Well, I guess I dropped out of the blogging business for awhile…with all the drama around our feeding the homeless…it felt necessary to stop talking on this format for awhile.  But, now things are quiet again (thank God!) and I’m ready to get back at the writing.

This week is Thanksgiving.  We have been preparing for the meal…shopping, baking, cleaning…all so that we an sit down with the family and friends and make a memory happen.  My favorite part of Thanksgiving Day is when we go around the table and say what we are thankful for.  It always brings tears to my eyes…and a surprise in my heart.  We don’t hear words of “thanks” enough!  I can’t wait to hear what everyone is grateful for.

This Thanksgiving I will be thinking of those families who are struggling and can’t put a meal on the table. I am especially thinking of the gathering of children and families up north…Los Ninos…whose parents can’t find work.  I am grateful to Debi Murphy and her coworkers, along with CrossRoads volunteers, for preparing breakfast and providing turkeys.  Your heart is amazing!  The children, and I, am very grateful!

And I’m thankful for my friends who live on the streets.  You have taught me so much about life in this past year.  From you I have learned how to be joyful.  From you I have learned how to hang tight.  From you I have learned that some people are worth fighting for.  I will never forget.  Thanks for the lessons.  And thanks for continuing to infiltrate our lives with love.

And, of course, I am grateful my family; and for my God, who continues to bring us joy in the midst of the stuff of life.  I will always remember.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  May your heart be grateful.

Faith, hope & love,

Dottie

Dear Neighbor,

We recently signed a settlement agreement with the City of Phoenix that includes these basic elements: 1) Prodigal’s Home ministry is moving into the Sunnyslope neighborhood within 6 months, 2) We will move the current ministry inside, 3) There will be no fine or citation, 4) We are not prohibited from doing ministry with the poor and hungry in the future,  5) We will drop the federal suit.

The City has been diligent in working with CrossRoads to obtain this settlement agreement.  John Tutelman and others worked hard to get to this place where we could go forward as a church and as a neighbor.

So, two weeks ago we moved inside per our agreement.

This week the City received a call again.  Because we had set up a smoking area at the entrance to the sanctuary, three of our neighbors thought we had NOT moved inside.  (There were maybe 10-15 people who utilized the smoking area throughout the morning.  The crowd of 150 or so were fed and worshipping inside the sanctuary.)

I want to say again, “Really?”  Surely you don’t mean to get upset over such minor matters. Surely your kind hearts didn’t mean to jump to conclusions.  Surely those calls to the City, before you checked things out with your neighbor church, were just a mistake…

You see, because of the above agreement with the City of Phoenix, the ministry called Prodigal’s Home will soon be moving into the neighborhood one mile to the north of us.  There Prodigal’s Home will increase their ministry, serve the poor daily, and continue to worship and walk with those who have fallen on hard times.  Soon, this ministry will not be on the CrossRoads property.

But our actions at this time will be remembered always.  How we love each other, or not, will be known. Every word, every email, every call we make is a sign of who we are.  I am hoping that our remembrance will be one of grace, of love, and of a kind heart for those who may have difficulties that are different than our own.

Dear Neighbor, I want you to know that we pray for peace and for kindness to be “rule” that we live by.  I want you to know there are many, many, many neighbors who live the rule of love.  I have seen them.  We have heard from them.  We have been supported by them.  For those of  you who have dropped by extra food, some funds, and just an encouraging word, CrossRoads and Prodigal’s Home thanks you from the bottom of our hearts. Your light gave us hope during the struggle of this past year.

In the future, when Prodigal’s Home moves to the north, CrossRoads will continue to be in ministry with them.  And we hope that you will too.  Your engagement in ministry with us will show those who live on the streets that people in Phoenix care for them.

Our City will be known for something.  My hope is that we are known as a place that is kind and loving and shows the hospitality of good neighbors to everyone.

