Living in coronavirusworld 193: Anything can happen

10/20

Fall Central Park

Harlem Renaissance Garden 111th Street

Checking for signs of fall in Morningside Park, I learn that I need to stop looking for the riotous colors of the maple country upstate and look closer for more subtle changes. Like when I discovered what OI called deep fall in the Osage in Oklahoma. Subtle but distinct changes. Lek our slow progressive through this covid crisis.  

The Presbytery Cabinet is trying to wrestle with what happened at the last Presbytery meeting when the chasm of understanding of where we are related to racial realities became so painfully clear. Some can only think of the analysis in terms of our polity, our rules. But there is a deeper understanding that there are issues of culture that go so much deeper than issues that can be resolved by rules. The reality of whiteness transcends rules and goes deep into history. And we need to explore these realities outside the context of official meetings bound by polity. Otherwise, it’s about win and lose and not understanding. Meanwhile, one court case involving the resolution of property issues has consumed $223,000 already. As more and more churches, starved of income by Covid, continue to go down, with only property sales to sustain them, and as Presbytery faces its own covid induced crisis, there will be more and more of these cases.

I get to Mike Geffner’s “Inspired Word” Open Mic just in time. Play my fall songs, Everything’s Gonna Be Okay and an old song that references Pittsburgh, and the fall. I feel good and the chat comments make even happier:

Damn! Bob Dylan in here tonight? Beautiful song…

—and—

Nah, Johnny Cashing out! Love the strumming and picking…

Mike speaks of the intimacy and interchange we have here in ZOOM we don’t in the bars. We engage each other more. These events may continue even when we go live again. And Mike shares some wisdom with us. Less selling, more story telling. If people get to know you, they will be interested. And not guilted into supporting you. Mike has over 30 years of experience and over 10000 published stories worth of experience.

10/21

Mazeroski #9

Today I have a 1960 Bill Mazeroski jersey and hat to commemorate the 60th anniversary the his walk off home run at 3:37PM on October 13th. Defeating the indomitable Yankee dynasty of those years. I stood at the pencil sharpener in my 5th grade class room with the game on our PA. That moment changed my life. Made me believe anything can happen. Miracles can happen. What you wish against all odds can become reality. I share the story of those who gather at the of old Forbes Field wall every year to listen to the recording of that game. This year, they couldn’t due to covid restrictions.  So the Pirates invited them to hear the game over the PA at PNC Park.  That game was why I became a Yankee fan wen I loved to New York. They were the other side of the story. A story important to hold onto this year.

I learn that while I listened in Pittsburgh, my friend Stephen P listened somewhere in New York. In his classroom.  And both our school day began with Bible readings the (Protestant) Lord’s Prayer and the pledge to the flag. A priest friend back in Pittsburgh told me they always called the public schools the Protestant schools.

We return to our discussion of Tutti Fratellii. How Francis says that the purpose of private property is for the common good. That everything that God has put here is for the common good. That everything has a social reality. We are ultimately not owners, only guardians. (As Steve H puts it…) We wonder about the misuse of greater good, as per Soviet Russia. And then are reminded by Sam that St. Gregory said that when we give to the needy we are only returning what already belongs to them. Meanwhile, the very rich believe that they are the moral spine of the world and the poor victims of their own failings. Francis is very clear about confronting the nature of international market capitalism.

Dre wants to know if we need to redefine power. That something needs to happen. We need reengage an adversarial relationship. Ownership has no rational reality.  Meanwhile, 47% of people can’t even afford a $250 housing related fee.   And CEO compensation compared to common workers has grown from 20 to 1 to 400 to 1, a ratio that is ultimately unsustainable. 

Our competing understandings are the difference between single and complex and movement versus frozenness. 

We note the historical significance of Francis’ judgment that just war is no longer possible given the potential destructiveness of a nuclear war. And that war is often rooted in revenge. And it’s not new for us to see that we need the skills to initiate dialogue, not debate.

This week Russ sees our job as conversion. Gathering together those who affirm the idea that all people are created equal. Drawing more in. 

