March 2014 issue of Shalom - Communities of Shalom - Drew University

March 2014 issue of Shalom - Communities of Shalom - Drew University
Current Shalom Trainings
We are pleased to hear about four ShalomZone Trainings currently in session:
Shalom Training in the San Francisco Bay Area started February 1, sponsored by the Cal-Nevada Conference of the United Methodist Church.  Led by National Director Michael Christensen and hosted by Epworth Berkeley UMC, session two on "Growing Healthy Communities--the H in Shalom" was completed on March 1.  The next session on Asset Based Community Development is scheduled for April 5.  
The New York Annual Conference of the UMC begins its Shalom Training Program at Clinton Ave. UMC,  Kingston, NY, with National Trainer David Cooper  this month.   The Six sessions are scheduled for March 15,     April 12, May 17, June 21, July 19, and August 23. To register, please contact David Cooper at
Shalom.makers@gmail.com
Uganda Shalom Zones are ready to begin their third class of coffee farmers, tailors and HIV/AIDS community workers in Jinja and in Hoima districts of Uganda under the leadership of Regional Trainers Baumu Moses and Julius Kasaija.
Our new Shalom Online course started on March 1 with open enrollment until May.  All eight sessions can be taken at your own pace on a Moodle online platform for a total of  24 contact hours.
For more information on Shalom Training:
www.communitiesofshalom.org 
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Beauty for Ashes
A Lenten Journey to Shalom and Jubilee by Michael J. Christensen,
Director, Communities of Shalom
This year on Ash Wednesday in Berkeley, CA, I plan to carry on the mission of Jesus by offering “beauty for ashes” in the morning on the street at the BART station in downtown Berkeley, CA.
Inspired by Sara Miles, a priest at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco, I invited members of the local United Methodist Church I pastor in Berkeley to come on out at between 7-8am to support the ministerial staff as we robe for the occasion, process silently on the street, pray in public, and offer the opportunity to “get your ashes downtown.”
On Ash Wednesday, wherever you are, I encourage you to remember the vision of Shalom in the prophesy of Isaiah and the mission of Jubilee in the teaching of Jesus. And whether you receive your ashes on the streets or inside a church,
“Remember, child of God, from dust you were made, to dust you shall return, turn around, believe the good news, and participate in the mission of God."
On Ash Wednesday, March 5, Christians begin a 40-day journey called the Season of Lent. In the spirit of Shalom and Jubilee, it’s a time to refocus on the mission of Jesus, which has become our mission, too, in the world (See Luke 4:16-21).
Beauty For Ashes
A Lenten Journey to Shalom and Jubilee by Michael J. Christensen, Director, Communities of Shalom
This year on Ash Wednesday in Berkeley, CA, I plan to carry on the mission of Jesus by offering “beauty for ashes” in the morning on the street at the BART station in downtown Berkeley, CA.
Inspired by Sara Miles, a priest at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco, I invited members of the local United Methodist Church I pastor in Berkeley to come on out at between 7-8am to support the ministerial staff as we robe for the occasion, process silently on the street, pray in public, and offer the opportunity to “get your ashes downtown.”
On Ash Wednesday, wherever you are, I encourage you to remember the vision of Shalom in the prophesy of Isaiah and the mission of Jubilee in the teaching of Jesus.
And whether you receive your ashes on the streets or inside a church,
“Remember, child of God, from dust you were made, to dust you shall return, turn around, believe the good news, and participate in the mission of God.
On Ash Wednesday, March 5, Christians begin a 40-day journey called the Season of Lent. In the spirit of Shalom and Jubilee, it’s a time to refocus on the mission of Jesus, which has become our mission, too, in the world (See Luke 4:16-21).
Lent is an old Middle English word meaning “springtime”—the renewal of life. Since the 4th
century the Church has observed a 40-day period (in Spring) of self-denial and preparation for Holy Week and Easter. During this time, Christians seek to follow Jesus into the desert of denial, detachment, displacement, and devotion, resisting temptation and returning to God in prayer and right action.
As a sign of our mortality and devotion, many of us receive ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday. The imposition of ashes is a sign of mourning in II Samuel 13:19 and of repentance in Job 42:6. Ashes represent fervent prayer in Daniel 9:3 and deep anguish in Jeremiah 6:26. Ashes symbolize human mortality in Psalm 103:13-16 and true fasting in Isaiah 58:5-8.