Thank you for engaging in this important conversation.  And thank you for making your City and our neighborhood a loving place to live.

In faith, hope, and love,

Your neighbor,

Pastor Dottie Escobedo-Frank

It is not easy to take on the powers of injustice in the world.  Ask this church, CrossRoads UMC, about the scars we have obtained in the past year.  It is not easy, but it is the necessary work of the church.  We fed the hungry…and suffered for doing so.  But our suffering is nothing compared to the suffering of those who are literally hungry. We walk with people who are coming out of prison and looking to reStart their lives.  And we walk with those who will do anything for food.  And we walk with those who can’t get the medical attention they need.  And we walk with those who are homeless for the first time.

Now Prodigal’s Home, the ministry we partnered with, will move into the neighborhood of poverty, where their services and their love will not be fought.  To live amidst the people who are poor is a very good thing.  And CrossRoads, the church that housed and partnered with them, will continue to feed the hungry…through the ministry of Prodigal’s Home and through new outreach.  The hunger is great.  The food is scarce.  The workers are passionate.

We go on.  For it is the way of our tradition and history.  If you don’t believe me, just check out this blog by Buzz Stevens…a mentor of mine…who continues to call us into the future by the way of our past.

Enjoy the reading!

Faith, hope, and love,

Dottie

Just finished reading Shirkey. Was determined to read it to the end, because there was so much to learn. And, the end was the best part. Consider this (lengthy) quote on page 320-321: “I’m old enough to know a lot of things, just from life experience. I know that newspapers are where you get your political news and how you look for a job. I know that music comes from stores. I know that if you want to have a conversation with someone, you call them on the phone. I know that complicated things like software or encyclopedias have to be created by professionals. In the last fifteen years, I’ve had to unlearn every one of those things and a million others, because those things have stopped being true.” And then Shirkey adds: “Meanwhile, my students, many of whom are fifteen years younger than me, don’t have to unlearn the thousands of things I do, because they never had to learn them in the first place.” Clay says we are in a time of epic change. And I agree. So when I look at the church, I think of all the things I (we) have to unlearn. That “church” happens in a building. That gatherings are face-to-face. That everyone has (and reads) a Bible. That people care about our story. That hymns and organs and sermons are the means of communication. That the pastor is the main source of information and implementation. That large church matters most. So much to unlearn. And exciting things to learn, where, really, the internet-social media-God’s-Mysterious-way-sky is the limit.

Reading this book sparks many ideas about how things continue to change while we continue to hold on to old patterns.  I was wondering what we would write if we had a similar title for churches:  “The Tyranny of Dead Ideas, Letting Go of the Old Ways of Thinking to Unleash a New Church.”

What ideas about church are already dead, but haven’t received a proper burial?  In what ways are we holding on to something that not only doesn’t work, it also isn’t productive to the mission of loving God and loving God’s people, or making disciples for Jesus?

Of course there is the obvious:  Music styles (anybody seen an organ piece on the top hits list lately?). While preferred music is defined by generations, are we only speaking to one generation, or are we open to generate into the future?  But also there is the less obvious:  are we communicating through social media?  Are we spreading the message via Youtube and internet?  Are we creating communities outside of buildings that are empty?  Are we going to the world or expecting the world to come to our doorstep?  Or, what about the need for interactive worship today?  Do we ask our members to turn off their cell phones during worship, or do we encourage them to twitter during worship?  Do we have avenues for online offerings?

And that is just the “how” of things.  But what would we do different if we asked pertinent questions about the “where,” “when,” and “why” of our practices?

It is easy to live in dead ideas because we haven’t noticed they are dead.  And that is a sad affair.  We need to wake up to what lives today, and connect with the world we are placed in, and be enthused about learning new ways to bring the old gospel to a new group of young adults and children.  Otherwise, our main idea (Jesus is Lord…love God…love neighbor as self) will also die.

How about another title:  “The Freedom of Alive Ideas” by Your Church!