105th Street

I go to visit my friend Beppe. We sit on his terrace, enjoy a craft rye. He talks about the sadness around the loss of the New School as an innovative ,progressive alternative to traditional university education. With a faculty driven school with horizontal governance. Somewhere along the line, they decided to become like a "real school" and invest in high salaried administrators, consolidated campus, etc. And now covid and an already tenuous financial situation becomes disastrous. And of course, massive layoffs ensue. Some faculty have spoken wit the school's HR department. Others are afraid to speak because of fear of retaliation. And so it goes. (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/nyregion/new-school-nyc-endowment-layoffs.html) 

The Center at West Park holds its gala virtually this year. With picnic baskets available for pick up from Amelie restaurant. Among the various moments of a moving event, I am profoundly moved by Martin Santangelo of Noche Flamenca paying tribute to my role in their success and what the Center could be. I am happy that the idea that there can be a place where beauty and justice and ethics and esthetics can meet to inspire and inform the transformation of the person and society. We can’t lose that. 

My friends at the Gluey Zoomy Show have a comedy group (the Axis Powers) lampoon the debate and Vince Tozzi of We Eat Monsters plays his strong "Crumbs." We are doing what we can to get out the vote.  

Living in coronavirusworld 168 : It continues to shape our lives

9/15

a gathering of turtles

 The biggest issue facing the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and. Housing right now is the ongoing controversy over people who were homeless taken from covid dangerous overcrowded shelters and placed in unused boutique hotels in the traditionally liberal elite Upper West Side. Aggressive backlash from entitled neighbors, even when countered by good hearted groups like Open Heart UWS, bolstered by hiring a former deputy mayor as their attack dog attorney, was enough to push a lame duck vanishing mayor into declaring their removal. This unfortunately meant setting off a domino effect, forcing people with disabilities from housing specially designed for them and then scattering them throughout the boroughs disrupting others’ lives. Thankfully, the Legal Aid Society stepped in. The exodus was halted. To date, 40 persons have been removed for the Lucerne Hotel and 240 still remain. Even though homeless advocates have raised owe $200000 to provide services for the hotel residents, the city will be spending over $100000 to litigate to get them out. This is happening when there was a record nearly 70000 homeless persons in New York City. And now there are already 14000 pending evictions in the system with another flood to come in 4-5 months. Yet another crisis brought on by the virus. We’ve got to try and rally a scattered faith community to try and bring more support for the hotel residents and their advocates over against those who just want then out. Sometimes in a crisis, in this city, we don’t take care of each other. 

New York City Presbytery, the governing body for Presbyterians in the city, is wrestling with the pressure for churches to reopen. To allow those renters to reenter because so many depend on the rental income for survival. Presbytery only has 40% of the income it did a year ago, Staff cuts would seem to be imminent, but those who would be most likely to be terminated are the BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) employees. Personnel committee recommends status quo, even without sufficient funds. The next Presbytery meeting is set to be all virtual. All on ZOOM. But the Black Presbyterian Caucus maintains this will disenfranchise people of color and low income persons who are less likely to be computer owners or tach savvy. That makes for the longest debate of the evening, We know from experience that phones just don't provide an adequate participatory experience , voting is not possible in ZOOM with a dial in phone. So many issues and conflict of values to sort this one out. Eventually, we decide that we  will seek to secure smart phones for those without computers and teach them how to use them. Easier said than done. 

 Taco Tuesday. The owner of Cantina tells me already 10 percent of restaurants have permanently closed. Even with limited capacity reopening scheduled for September 29, it still looks like 40% of our owners will go out of business. Two exhausting ZOOM meetings and even my dinner, all controlled or impacted by the virus. It continues to shape our lives.We step towards normal, but it’s way beyond what we can see.

Living in coronavirusworld 142: over crumbs

8/18

art on 125th 

after the storm, a cafe

Any day Liliana comes to clean my house is a good day and I’ll feel fresh after.   Earlier this year she had a rough six weeks while her husband recovered from Covid19.  Now her mother is gravely ill in Guatemala. Only the Guatemala City airport is closed. And Mexico is closed to the US. She’s got to use her Guatemala passport and then fly to Mexico and then ride a bus for five hours and hopefully cross into Guatemala and get there in time. Such is travel in coronavirusworld. 

My Venezuelan friends at the  Monkey Cafe have  built their outdoor space. With his typical artistic flair, the owner has used tree branches fallen in our recent violent wind storm to build his cafe. That's the way we do in New York City. 