Beauty for Ashes
Immediately after his 40 days of temptation in the desert (Luke 4:1-13), filled with the power of the Spirit, Jesus returned to Galilee to begin his Jubilee mission of spiritual and social transformation. When he arrived in his hometown of Nazareth, he went to the local synagogue to teach (Luke 4:16-19). There he read from the scroll of Isaiah:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the oppressed. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor… 
To all who mourn in Israel he will give: beauty for ashes…” (Isa. 61:1-3)
When Messiah comes, the prophet Isaiah had announced, it will be the “year of the Lord’s favor” (also called The Year of the Jubilee) when debts are canceled, prisoners set free, wealth is redistributed, and the land reverts to its original owners (Numbers 25).
Rather than just ‘one day to humble yourself and put on sackcloth and ashes’, it will be the Year of true fasting in order to “loose the bonds of injustice, to let the oppressed go free…to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless into your house;” (Isa. 58:5-7).
The Year of the Lord’s Favor will be a time of healing when sorrow will turn to joy, sadness to gladness. Tears of mourning will become the oil of gladness. The downcast soul will receive a mantle of praise. Instead of ashes on our forehead, a crown of garland will be put on our head (Isaiah 61:1-3).
I like the way verse 3 is translated in The Living Bible: “To all who mourn in Israel he will give: beauty for ashes…” And I like the way The Message renders this verse: “To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion, instead of ashes, messages of joy instead of news of doom, a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.”
God’s people will be called “oaks of righteousness” or justice, according to Isaiah. Ministers of Shalom and Jubilee, we might say. Together, they will build houses and plant gardens to display God’s glory (verse. 3b).
“Then they shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastation; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastation of many generations” (Isa. 61:4).
This, of course, is the work of Communities of Shalom! And a continuation of the Jubilee mission of Jesus.
On Ash Wednesday, wherever you are, I encourage you to remember the vision of Shalom in the prophesy of Isaiah and the mission of Jubilee in the teaching of Jesus. And whether you receive your ashes on the streets or inside a church,
“Remember, child of God, from dust you were made, to dust you shall return, turn around, believe the good news, and participate in the mission of God. [God will] give them bouquets of roses.”
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Looking at the Glass Half Full by John McKnight 
Our major institutions have focused on the emptiness of our neighborhoods and not on their assets. Universities quantify the emptiness (how many below code houses, how many pregnant teens). The downtown media which has portrayed (urban) neighborhoods as glasses that are half empty (by focusing on the deficits), and not on their assets.
Looking at the Glass Half Full by John McKnight
Since WW II our institutions have focused on the need of people to be fixed or filled. So much has gone to agencies to fix and fill rather than to mobilize people for problem solving and productivity that we have had much less progress in developing neighborhoods than we could have had.
Our major institutions have focused on the emptiness of our neighborhoods and not on their assets. Universities quantify the emptiness (how many below code houses, how many pregnant teens), many of our foundations have funded those who purport to fix or to fill needs (using the need surveys to justify giving). The downtown media which has portrayed (urban) neighborhoods as glasses that are half empty (by focusing on the deficits.)
People who come together to pool their capacities are the real community builders, and yet the resources flow to those who deal with the brokenness and the emptiness, and usually these groups are not from the neighborhood, are not run by the neighborhood and are not staffed by the neighborhood.
Progressive leaders see that the future of our towns and cities depends upon returning to the American tradition that the center of community power is in the hands of citizens and their associations.
In this video John tells a story to show the difference between the world of facts, data, systematic information and the community’s way of knowing: the story. And the most important thing in strong communities is having true stories, stories that match our experience.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9xE5via7NcQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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City of God by Sara Miles
Paradise is a garden…but heaven is a city. From the acclaimed author of Take This Bread and Jesus Freak comes a powerful new account of venturing beyond the borders of religion into the unpredictable territory of faith. CITY OF GOD narrates the events of the day in vivid detail, exploring the profound implications of touching strangers with a reminder of common mortality.
