Mission Bend UMC–Loving Neighbor In Alief

 Mission Bend United Methodist Church

Mission Bend United Methodist is a partner with TMO in our collaborative efforts to bring stability to families in Alief.  The following is a brief description by Carrie Leader, associate intern,  of the churches efforts in Alief.  We are proud of their continuing efforts to love God and love Neighbor.  Please pray for their continued efforts.

 

Mission Bend United Methodist Church adopted Holmquist Elementary School in Alief ISD as their primary outreach last year.  As we deepen this relationship, we are looking for ways to make lasting positive impacts on the families who send their children to this school.

We are committed to raising funds so that every child who is eligible for the Backpack Buddy Program can take home food each and every weekend this school year.  Last year, Houston Food Bank provided enough food for 50 children.  Holmquist had over 230 eligible children on their list.  We, as a church, created our own “bags” so that half of the children took food home every weekend.  This required enough food for 60 bags and we had over 20 faithful volunteers who contributed time every week to assemble the backpacks (which we also provided) and deliver each week.  We had volunteers pick up empty backpacks and we continued this cycle every week, beginning in December.  We had a number of other members who faithfully contributed monies and food for the initiative.

This year, we are proud to collaborate with Westside Homeless Partnership to bring self-sufficiency to ten Holmquist families.  This is a pilot program for WHP as they look to expand into Alief ISD and possibly into Katy ISD.  They have a tremendous success rate for the past twenty years they have worked in Spring Branch ISD.  With self-sufficiency comes stability for the children who have been subjected to frequent moves during their school year, disrupting their education and their social connections.

Feng Shui in Alief– A Path To Harmony

“In harmony with the Tao,
the sky is clear and spacious,
the earth is solid and full,
all creatures flourish together,
content with the way they are,
endlessly repeating themselves,
endlessly renewed.

  When man interferes with the Tao
    the sky becomes filthy,
the earth becomes depleted,
the equilibrium crumbles,
creatures become extinct.”

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

 

Houston Realtors who work with persons with a Chinese heritage  often have to have one extra skill in their Realtors tool box–an understanding of Feng Shui, an ancient oriental art to insure health, happiness, and harmony.  Feng Shui has its origins in Taoism, conceived by Lao Tzu, some 2500 years ago.  Even though there are numerous expressions of Feng Shui, it is primarily related to the orientation of the home and its interior.  It places great importance on the locations and orientations of rooms, shrubbery and the use of color.

For those of us who are not Asian, this may seem strange and even though we wouldn’t be as precise as followers of Feng Shui, we would still feel some hesitancy if our front door opened into our garage or bathroom or if we had a purple front door.  Feng Shui is more nuanced than this.   But it is partially about flow and is also about living a healthy and harmonious life.

Because of the large Chinese Asian community in Alief, Feng Shui has many followers and many would not think of buying a home or business location without considering Feng Shui.  But Feng Shui is only one aspect of the larger consideration attributed to following the principals of Taoism.  The Tao symbol above signifies the Yin and Yang or the balance between opposites.

The circular shape of the symbol represents the Tao. The intertwined pieces point us towards the inherent balance of two opposite forces of Yin and Yang.  Yin represents (feminine, negative, and dark) and yang represents (masculine, positive, and bright). Neither can exist without the other such as day and night or birth and death. They are ever-changing, constantly flowing one into the other.  The small dots in the middle of the larger tear drops symbolizes that even in the larger piece the opposite is also in the primary. Together they form a whole.
 The yin and yang symbol reminds us of the nature of duality (a situation that has two states that are both complementary and opposed to each other.)  These concepts are difficult for westerners to grasp.  Our tendency is to see brute power as being privileged over acquiescence and submission.  Even the concept of Love God and Love Neighbor seems too passive and unworkable to many Christians.  Often the concept of loving neighbor just doesn’t seem very practical.

The challenge that Feng Shui and Taoism present to us is the question of how can a community as diverse as Alief, live in harmony with the different religions, languages and cultures. Maybe we can learn something from Taoism–that the opposites that we confront in our world, even though different can help us create a society that values the opposites resulting in harmony, respect and acceptance of the other.  As a beginning point in this quest, consider forces in Alief that help create harmony and appreciation of the other.  Then we can ask ourselves how we can build on those points of appreciation and make the negatives into positives.