On 125th, new art covers plywood on vacant buildings. Including rapper Biggie Smalls in his classic king pose. 

Biggie on 125th 

The Presbytery cabinet continues to wrestle with the issue of churches straining at their bonds to reopen.  We’ve prepared a very long check list, that frankly only the  wealthiest churches can easily meet the standards. In the end, we  can’t control whether they reopen or not.  We debate whether to release a list of vendors who can provide resources for reopening when we don’t believe they should.  It turns out one of our Korean churches (one I know well) elected to reopen. A keyboard accompanist was infected by covid.  Soon the pastor was infected. Now his whole family. And others throughout the congregation. We are obviously sensitive to the fact that most of us  are white. And many of the churches that want to reopen are ethnic. But our  stated clerk, who is African American, points out how little has changed since March.   And that clergy are our essential workers who we are  are putting at risk. We must stand firm, he says. We can’t even  begin to fathom the myriad insurance and liability issues. This is not going away any time soon.      

      

Walking east on  114th by the school,  there’s a world of activity including family dinners, one card game and a covid craps game and dice shooters.  I walk to the Cantina and wait for my Tuesday tacos. I sit outside in the cool of the evening, enjoy my drink and tacos. I’m thinking about the furor in my old neighborhood, the  Upper West Side, over the presence of homeless people housed in local hotels. And the arrival of the voluntary security forces, the  Guardian Angels in their red jackets snd berets, beloved in the ’70’s, more complicated now. They are here to “help out,” their very presence a rebuke of the mayor. 

In California, there are tornadoes made of fire, firenados.  Iowa, in the middle of the country, has experienced a violent tropical hurricane and its devastation. 

By the pond, a man is throwing bread crumbs to the turtles. They are swimming to shore. Scrambling over one another. Pushing each other aside. Struggling to get to the crumbs.  I wonder how awarec of each other they are. Can they feel one another? They are scrambling still as I leave. Over crumbs. 

Living in cornavirusworld 117: privilege is our expertise

7/21

the birds seek shade

Central Park jazz combo

Back in the day, I used ti be a member of the New York Road Runners and a frequent race participant. I even ran 10 marathons in my time. Hard to believe.  But since a major back surgery in 2011, my running career came to a stop. This coronavirustime has meant time to reclaim lost, forgotten or ignored parts of ourselves. Like cooking for example. And this... I discovered an emerging world of ‘Virtual Road races” designed to be run individually wherever and whenever you want. I decided to reenter that world with a 5k in June, with a long hot stretch down Riverside Park to the Pier. Today, in 90 + degree weather, I create another 5k course from my Harlem apartment building down the West Drive of Central Park to Columbus Circle. I realize how many years it has been since I completed at least one whole side of the Park. Each particular part, the extended ups and downs you generally don’t think about, the different mini-worlds of the park pass underway feet in the heat. There’s a jazz combo in the Gazebo by the lake. Finally at Columbus Circle, I leave the Park. Time for an iced coffee in the shadow of the monument to victims of the Maine battleship explosion, cause celebre for the Spanish-American war. Remember the Maine now mainly forgotten. Birds are perched on the shade side trying to keep cool.

from Portland, where else?

Beekeepers

A beekeeper truck from Portland seems to have escaped the incursion of federales into their city and made its way to Fredrick Douglass Boulevard. 

The New York City Presbytery General Cabinet meets. Our moderator shares her own pain as a result of General Assembly. Reminds us that for white people, privilege is our expertise. We are experts about racism having lived with its benefits throughout our lives. Our Executive challenges his with the words of J.Philip Newell of the Iona Community with three questions:

* What can you leave behind?

* Can you imagine what is to be?

* What are you willing to commit to doing today? Tomorrow?…and forward?

We continue to live with the effects of this virus. Our loss of so many, including Grace Bowen, an urban ministry mentor whose life was the very definition of her name. Income last year for Presbytery at the end of June was $186000. This year only $99000. We will only be down $55000 thanks to a small business loan, otherwise we’d be down $!55000. Small churches are unable to pay their insurance. Churches need to reopen to reopen income streams, but only large churches can afford to do all the things listed on our checklist. We are entering into a new day for churches as money runs out.

