6/30
Faithful Resistance:
Gospel Visions for the Church in a Time of Empire by Rick Ufford-Chase
A review…..
With his new book, Faithful
Resistance…our friend Rick Ufford-Chase had made an important and
significant contribution to the growing body of literature on the future of the
church. (And how to get there..) It is significant that Rick’s primary focus is
not how do we save the church but how do we live as faithful followers of Jesus
in this empire dominated day and what role does the church have and what kind
of church is needed in the struggle. The
church is thus a means to faithfulness, not an end of and to itself.
The book is also an example of liberation theology praxis. It is intended not only as
reflection and analysis but as a workbook to help the faithful be about this
work themselves. It is especially
intended to be used in groups, groups that help sustain each other in mutual
support and solidarity in difficult days ahead.
In that, Rick follows in the footsteps of the Latin American liberation theologians who
brought a Freiran approach to the doing of theology in their Christian Base Communities.
It is very helpful that Rick comes to this book not as an
academic or even professional clergy but as a lay person who understands the
value of each of our God-given unique ministries and our need for one another. He draws on his experiences as a seminary drop out, going adult volunteer, border justice worker, moderator of a historic denominational church with international partners, peace activism and co-chairing an ever evolving study center with interfaith intentional communities. In broad strokes, Rick responds to the already inevitable end of the large
national (and local!) denominational church infrastructures as we have known them. (For example, in New
York City Presbytery, there are approximately 14,000 members in 99 churches.
Half belong to 5 churches, the other half to 95 churches over 50 of whom have
no pastor at all…) Related to our ecclesiastical structures are our literal
structures from our national office in
Louisville with its echoing emptiness to our hulking aging stone buildings with
mausoleum like silence. How do/can they function in our mission?
This is for Rick, not an occasion for mourning but more an
exciting opportunity for recreating at the grassrootsiest of levels a church
that is flexible, mobile and resilient. Being independent of reliance on
larger structures, the church can be radically free to be a faithful witness,
not unlike the primitive church.
Towards that end, Rick does several important things:
* Names and discusses the power of white privilege (and
other cognate privileges of class, gender, orientation, etc…)
* Produces one of the first real discussions I’ve seen for the
implications of this new reality for theological education. (Happy to see two
institutions I’m involved with, New York Theological Seminary and Newark School
of Theology on his list of emerging models of providing quality education for
those who cannot afford.. moneywise or timewise…traditional theological
education.)
Others chapters tackle such issues as confronting empire at
the border, the importance of ecojustice, nonviolence as a principle and
practice, worship, the meaning of solidarity, being a church that is “small but
fierce.” Oh, and the intriguing exploration of the idea of responsible living in a “watershed.”
Though somewhat presbycentric, Rick's primary context, it nonetheless has much to say to all of us struggling to find faithfullness.
Though somewhat presbycentric, Rick's primary context, it nonetheless has much to say to all of us struggling to find faithfullness.
Rick’s bottom line is one that appeals to me at the deepest
level:
“ I am interested in creating a community where those who
have been rejected in every other space can come and feel safe..” Amen. Word.
Pull together a circle of friends. Get a few copies of this book.
Let the connversation begin….
