THE MOST IMPORTANT MEETING IN CINCINNATI'S HISTORY?

This morning we experienced what in my opinion was one of the most important meetings in the history of our city. For the first time that anyone knew, churches across denominational lines cancelled their morning services to participate in a united meeting of prayer and repentance. I would guess that about 4000 believers gathered together in Jesus' name and worshiped him as one.

I think that the right things happened in that meeting, too. While there was celebration of our unity in Christ, there was also confession and repentance, shared leadership, and a spirit of cooperation rather than competition. The leadership confessed first, which is right, because I think that the leadership of churches has been where the greatest sin has occured over the years. It was beautiful.

The Bengals were playing at home this afternoon before a packed stadium, and it made the news all week long. (Have you noticed how weather reports are geared toward, "If you are going to the game..."?) But if all Christians in Greater Cincinnati gathered in one place, it would be a far bigger crowd. Maybe it would even make the news on a Sunday! In any case, I would guess that in our region at least 100,000 people gather every weekend. Our unity would be demonstrated clearly if we all had but one gathering.

Then I realize that we have a long, long way to go before we truly have a unity movement of transforming proportions in Cincinnati. Only about 4% of the believers were there today. Here's my perspective on who was there and who wasn't.

As we have noted before at cciph, there are three majors worship traditions, or theological camps: liberal, liturgical ecumenical churches; conservative evangelical churches; and independent charismatic churches.

The liberal liturgical churches that are part of the ecumenical movement is almost exclusively the group that is involved with Price Hill Will church community action team, and those are the churches that cooperate with our food panty, Manna. That is the group that will be involved in our community Thanksgiving service, held at our building on Nov 20. They have a high degree of interest in unity, but in practice, their unity is only among churches who are liberal and liturgical; it's almost as if the other churches didn't exist. They have different publishers, different communication lines, use vocabulary differently, and never cross paths with one another. I'm guessing that the majority of those pastors never even knew (or cared) that such a meeting was happening this morning. In any case, they were not there.

The conservative evangelical churches (including Christian churches, Baptists and the like) also have little interaction with the other two groups. They do not get involved with Price Hill Will, do not trust anyone else's doctrine, and speak of unity in terms of "if only everyone else will come to the truth, then we can become one." Again, it's almost as if the other traditions did not exist at all, for as little cooperation as they display. (They MIGHT cooperate with a Billy Graham Mission, but it is still pretty controversial among the more conservatives). So a very few of them might have come, but virtually none would cancel a morning service for such a brazen show of unity with those who do not take the Lord's Supper the same way, or baptize for the same reason, or use the same translation as they do, or whatever their distinctive. Very few of these churches are doing any urban or ethnic work.

The charismatics also focus on unity, but the cynical side of me says that their unity is more based on experience than on Jesus. I don't see this group as excluding the other two, but there is still a different vocabulary and goal among charismatics that makes the others feel like they are on the outside. (For example, this morning, the charismatics knew what to do with the chorus of "How Great is Our God" when it was sung 25 times in a row; most of those in either of the other groups would have sat down and crossed their arms after 4 or 5 times and said, "I already got it. What more do you want me to say here?") This is the group that came this morning, and was pretty well represented.

I'm so blessed that as a church I feel like we have a stake in all three traditions. We participate with Manna and the Price Hill Will churches. We belong to the fellowship of Christian churches and reach out to all evangelicals as fellow conservatives. We are charismatic and experiential in our worship and our style, having accepted prophecy as valid for today. My longing is that one day the unity movement in our city will cross over all three boundaries, and all who name the name of Jesus will truly be one.

WHERE WOULD I BE?

Pardon me for revisiting this question, but I am still wrestling with it.

If I were a nonconformist in England in the early 1600s, would I have been a pilgrim who traveled to the New World? Would I have prayed earnestly for my friends on pilgrimage? And would I have generously supported them financially? Or would I have stayed behind, too secure in my world, in spite of persecution at home, to travel? What difference would it make whether I stayed, prayed, sent or went?

If I were living in the Tristate in the 1850s, would I have put myself in harm's way as a worker in the Underground Railroad, because I was living out my firm beliefs in racial equality, or at least of racial justice? Would I at least have prayed, written editorials or books or songs about freedom? Or would I have been with the majority who secretly believed that slavery was wrong, but lived as if my own convenience was more important than that brave-but-illegal work? What difference would it make whether I stare, am in prayer, help in words, or in deeds?

Maybe I can answer by seeing my own involvement in the abortion issue. Am I silently neutral about the disposal of thousands of American citizens every day? Do I at least pray fervently for justice in our legal system and for mercy on the individual innocents? Do I vote and talk and write on the subject? Or do I perhaps take action, though perhaps illegal, for the sake of righteousness? What difference does it make whether I am silent, in prayer, voting with my words, or voting with my feet?

One more piece to this puzzle: What about injustice in Price Hill? There are many significant issues, from housing to gangs, from racial reconciliation to welfare reform, from elections to street cleanup, or simply telling my neighbors about Jesus. What I am doing here? Do I think about the issues? Do I pray for justice? Do I give and vote and talk? Or do I do? What difference does it make whether I think, pray, talk or do?

In Matthew 25, Jesus did not commend the sheep or condemn the goats based on their beliefs, or on their prayers, or on their words. The only criteria that our Lord had was their action: did they feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, house the homeless, and heal the sick?

History honors as heroes those pilgrims who went and those conductors who risked. We are not so sure about today's freedom fighters. That's probably partially because history is written by the winners, and stories of today's yet-to-be-resolved issues are written from both sides. It's probably also because we are less sure of what we believe in anymore.