One simple way is to know a neighbor.  In a recent conversation with the manager of Sun Blossom Woods apartments in Alief, she said that she had encouraged her residents to meet at least their next door neighbor.  She believed that this would help create community.  But she said that she had very poor results from the effort but continues to work toward building a more relational community.  Isolation and distrust works against the idea of harmony and reinforces the dark side of creation.  In the coming year TMO will be working with her and the adjacent schools to build relationships that will be affirming and positive.

TMO builds relationships that enhance people’s lives

 

Houston is a Welcoming and Compassionate City

 

 

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

 

 

Protestors turning back buses in Murrieta

 

 

At the recent TMO press conference dealing with the refugee crisis at our southern border,  Reverend John Ogletree, pastor of First Metropolitan Church said, “Houston is a welcoming city.  It’s a compassionate city.  When Katrina struck the Gulf coast, Houston opened itself to the plight of these displaced persons.  And again after Ike, Houston opened itself to the needs of the displaced. In times of trouble Houston has always reached out to offer aid and comfort to those who have been displaced to start a new life.”

What Reverend Ogletree could have gone on to say was that Alief is a prime example of a community that opened itself to the needs of others.  Catholic Charities, the YMCA and other organizations were responsible for helping refugees from all over the world to resettle in Houston and particularly in Alief.  Houston opened its arms to the boat people from Viet Nam and Cuba.  We opened our arms to political refugees from El Salvador.  We opened our arms to refugees from Africa and the Middle East. And without much fanfare we opened our arms to over 4000 persons from the civil war in Burma.   Alief, even though not terribly affluent,  is now one of the most vibrant communities in the Houston area.  Alief has its challenges but many of those challenges existed before the resettlement efforts occurred.  Progress exists in business, education, community development and participation.  Its citizens, in spite of their diversity have a can do spirit that is amazing to witness.

The press conference that I’m referring too was a plea to congress to keep the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2008 in place. We also advocated that anyone under the age of eighteen should have an attorney and must never be subjected to expedited processing.  Thirdly, that those who would meet the religious needs of the children and families must be allowed access to the U.S. Border Patrol detention facilities and religious, human rights and civic groups must be allowed to the U.S. Refugee Resettlement shelters for unaccompanied minors.  Community leaders can and should provide humanitarian support to the overwhelmed detention centers and shelters.  The letter was signed by 180 pastors, bishops and religious leaders in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California to show the faith community’s concern that these migrant children should be treated with compassion and respect.

Some would say that we have enough people on our shores and we don’t need anyone else except the very affluent or educationally superior.  And those are some of the nicer objections.  But I am reminded by theologian Walter Brugemann that “we must confess that the central problem of our lives is that we are torn apart by the conflict between our attraction to the good news of God’s abundance and the power of our belief in scarcity — a belief that makes us greedy, mean and unneighborly. We spend our lives trying to sort out that ambiguity.”

With thousands of children flooding our Southern border there are many who are afraid, angry or just down right prejudiced about this new horde of refugees.  Seeing the pictures of the train coming from central America can engender deep-seated emotions that many people cannot even admit they have.  Whatever the outcome is with the current border crisis, Houston will step up as it so often has and again demonstrate that we are welcoming and compassionate to the stranger among us.  Pray that a loving and compassionate outcome may occur with this humanitarian crisis.

 

Central American Children hopeful they can stay

 

 

What Kind of World Does God Want?

This is an effort by Abiline, Tx. to develop and bring the community together to live into “loving God, loving neighbor. TMO has as one of its goals to create community where people can not only develop meaningful relationships, but in the process transform their communities.

