And now for something completely different than the current birther/healthcare reform/Fox News apoplexy diaries my dear fellow Kossacks are so ably engaged in.
I write this (my first diary) as a sort of apologia on behalf of the vast number of Christians who are not represented by right-wing fundamentalist christianists and triumphalist teevee blowhards. I recognize that the agnostics and atheists among us are thoughtful sorts who do not lump all Church people into the same ideological camp. But I've seen quite a few irresponsible statements made on DailyKos that do equate all Christians with the reality challenged, war-mongering, me-firstism hypocrisy of the right end of the Christian spectrum.
I will forego dry theology and follow Jesus' example by telling a story after the jump.
My denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), convenes a national youth gathering every three years. We are, by and large, of northern European ethnicity and are concentrated in the states surrounding the Great Lakes. We are the epitome of mainline Protestantism: moderate, subdued, congregational, liturgical. The clergy tend towards left of center but the right of center is very well represented too. The membership is big umbrella having Dems and Reps, liberals and conservatives. Ergo, we are highly non-politicized and partisan politics preached from the pulpit is deeply frowned upon and nearly non-existent.
This time around we convened our triennial gathering in New Orleans, LA. The decision was made to go there even though there are only 18 ELCA congregations in the state. Lots of parents were dubious on this decision because of the city's reputation for violent crime and debauchery. Not the sort of place you want your teenager visiting.
But as a denomination we are committed to rolling up our sleeves and quietly going where we are needed. Lutheran Services in America (a partnership of ELCA and Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (that is a whole other story))is the largest social services provider in the nation and the Lutherans are consistently the first ones in and the last ones out in famine relief and disaster relief efforts around the world. NOLA, despite the rumored risks, was the perfect place to hold our biggest gathering. The city needed help, the city needed our business, and we are put in this world to give thanks in the form of helping where needed.
Yadda, yadda, yadda. We are not perfect but we do a lot to try to make the world a better, more just, more equitable, more peaceful place.
Back to the story. My youth director and I took 5 of our kids (including my 16 year old daughter) from our small town in rural Minnesota to the gathering. It was not cheap for transportation, housing, registration, meals. Fortunately our congregation chipped in generously as we held the typical bake sales, spaghetti suppers, etc. for several months to help defray the cost. This same story was repeated in ELCA congregations around the country.
We arrived in NOLA, crammed the 7 of us in two hotel rooms and I tried to get the 3 boys in my room to shut up so we could get some sleep before our big first day which was to start at 6AM the next morning. Sleep did not come easy because this is one pastor who is not, under any circumstances, going to share a bed with a member of my congregation so I hogged one bed for myself and made the 3 boys figure out how to share the other bed (cots are apparently against the fire code in NOLA).
The next morning we, and thousands of other Lutherans put on our orange t-shirts, and caught our 6AM buses about a mile away from our hotel. We were taken to areas around the metro area to do service projects. Ours and our thirty bus mates from Michigan and some other small towns in Minnesota was in the city of Slidell across Lake Pontchartrain from NOLA. It was a Habitat for Humanity project. I have carpentry experience so I was put to framing a house and the kids were put to the awful task of painting the underside of the floor. The day was 95 and sunny and humid which is really uncomfortable for Minnesotans.
After a 6 hour shift the kids were covered in paint which is to be expected when one is painting above one's self in a crawl space. The bus driver wouldn't let them on the bus until they wrapped themselves in Hefty bags but I was allowed to sit my sweaty ass right on the seat for the ride back to downtown NOLA.
We were hot and tired and happy as clams. The mile walk back to the hotel was a thing of joy. There we were in the midst of a stream of thousands of similarly hot and tired orange shirted Lutherans parading through downtown to our various hotels. The locals gave us ample room to pass on the crowded sidewalks and we blocked a lot of traffic as we had to cross many streets.
This scene was repeated for three days in a row as 38,000 Lutherans did the clean-up and rebuilding work in three days that would have taken 10 years (by some official estimate I heard) at the previous pace. Houses were built, houses were repaired, schools were cleaned up, lots and park lands were cleared and a whole bunch of other stuff too. 228,000 man (and woman and teenager) hours in three days.
We inundated the place for a week. It wasn't all work. 38,000 Lutherans in bright colored tee shirts all trekking the mile and a half walks from the hotels to the bus stops and the convention center (the site of horrific suffering 4 years ago)and the Superdome (another place of unspeakable suffering) and back to the hotels. I don't blame the crabby drivers for honking as we scofflaws streamed by the thousands through red lights. Traffic cops were virtually non-existent. The restaurants (the cheap ones -- we're not a fancy people) ran out of food. The corner stores ran out of Doritos and Gatorade. The lines were long. But it was the most joyful bunch of tourists I've ever seen.
Of course with a Lutheran gathering there will always be classes and speakers and other learning events and worship. The convention center had booths and games. But our kids (and I, myself) far and away agreed the highlight of the week was being able to pitch in and do service.
On top of that we passed the hat twice. One offering brought in over $100,000 for local education efforts and another one set a goal for $1 million for a half dozen other social justice causes. I have not heard the tally for that last offering but I would not be surprised if it was met.
Our presiding bishop, Mark Hanson (an ELCA version of pope, who used to be my pastor), said it well in a poorly attended press conference. I can't remember the exact words but the message was one of humble grace. We were mere servants enjoying the generous hospitality of the people of NOLA.
I recognize this diary is rife with back patting which is bad Lutheran theology. But I think we can learn something from our brothers and sisters in the denominations that employ testimonials. What I saw in NOLA was the much vilified Church at its best.
It will not make the news. The Church only makes the news when one of us screws up. But I present this story for those of us who only know Church people by what is shown on the teevee or movies. It is a bunch of fallible human beings who do a lot more good in this world than bad and who rarely get acknowledgement.
Sorry this news is a week old and lacking fancy block quotes or photos or even attributions. I got back to my parish to find a funeral needing doing another one imminent the usual grass fires flared up and Sunday sermon to prep. So I just spit this one out quickly.