Presbytery remains committed to engaging the engagement with  systemic racism. Several people point out all that is already been done. The Black Women and Girls conversation. Efforts around bail bonds. And Rikers.  Living wage. Homelessness. I point out that all those are issues, are symptoms of the deeper problem and we have to look not just outside but inside. Even as the most diverse Presbytery in the PC(USA), if we simply insert diversity into a system that by culture, structure and ethos is intrinsically white, all you do is strengthen the white privilege and worse, cause people of color to be complicit in their own disempowerment. We have to go deep. 

Living in coronavirus world 8: "...and we are going to make it through..."

3/31

...and still spring....

The New York City Presbytery General Cabinet meets via ZOOM to catch up on where we are. An emergency task force has been put together to pool resources and make appeals for help easier. Obviously most regular work  has ground to a halt. It cheers me some when I hear our treasurer say, “There’s plenty of help available and we are going to make it through.” I want to believe that. The conversation turns to congregations without pastors. Who can’t afford to pay pulpit supply pastors. Guest preachers. There’s a quick move  to make a list of churches streaming services so that these preacherless churches can tune in. Thankfully, our Exec points out that this is only half the problem. A lot of ministers depend on guest preaching to make it. (Like me) They’re now missing up to $1000 a month from their income. Ecclesiastical gig workers, as it were. Maybe there is coverage under the  Cares act. Not clear. I also have another concern. Three of the congregations I work with are marginally computer literate. “ZOOM” is a mystery to many. There’s been contact among members since this all began. If we don’t find a way to connect them and this goes on awhile, it could mean the end for some who have just barely been hanging on. 

Clearly our denomination's biennial General Assembly is up in the air. The Baltimore Convention Center, where we were going to meet, is being turned into an emergency hospital.

Something about this all wears me out. I fee too tired for my friend's nightly online bull session.

I stop to think…..60 tents in a Central Park war style “Field Hospital,” US Open Tennis courts and the Javits Center for emergency hospitals, a Navy hospital ship in the harbor, hotels next. And freezer trucks outside of a Brooklyn hospital for bodies. I can’t find a way to appropriate these as part of my reality or truly understand what they mean. For the first time, I feel an undercurrent.of fear……

"There’s plenty of help available and we are going make to through,,”

Another step for justice

1/27

Yesterday at the meeting of the Presbytery of New York City, another step for justice was taken. West-Park working with our cross town partner Jan Hus was able to bring to Presbytery an overtire to General Assembly towards reconciliation with our LGBTQ/Q brothers and sisters beginning with an acknowledgement of and apology for the harm done over nearly three and a half decades. While it is good that the long struggle for ordination and now marriage equality has been won, that is just the beginning. There are people who were called to ministry by God who were denied recognition, excluded, marginalized and even prosecuted by the church they had committed their lives to. While many remain within our circle, others have left for other denominations, left the church altogether while many others died before seeing this day. This Overture, now under the name of the Presbytery of New York City, will now go to the PCI(USA) General Assembly in Portland, Oregon this summer. It's approval there would be a first step towards the long road to reconciliation and healing. It is an expression of the living legacy of those who preceded us at West-Park, where the "More Light" statement was drafted in 1978, and long time colleague in the struggle for compassion and justice, Jan Hus, teamed together to begin this process. Many thanks to Jan Hus Commissioner and longtime friend Jim Nedelka for carrying the ball forward politywise and Stated Clerk Andy James for his timely advice. Now on to Portland!

OVERTURE TEXT

Overture text from Presbytery of New York City

A Healing Overture for the Admission of, and Apology for Harms Done to the LGBTQ/Q Members of the Presbyterian Church(USA), Family and Friends

The Session of Jan Hus Presbyterian Church and Neighborhood House calls for the Presbytery of New York City to overture the 222nd General Assembly (2016) to affirm and witness these truths:
a. we come to understand forgiveness, healing, mercy and reconciliation by God’s actions through Jesus Christ’s teachings and the Risen Christ in our midst;
b. we are reconciled to God and one another by the forgiveness of our acts of sinfulness, through the Christ who is our peace and who breaks down the walls of hostility and division;
c. further, we understand that ours is a faith and ministry of forgiveness, healing, mercy and reconciliation that requires admission of the harms we have done to one another; and
d. that the fullness of our new life in Christ calls for a unity of Spirit, a sharing of gifts, and a valuing of all parts of the Body of Christ in the spirit of true forgiveness.

