visa Card and charge a dinner for her. But what are her real needs?
Peace, blessings, and love, Jon
A woman called the church describing herself as an arthritis sufferer who needed a thanksgiving meal delivered to her. I asked for how many folks and her address, which I think she took to mean a promise for me to deliver, and she said, three children and her son. She did not seem to know her address. She called back a couple of times with a slight variation in the address, which put her squarely in the middle of the heroin and crack center of Kensington - Philadelphia; was it 3021, 3291, or 3921, she couldn't remember. I could have asked more questions, but did not; she could have been kept hostage, but it didn't feel like that was the case. I checked around to see who had what left and uncommitted, knowing that there were usually a couple of uncommitted turkey dinners on the eve of Thanksgiving. This year, there were none. I called back saying there were none, offering three suggestions on where a meal could be found, two in AA/NA facilities and one in a small neighborhood Episcopal Church, a simple bus ride away.
That is when the shouting began!
One of the greatest challenges facing the urban church is that need outweighs resources. We all know that, but it never changes the fact that it hurts. It was an Episcopal priest who said to me that when urban church membership increases, demands on resources escalate exponentially. As pastor/priest/rector of St. Mark's Church, Frankford, I am in relationship with hundreds of folks, maybe even a thousand? Everywhere I go, I encounter folks that I do ministry with. Everywhere I go there are prayers to be prayed, interventions to be called out, despair to hear and pray about. People are often astounded by how many names I remember, but it is only because I pray the prayers that folks ask me to pray that I remember their names. I am not perfect; I make mistakes; I forget to pray prayers; I let good people down, but I try desperately not to. The maximum level of efficiency for a priest is probably a little north of 150 souls. After that, folks, narratives, and faces blend together. Each person I listen to has a valid need and desire to only use resources necessary to solve their challenge.
A few days ago, a man I never expected to give a nickle to the church handed me a hundred dollar bill; not two hours later a woman, a home health care provider came, for the third time, to ask me for uniform money. Know that I handed her the bill knowing that I'll never see her or the money again, but praying that she uses the money to get the shoes and uniforms that she'll need to work. I pray that that simple gift gets her back into the work force.
I am sure that I get played every now and then. I am sure that there probably ways to help folks without giving them money, but what would Jesus do? Serious question. What would Jesus do? I think he might think through the needs and answer them as best as he could, and as Son of God, he could do a lot. Would he divide loaves and fishes and meet everyone's needs? I believe that he said, that we can't send folks away without feeding them, and then he fed them. Some of the folks that were healed may have needed spit and dirt, but he did what he needed to do to heal them.
I am not Jesus; I work with limited resources constantly trying to help those that some of the help that I can give might actually help them. One of my favorite passages by author Norman Maclean, is about helping others, “Each one of us here today will at one time in our lives look upon a loved one who is in need and ask the same question: We are willing to help, Lord, but what, if anything, is needed? For it is true we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don't know what part of ourselves to give or, more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted. And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us. But we can still love them - we can love completely without complete understanding.” A River Runs Through it is truly a great book.
And so she yelled at me. She yelled that I had promised to deliver a meal for her little family. I calmly listened and I believe that I was right not to go to the store, pull out my overextended Visa Card and charge a dinner for her. But what are her real needs?
Peace, blessings, and love, Jon
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