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by Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane, Editor
February/March 2009
A new year, a new president, a new hope… but none of these will
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immediately solve the not-so-new financial crisis. The Great Depression, the dot.com debacle, the housing bubble burst, the technology industry meltdown, the telecom bust: no matter who is hit, the U.S. economy continually faces downturns and upturns, like a game of Chutes & Ladders.
The problem, though, is that the current financial crisis is not a game. For some people, it’s a matter of having a roof over one’s head or putting food on the table; it can be a matter of life and death
In January, clergy and lay leaders came together for a Leadership Event – a day to reflect on what our faith has to tell us about the current economic crisis and to ponder questions such as:
Following are some reflections from speakers at that event and other local church clergy.
The Rev. Dr. Andrea Ayvazian, pastor of Haydenville Congregational Church, has asked her congregation to be counter-cultural in their approach to money. During the launch of the church’s stewardship campaign, she asked her members: “To hold a vision of enough in a world of scarcity. A vision of security in a world of fear. A vision of generosity in a world of greed. A vision of giving in a world of getting. A vision of well being in a world of anxiety.”
Ayvazian believes that the line of conventional wisdom says that in both flush and lean economic times, contributions to churches and other worthy causes must be extracted …. people have trouble parting with their hard-earned dollars when times are good or when times are bad. But as she explained to her congregation, it is not about extracting, it is about “feeding the whole,” recognizing that we are all part of one family, of a community and when we give to the Church we are simply redirecting some of our money from one part of the body to another part of the body.
“We are all connected,” she said. “My well-being is dependent on your well-being, and your well being is dependent on my well-being. And so when we are generous, when we redirect some of our financial resources to the larger whole, we are acting in God’s image. We are recognizing our interdependence, we are caring for each other. And that pleases God.”
Ayvazian has seen examples of that power of interconnectedness at her own church. The 100 or so members of the Haydenville church have raised enough money for three months of mortgage payments for a family facing foreclosure. Ayvazian was receiving so many requests for financial help, that one member gave her a stack of $20 bills to use in response.
But for the poor, poverty is nothing new, and poor congregations never have the luxury of counting on ‘good economic times’ as they try to live the Gospel.
Pilgrim United Church of Christ in New Bedford is one of those churches who lacks funds, but has enough faith, energy, and interest to fill the community’s coffers with hopefulness.
According to Pilgrim’s pastor, Rev. David Hammett, the church falls far short of meeting budget. “We’re growing, but not fast enough to cover the gap,” he said. “But God is good and we will find a way … and people are so gracious here.”
That benevolence is on display at the town’s soup kitchen, operated by a local group called Market Ministries and hosted by the church. Despite the depletion in its bank account, the church recently dropped the $6000 yearly rental fee it charged Market Ministries for the use of church space. The costs incurred were considered local mission work and an investment in the community. In addition to providing the facility free of charge, on holidays the church members help serve as well as donate fresh fruit and ice cream sundae supplies to augment the soup kitchen meal.
The downturn in the economy did present at least one challenge to Market Ministries this past year. The Christmas meal was formerly sponsored by AT&T but they backed out. Folks were concerned about being able to raise the $400 needed to pay for the food supplies; but in the end, despite the bad economy, they managed to donate $940 – covering the costs of the Christmas, New Year’s, and Martin Luther King Day meals. That outpouring of generosity has spurred talk among the members about paying for the whole meal every holiday.
More importantly than feeding the bodies of the community, though, Pilgrim Church is also feeding the souls.
The soup kitchen, along with other ministries, has helped bring attention to Pilgrim and its open and affirming environment. Members bring family and friends, and some people in the neighborhood offer their help. In fact, a number of people who used to be guests of the soup kitchen are now wearing aprons on the other side of the counter.
“With more openness to the neighborhood, more of our neighbors are coming and joining,” said Hammett. “We’ve had people from a broad spectrum of backgrounds come into the fellowship – gay, straight, Portuguese, Native American, Jewish, recovering addicts, people with AIDS, clergy between churches or in need of renewal, poor, middle class, a few professional folks. We’re a pretty eclectic bunch.”
That outreach and welcoming of diversity has spurred an 18% increase in membership each year since Hammet arrived two years ago. And since they’ve been growing steadily, it’s hard to know how, or if, the
economy has affected them.
Rev. Dianne Arakawa, a facilitator of one of the Conference’s clergy communities of practice, feels it is important to call attention to Pilgrim’s work. “At depressed economic times like ours, it’s inspiring to know what some of our folk are doing in Christ’s ministry,” she said.
Whether it’s administering during a troubled economy or at a troubled church, Hammett advises a grassroots renewal approach where everyone has a voice and direct impact on the direction the church’s ministry takes. “Then I just try to get out of the way and celebrate with people as gifts emerge,” he said.
In a recent article in the Hampshire Daily Gazette, staff writer Nick Grabbe wrote that at the Easthampton Congregational Church, the Rev. Audrey Walker sees more people coming to a food cupboard, more requests for money for gas and rent and food:
“‘People are increasing their pledges, but this is a real difficult time financially,’ Walker said. “The budget is way above our giving, and there’s a large deficit. The interest on our investments is much less. Our fuel bills have increased, and everything costs more. ....’ Walker said she feels bad when people who are having trouble making ends meet come to her office. ‘It’s usually the working poor who have come on hard times,’ she said. ‘They are very embarrassed to come to ask for help because they’re behind in their rent. The small amount I have to give them makes my heart ache.’”
Rev. Reed Baer, pastor of West Parish of Barnstable and a speaker at the event, thinks the first step to getting through the challenge is to share thoughts and ideas, among the congregation as well as with other churches.
“We should call our congregations into discerning together these new ways forward, for surely different contexts will call for different approaches,” he said. “And we can certainly expect that if our people are brought into the discussion, two things will likely happen: first, we will have a better chance of discerning God’s will for us in our particular sites of ministry, and, second, we will have a better chance that the church will embrace a new direction or way of being.”
“It is a good time to be a Christian,” said Ayvazian. “A good time to know that my security and peace of mind do not lie in my paycheck alone but in community. A good time to remember that I have a family of faith, a Church family, that will not let me or any of us go hungry. A good time to feel the power of love, faith and communion with God and each other.”
Read Andy Gustafson’s article for some for some questions to discuss while discerning together how to respond to these economic times.