And we confess that our actions have fallen short of these truths in the marginalization of our sisters and brothers who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQ/Q), admitting:
e. that harms have been done to this community by the denomination’s participation in the creation of barriers to God’s call to our sisters and brothers, based on sexual identity, sexual orientation and gender identity;
f. that charges have been instigated with the intention of preventing qualified individuals called by God to serve based on sexual identity and orientation;
g. that the Constitution of the PC(USA) has been erroneously used to support these charges, resulting in the use of the denomination’s court system, in effect, being co-opted to discipline others for who they are; and
h. that the denomination has participated in or been silent about challenging the destruction of the careers of faithful servants who identified as LGBTQ/Q.

Therefore, we direct that the Presbyterian Church (USA) Affirm, Confess and Apologize:
i. admitting that it has been wrong in the way it has treated the LGBTQ/Q Community in the PC(USA);
j. apologizing for the teachings and actions that have created marginalization of our sisters and brothers, adding to the erroneous belief that people who identify as LGBTQ/Q should be considered unworthy to serve fully or be honored as family within and without the church;
k. acknowledging that during this struggle we have often treated one another in ways that did not reflect the presence of the Risen Christ in our midst; including those in opposition to one another, as well as those within their own communities;
l. stating publicly that the PC(USA), as a denomination, makes this pronouncement as an act of forgiveness, healing, mercy and reconciliation; and
m. that this admission and apology lifts up the constitutional changes that have been duly implemented to dismantle the lines that have divided us from one another and the ways in which we have been called to serve, including but not limited to Amendment 10-A; the Authoritative Interpretation on Marriage, and Amendment 14F.
Rationale:
1. The admissions of harms done to one another, the petition of each other for forgiveness, and the public witness of the humility by the church as an institution is required to open our doors - as fully as our hearts and intentions have always called us to do.

The last forty years of opening those doors to our sisters and brothers who identify as LGBTQ/Q has not been our only struggle, nor has it been the only place where lives have been harmed in our efforts to change. It is, however, a place where we can bring our experience, strength and hope in an even greater response that we hope this will initiate, and in which way we encourage others to respond.

We acknowledge that there are many communities and groups who have felt the sting and harms of the church as an institution; an institution in some ways holding on to practices and teachings that separated us, rather than brought us together.

We acknowledge, too, the power and privilege that has not always been exerted in the best interests of those with no power or privilege, and we hope that this “Healing Overture” will begin broad movement to become a reconciling church in ways that “clean our slate” of harms and injustices for all the world to see.

Further, we believe that such a church is the fullest faithful representation of the Church of Jesus Christ that practices the teachings of Jesus Christ in word and deed.

We also wish to make it clear that we do not see the struggle of the LGBTQ/Q community in our church as exceptional to the struggle of others who have sought justice and welcoming in the denomination. It is where we begin, hoping that this will create an invitation and a process for others to follow, bringing forward their overtures. We hope others will summon the church to acknowledge harms that need to be spoken in their communities, so that we can be the inclusive and welcoming Kin[g]dom on God on earth, beyond anything we have yet to see. We support the efforts of others to follow this process in bringing such actions forward to their presbyteries and the General Assembly.

(NOTE: See Attachment 1 from the Presbytery of Yukon and its statement of repentance to the community of Gambell, Alaska as a precedent, upon which parts of this overture have been based.)

We believe there will be no chance for healing and reconciliation until the PC(USA) admits its mistakes and makes a statement of apology. There are many faithful sisters and brothers who have been estranged by the church because of its teachings, practices, and disciplinary actions towards minsters and others who identify as LGBTQ/Q. A statement such as the one suggested would have the affect of validating our legislative actions with our commitment to changing what has been exclusionary and wrong.

2. As one of the most constitutionally inclusive mainline denominations in the world, our witness has an impact beyond any borders we might imagine. Our voice of hope, love, joy, peace, justice and welcoming—the Good News—leads the way for global change and a beginning to the end to the violence of marginalization and discrimination around the world.

