May 16th
at
1214 Ellsworth Street ( 2 blocks east of Broad &Washington, Philadelphia)

There will be free snacks and soda. Please BYOB, if you’d like.

Ticket costs:
Presales: $5
Doors: $7
It’s a benefit, so prices are steeper than normal. If the cost is going to keep you from coming, we’d rather have you there than not, so we’ll work something out, just ask!

E-mail – jeremiah.n.alexander@gmail.com or kelly.musser@gmail.com if you have any questions or concerns or want to purchase a ticket.

I have been reading a lot lately about African American experience in Philadelphia in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.  It was worse than I knew.  Northern city, reputation for abolitionist work, right?  The truth is much uglier.

A few examples:  In the early nineteenth century property owning black men who had been voting had that right taken away – at the same time that the requirement for property owning was removed for whites allowing all white men the right to vote regardless of what they owned. Black men weren’t given the right to vote again until the 1870’s.  Frederick Douglas said in the 1860’s that there was no more racially prejudiced city he knew of – most schools were segregated, most social clubs, even the street cars.  It got a little better in the 1870’s and then much worse in the 1890’s.

I guess this hits me so hard because I am always hoping the world isn’t as cruel as it can be sometimes.  I want to tell the stories that speak of people who did not give in to racism – especially of people who didn’t give in because they loved Jesus and had his eyes to see the humanity of others.  There are some of those stories too, but not as many as I’d like.   I want to tell the stories of African Americans who were courageous in the face of these hardships and weren’t defeated by them.  There are many of those stories as well, but also there is a lot of defeat.  It’s hard to see it.

I think it hits me hard too because I am afraid of my own blind spots, afraid of the ways that, when I seek to work against racism I might actually be treating those I seek to walk with and help with a paternalistic mindset that is demeaning and dehumanizing – like I see in the words and actions of many of the Progressive Reformers.

One of my wonderful African American friends told me to stop beating myself up.  I so appreciate her love for me, and I have been in the “white guilt” phase of this journey before which is a phase one has to go through and not stay in.  But today I think I am just grieved.  Appropriately grieved – by the suffering of people that I didn’t know about before, that I hadn’t seen or wanted to believe never happened.  And I think I am appropriately aware that I am quite as capable of blindness as the white “do-gooders” of a hundred years ago.

The challenge is to see all this AND to have hope.

That’s where I am seeking to walk now – not in a place where I don’t look at the damage racism has done and is doing all around me  – because as a white person I often have to choose to look.  My appearance doesn’t require that I experience it every day, my family history doesn’t remind me of past injustices that still have repercussions today.  I now must do what my African American friends and many other oppressed people have had to choose to do for centuries – to feel the pain, acknowledge the injustice and choose Hope, choose Life anyway.

That’s the faith Jesus calls me to – a resurrection faith.

Spring is upon us and two of the urban farm team sites need your help! A lot of the work this time around will involve preping sites for the season (cleaning, digging, shoveling, making paths, weeding), and maybe some planting/seeding too.

There are two sites where the work day will be happening. Two “shifts” will be between 9-12pm and 1-4pm. Please chose one:

- Frankford Ave garden (between lehigh and huntington, on frankford ave).
**Needs: A truck to haul some compost and mulch, shovels, other tools you have. Please label them though.
**contact: sarah mueller- sarahlmueller at gmail.com

- Future Germantown Farm (215 E Penn St., 19144)
**Needs: please bring a shovel if you got it! (labeled w/ your name)
**contact: amanda staples- amandastapes at gmail.com