In any case, my life's goal is to be among those to whom Jesus says, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter the joy of your Master." I'm not talking about legalism, oughts or shoulds here. But I am talking about obedience.
-ker

FULFILLING OUR PROPHETIC DESTINY

This is meant to be an interactive collaboration as we collectively try to get our spirits around some of the teachings of Tsuchina on Tuesday night. My way of dealing with things is to write and see how it looks to me. For those of you who weren't there, that's okay; let's wrestle with this.

First, what is Cincinnati's prophetic heritage and destiny?

Losantiville stands at the intersection of two rivers. On the north side of the Ohio River was Shawnee and Miami tribe land. On the south side was Kentucky, a sacred hunting ground where no natives lived, but they crossed over to hunt. When European settlers came, it was with broken promises, biological and tactical warfare, and using wealth as leverage. Europeans won, but through sinful wrongdoing.

Into this dangerous area the white settlers founded a town, which grew quickly and became the largest and most influential city west of the Alleghenies for most of the 19th century. Settled by German immigrants, the city was sometimes called Porkopolis for its meat packing plants, brewed a lot of beer, was a center for publishing and of culture (such as symphony), a center of the Christian Stone-Campbell Movement, and the Queen City of the West. And don't forget the Reds!

In my mind, the most significant thing about the region in that century was Cincinnati's role in the Underground Railroad. This was the stop of freedom. Kentucky was "neutral," meaning that the Chistians of northern Kentucky stood by while runaway slaves were captured and brought back to their "owners" in the south, without taking a moral stand. But a few bold-faced believers were among the final conductors of the railroad to freedom.

What is our prophetic destiny, knowing all this? Freedom for runaway slaves? Racial reconciliation? Spiritual/musical center?

Second, what is Price Hill's prophetic heritage and destiny?

The hill was first called Boldface Hill (there is still Boldface Park at the bottom of the hill by River Road), named after a European hunter who killed chief Boldface here. Then it was named after Edgar Price, the man who owned a mansion on the edge of the hill and helped to develop the area. In the late 19th century, it was the wealthy suburb of the growing city, a place of mansions and vineyards, out of the path of the air pollution of the city below, somewhat cut off from the city by Mill Creek and the steep hill, made more accessible by bridges and an incline. Our eco-district is called Seminary Square, after Mt. St. Mary Seminary and Cincinnati Bible Seminary, both located in its borders.

The hill was especially inhabited by southern German immigrants, who settled mostly on the west side of the city. I heard that the west side of Cincinnati had more Germans per capita than anywhere in the world outside of Germany. I also heard that it was the second highest percentage of Roman Catholics outside of the Vatican. So, what is the prophetic heritage and destiny of people of Germany? Our speaker tonight suggested "order" and "precision." I would like to suggest that their calling is to bless the world through their "nation" (in German, Reich). There have been three regimes in the last few centuries, and many theologians, scholars, philosophers, and musicians have blessed the world through their excellent craftsmanship. But the German calling was abused by mistaking excellence for superiority, and Germany has sought to master the world rather than serve it in Jesus' name, all in pursuit of a strong nation, culminating in genecide against Jews and blacks and other non-Arian peoples.

Since those days, Price Hill has seen an ethnic change, with a large influx of Appalachians, and then more recently of African-Americans, and most recently of Guatemalan immigrants. The community has moved from suburban wealthy to populous lower middle class to eventually becoming one of the largest communities of lower class subsidized housing in the city. Children outnumber adults in our neighborhood. The crime rate and gang activity are noticeably high.

What is Price Hill's prophetic destiny, given that heritage? To be a light on the hill? To bring healing to the nations? Racial reconciliation? To be bold-faced?

Third, what is Christ Community's prophetic heritage and destiny?

CCiPH was begun from a church in northern Kentucky. We were a REACH group that became a house church that became a network of house churches. There was a desire to reach the people of Price Hill with the gospel, and to bring about reconciliation of ethnic groups and socioeconomic levels in Christ Jesus. "For the healing of the nations" was an early watchword. We were born in freedom and emphasized grace, bathed in prayer and intercessory worship.

What is our destiny? Catholic reconciliation? Freedom for ex-Catholics? Freedom for runaway slaves (from institutionalized religion?)? Worship and intercession? To be a pocket of beauty in the city?

Fourth, what is my family's prophetic heritage and destiny?

Ellen and I both grew up in white, upper-middle class suburban homes. We have four birth children and a Germanic (and other) background; my middle name is Eugene (if you know about the eugenics movement of the early 20th century in Germany, you know that's a significant name). We added Jenny, who grew up in Price Hill in one of those broken homes. Now we have added three African-Americans boys with special needs, and we are called to live in this city, in this neighborhood, and to belong to this church.

Ellen and I are both musical, as are our birth children. She loves languages and diversity and welcoming people from other countries; I have loved ethnic music for some years now, and plan to start a World Music Worship Ensemble this spring. Why do I feel such a tug toward embracing ethnicity and welcoming all nations to worship? All three of our girls have had at least moderate, if not passionate, pulls toward cross-cultural missions work. After tonight, I'm starting to see why God has called Ellen and I so strongly to reverse Babel in this neighborhood.

With our adoptive boys, we are immersed in racial reconciliation and have a personal stake in it. Anthony He was prophesied to become a gentle giant, and I have felt that his destiny is reconciliation, even before he was the catalyst of a landmark lawsuit to help bring about less of a barrier between white and black families in the county and across the country. I have had the impression that AJ has been given a pastor's heart. And we named our last son Isaac Kenneth, partly because I have a precious promise from God that he is to be a source of joy to me as I learn to serve him.

What is my family's calling? Racial reconciliation? (Maybe you see my leanings here) Worship and intercession? To be a quiet witness? Something else?

LORD, teach us to know our heritage that we might understand our destiny. In Jesus' name. Amen.