A New Book by Sara Miles
Paradise is a garden…but heaven is a city. From the acclaimed author of Take This Bread and Jesus Freak comes a powerful new account of venturing beyond the borders of religion into the unpredictable territory of faith.
On Ash Wednesday, 2012, Sara Miles and her friends left their church buildings and carried ashes to the buzzing city streets: the crowded dollar stores, beauty shops, hospital waiting rooms, street corners and fast-food joints of her neighborhood.
They marked the foreheads of neighbors and strangers, sharing blessings with waitresses and drunks, believers and doubters alike. CITY OF GOD narrates the events of the day in vivid detail, exploring the profound implications of touching strangers with a reminder of common mortality.
As the story unfolds, Sara Miles also reflects on life in her city over the last two decades, where the people of God suffer and rejoice, building community amid the grit and beauty of this urban landscape.
CITY OF GOD is a beautifully written personal narrative, rich in complex, real-life characters, and full of the “wild, funny, joyful, raucous, reverent” moments of struggle and faith that have made Miles one of the most enthralling Christian writers of our time.
Sara Miles is the founder and director of The Food Pantry, and Director of Ministry at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. She is the author of Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion and Jesus Freak: Feeding Healing Raising the Dead. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Salon, and NPR.
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Joy and Hope for Lubbock, TX
This is the first program put in place when HOPE began.  Students from Dupre elementary across the street come for help with homework, tutoring, and a nutritious meal provided by Kids Cafe and the South Plains Food Bank.  We had 128 participants last year.  Lives are changed through the Individualized attention our caring volunteers provide.
Shalom Ministries bring joy and hope to Lubbock, TX
HOPE Community of Shalom Ministries keeps bringing joy and hope to the city of Lubbock, Texas. These are the actual Ministries sponsored by HOPE directly and active expanding and chaining their community from the inside out.
Shalom Readerbooks – This is the first program put in place when HOPE began.  Students from    Dupre elementary across the street come for help with homework, tutoring, and a nutritious meal provided by Kids Cafe and the South Plains Food Bank.  We had 128 participants last year.  Lives are changed through the Individualized attention our caring volunteers provide.
Books for Kids – To foster a love of reading, we offer a library of donated books which children are encouraged to take home and keep.  2,748 books were distributed last year
Louise Schock scholarship – Students who participate in Shalom Readers or Creative Ministries and go on to graduate from High School are eligible to apply for a tuition reimbursement when they enroll in college.  Here is the application.
Liberty Learning Center – An alternative school offering a customized education to those who find public school a poor fit. See their website for more information.
Loaves and Fishes – Distribution of food in partnership with the South Plains Food Bank and area merchants. 1,804 families were served in 2012.  In addition to the food, we also offer individual prayer with our participants and often see wonderful answers!
Fiesta Domingo – Serves a home cooked hot meal every Sunday evening, along with a devotional worship service.  Approximately 100 people enjoy this fellowship every week.
Grandparents as Parents – a support group sponsored by the Methodist Children’s Home as part of their efforts to keep children with their families, and out of the foster care system. Currently 8 families with 19 grandchildren are participating.
Begin Again Boutique  – Our clothes closet, offering free clothing which has been donated.  Newer clothes may make all the difference to someone needing to dress for a job interview! Almost 10,000 items of clothing were distributed last year!
Creative Ministries – A unique and fun-filled after school program with a focus on building character, self esteem, and discipline through creative expression in art, drama, music, crafts and even  chess.  High expectations bring out the best in our students!
Asbury United Methodist Church – A vital and growing worship community serving our neighborhood with worship on Sunday mornings.  Everyone is welcome to experience relevant contemporary worship in a multicultural setting.  Worship begins at 10:30, with Sunday School for all ages at 9:30.  View the church website here.
AUMCProject Light – Sponsored by Asbury, several Internet connected computers are available to people for use in writing a resume or checking email.  Computer software to assist with GED preparation and learning English as a Second Language are also available.
South Plains Homeless Consortium – We provide office and storage space for leaders in this vital program, aiming to meet the needs of homeless persons in the Lubbok area.  Their website has more information.
For more information about These wonderful ministries and how to be part of the change visit: http://www.hopeshalom.org
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Communities of Shalom. 
Our mailing address is: 
Communities of Shalom
12 Campus Drive
Madison, NJ 07940
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