Sometimes on the leadership team, I assume the role “getting in the way of God’s grace.” I tend to be a pragmatist and often times God does not conform to my view of the way things should be. Fortunately for me, I am on a team that God is not shy about showering with blessings. In the past year Circle Thrift Frankford moved to our new space just up the street. My pragmatism says, “oh no moving a business is such a bad idea when we are just starting to do well financially, and that of course is the most important thing”. But fortunately for us, our team and Director have vision and we moved ahead and our community, our congregation, and our partners are all reaping the benefits – not only of a profitable business, but one less blighted building on the block, and a great show of solidarity with many, many people who helped us move. Our managers have been showing tremendous growth in leadership. I am constantly amazed by the strength and vision of our leaders. As our business grows we are able to interact with many new partners and I find myself enriched as we grow. I am starting to learn that being involved in this venture has nothing but strengthened my view of faith and humanity. I encourage everyone to get involved as we can always use volunteers. Every moment I have put in has paid big returns in my personal life.

By Joshua Grace, psalters team member

For psalters Jay Beck & Scotty Krueger, creating a working Philadelphia headquarters has been a challenge.  They spent the better part of the last five years living on a converted veggie oil-powered school bus with the rest of psalters travelling around, leading worship, leading seminars, and experimenting with Exodus.   Some of those travels were international, most recently Jay & Scotty attended the World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People in Israel & Palestine.   Christians from around the world gathered to worship in their traditional cultural styles of music, dance, and dress…it was a great time to learn and network and visit friends and various sites in the Jerusalem area.

Scotty & Jay with a bedouin friend in the Negiv, the desert of Christ's temptations.

Read the complete entry…

From Adam Fussaro team leader;

I am continually reminded working while working with the homeless that the most significant factor for facilitating change is being a person of authentic compassion. When I met Brian and Brenda Robinson, I knew they possess that same quality. I wanted for some time to find a way to participate with Brotherly Love because their love for Germantown youth is contagious and inspiring. So when I was on Circle Venture, I jumped at the chance to work with Brotherly Love Urban Youth Services (BLUYS). A recent developments in the life of BLUYS is the opportunity to move locations, which allows them to shift focus to working with younger youth in part of Germantown that they are particularly invested in. My work with BLUYS has been to help out with a group of people in fundraising efforts. There are two fundraisers that we are working on, one is in partnership with local botanical nurseries to get proceeds from sales and the other is the annual banquet. When you hear about these fundraisers please engage in them as you are able to help finalize this transition and to continue the work of Brotherly Love changing the lives of youth in Germantown.

Posting From Mimi Copp Director of Shalom House

Shalom House is in the midst of rule writing. You might read this and wince at the thought. But give it second one.

At the urging of the Shalom House Guidance Team, we are crafting the Shalom House community Rule. The purpose of the Rule is to articulate our common practices of mutual living. The hope is that the Rule will guide us through daily life and help us communicate who we are to others. Since Shalom House is relatively new and forming, it’s not uncommon to find ourselves asking, “So what do I do with myself today?” The Rule will help us create a rhythm for our lives and for the community.

Living by a community rule is as ancient of a practice as community-living itself. We were reminded recently at a Circle of Hope conference on intentional community that Christians have been living together in community since the very beginning. This is not a new idea and there is a lot to be gained from studying the lives of communities throughout the ages.

First, we had to wrap our heads around the idea of just exactly what a rule is. Over the last few months, we’ve studied older and more recent community rules. Through our journey we learned about the Northumbria Community in England, the Benedictines, the Carmelites, the Poor Sisters of St. Claire, and New Monasticism. We found Rules that contain everything from what kind of livestock to keep, to the type of work people would do; from what times of the day to pray, to hosting visitors and what to wear, all with the intention of constructing a life with God. Some things we couldn’t relate to, others seemed rather outlandish, and yet other things resonated with us.

Here are some elements of a Rule that we’re thinking of for our community dedicated to peacemaking:

Prayer: We want to pray together daily.

Relationships: We tend to our relationships with one another.

Work: We work to generate income and to take care of our house.

Rest and Recreation: We rest, relax and enjoy life.

Action: We devote time to working out our common mission of peacemaking.

Money: We have a common purse where we share our income and expenses.

Conflict: We go to one another when conflicts arise.