Calling the church to admit harms done and apologize to those it has wronged has an impact beyond the LGBTQ/Q community. All Gospel and Justice/Love ministry is about our relationship with each other in this world. An honest statement of apology and determination to herald the changes we have been called to make lifts up the entire denomination in a way that reaffirms who and whose we are.

3. The theme of the 222nd General Assembly is The Hope in Our Calling - Ephesians 1:18. May it be so!

Revised: January 9, 2016

Further reflections on the state of the church

7/17

Time for a visit from our Presbytery Executive, Bob Foltz- Morrison. First, an update on how things are going at West-Park. His support for what we are doing, from his first day on the job, has helped us to completely turn around our relationship with the  institutional church. For years, we had to contend with an old narrative. Accepted wisdom about who we were. That our story was, essentially, over. Bob took the position that it was time for a new narrative. And let the past be the past, regardless of what was true or not true. He was essential to helping our story be told and finally winning approval of our plan last November.

It's still hard to get used to the idea that I can go to a Presbytery meeting without having to worry about another challenge. For years, our existence was on a month to month basis, always a threat of hostile take over dismissal. Now that's over. I can't imagine what that must have felt like, he says, how you stuck it out.What set Bob apart was, well, a humility by which he didn't assume he knew what was best for us. Treating us (and me) with dignity and respect. Not a touch of condescension. It makes a difference.

So far, he's had no direct push back from the organized Jewish community regarding our divestment. Not surprisingly, the push back has come from tall steeple liberal churches and allied institutions. We're agreed that this is a struggle that will best be carried out at the grassroots, neighborhood level among those who work with each other on our shared community life. 

I talk about the difference between my experiences in Tulsa and Pittsburgh, the diaspora, so to speak, where the Jewish community seeks out allies in the Christian community out of their own vulnerable minority status and self-interest. In a neighborhood, city, like ours, they simply don't need us. No need for dialogue just to promote understanding. In a neighborhood like ours, understanding comes from working together, like in our shared work, model work, in the area of food justice. 
He has spent most of his time working to strengthen our own vulnerable community, not riding the ecumenical circuit. 

He passionately hopes for a day where our congregations will reach out and connect with our communities. Our need for more leaders. Like Patrick O' Connor, from Jamaica, Queens, who has become a major spokesman against gun violence in the Metro New York Industrial Areas Foundation. Or my now retired friend (and another Pittsburgh guy) David Dyson from Brooklyn who would say to me, It's time to get arrested. We can sit in jail and talk about the Steelers. I thank Bob for taking on the tough job of transforming the structure from gatekeeping to that of facilitating mission. Ending the absurdity of trying to tightly guard a door that no one's trying to break into anyways. Like the more we decline, the more we try and control, As Sharon Welch says, we need an ethic of risk.

He also agrees with me that the old liberal/conservative paradigm is over. The emerging struggle around race and class, big and small, the impact of emerging immigrant communities with their different cultural assumptions. The withholding of funds by the big monied churches has stripped the presbytery of its traditional mission creating role. So it's got to be grass roots up now. Neighborhoods. Ecumenical. And interfaith.  We talk about our late colleague, Annie Rawlings, embodiment of old school organizing. Her memorial service was a witness to interfaith as a way of life, not a strategy or tactic. What we can learn from Presbyterian Welcome which was created to bridge those divisions in the lgbtq inclusion struggle. And Bob is insistent that there be no dialogue around issues like Israel and Palestine without the direct involvement  the Muslim community. 

And we talk about Harlem. About the courage of churches who struggle on when only one of our churches has a full-time pastor. The need for a neighborhood strategy. How the best role of our larger church should be linking peers and sharing resources. Like who out there can help me with integrating people who have serious mental illness into a small faith community? To be open without being overwhelmed?
I tell him that I appreciate the partnership he's created with our new Stared Clerk, for so many yearsa conflictual   relationship exploited by thoe with other agendas.   The rest of the church is headed to where New York City already is. We have the opportunity to create and model new paradigms. Or wither and die with the old.

                                                            * * * *

Lily and Samantha stop by. One of the softball league umpires has just lost his wife. They're headed downtown to the funeral home to bring condolences on our behalf.