The Fire on the Altar Must Be Kept Burning–It Must Not Go Out

The other night I was privileged to be invited by my good friend Pastor Alaba Obiri of the Foursquare Church in Alief to attend the monthly meeting of Greater Houston Ministers Fellowship.  This group is composed largely of Ministers in Nigerian Pentecostal congregations throughout Houston.  There are over 50 of these congregations in Harris County.  Since I had never been to a Pentecostal service, much less a Nigerian Pentecostal congregation, I had no idea what to expect.  My purpose in going was to introduce pastors to TMO and invite them to a meeting on June 21 to discuss common concerns and see whether the group would be interested in working with and becoming a part of TMO.   One of the pastors offered a sermon based upon Leviticus 6: 12-13  which states “The Fire on the Altar Must Be Kept Burning–It Must Not Go Out; The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.”  Even though I have been involved in the church most of my life, I cannot ever remember hearing a sermon based on this scripture.  It didn’t seem like it made much sense.  Most sermons I hear have a context for me to relate, but it didn’t seem like there was that kind of context.  As I drove home and reflected on the sermon, it struck me that the sermon was addressed to the pastors who live in an alien world far from their native home and who are called by God to keep the fire burning in their congregations.  That was the context.  To me, that would be an awesome and frightening experience.  And even though the context of my experience may be different, I share in the experience and understanding that we as creations of sacred worth, must acknowledge the supremacy of the creator God and keep the fire on the altar burning.  As Christians, we also accept that Christ was the supreme sacrifice and that through his sacrifice He makes us whole.  We may have differing views of sacrifice but most of us would agree that sacrifice is an act of worship, thanksgiving and praise.  Praise and thanksgiving was definitely in the sanctuary that night.  And when we accept Christ’s life, death, and resurrection we are called to “keep the fire burning”.   Possibly one reason the context of the sermon was not readily apparent to me was that today in western culture our tendency is to see ourselves as being entitled more than focused on sacrifice or worship and thanksgiving.  Acknowledgement of God’s supremacy and the importance of Jesus sacrifice has lost much of its meaning and impact.  For many, this affluence or the expectation of affluence, directs us from what the scripture is saying and we neither see the need for keeping the fire of God’s presence burning or the need for worshiping God, or giving  thanksgiving or praise.  This is the issue that Israel has had to deal with throughout its history and one that even we mainline churches, living in our secular culture have to face.   How do you maintain faith in the presence of the dominant culture that does not see the need for either recognition of God’s presence or for a sense of sacrifice?   For me, it was a good evening and it made me realize how important it is to practice our faith in different ways that express our traditions and cultural contexts.   But it also pointed out that if we want to live together in this world, we must keep the fire burning on the altar acknowledging the power of creator God.            

Salvation Comes to Alief →

The Salvation Army, That Is

New Salvation Army center–Alief

In a number of articles about Alief I have lamented that their seem to be a dearth of strong Christian congregations that serve the people living in the Alief Community. As I have reflected on this, I realize that this is not completely true.  Among those making an impact are Higher Dimension ministry, Church Without Walls, several Catholic churches, several large Pentecostal churches and Santa Maria Virgen Episcopal church.  Several congregations such as Grace United Church of Christ, Mission Bend United Methodist and Four Square Fellowship are either members of TMO or have a close alliance to TMO and are actively working in the schools and other outreach to the community.  Memorial Drive UMC as a member of TMO has assumed a key role in working with schools in organizing and developing leadership among parents and churches.  In addition to these Christian congregations, there are several very influential congregations of other faiths including Buddhist, Moslem, and Hindu congregations.  Even though not a formal congregation, there is also the Chinese community center that serves not only the Alief area but also the entire Houston community.  I’m sure i’ve missed a couple that are doing some very fine work, and I apologize for leaving them out.

Salvation Army Dedication–Alief

But now there is a new congregation in the community that is already making a big foot print in Alief.  It’s the Alief Salvation Army center and church on Cook Rd. just east of Beechnut.  Yesterday, I went to the dedication and opening of the center and I was very impressed.  The center is multi-purpose with a worship center, a large kitchen and serving area, a gymnasium, about a dozen classrooms and a large area behind the facility for soccer or other field sports.  It’s all first class.

My prejudices about The Salvation Army goes back to my childhood when I would see the donation kettles in front of stores at Christmas with the uniformed bell ringer collecting for the Army.  I always thought they looked a bit funny.  I knew they were doing some good, but I didn’t know exactly what.  When I was a young man, our family business had a man who worked for my father.  He was from a very prominent family here in Houston and was a recovering alcoholic.  During the time he worked for us, he became my mentor and introduced me to parts of the underbelly of Houston that I had never been exposed.  Even though he never took me to a Salvation Army facility, he often referenced them by saying that their motto was “drop a nickel on the drum and you’ll be saved.”  This of course was a reference to their street bands that would play on the corners in seedy parts of town near their shelters.  Having never been to a shelter I didn’t know whether this was true or not, but it was always good for a laugh. However, as I got to know him better I learned that The Salvation Army had been a life saver for him when he was going through some pretty dark times in his life.

Salvation Army Dedication

As I looked at the audience at the dedication, many dressed in their military type uniforms, I wondered how many of them were like my friend Seymour who had been touched by Christ through the efforts and love of the Salvation Army.  At one point in the program the Women’s Choir sang “Thank You, Thank You.”  Not a one of them was on key, but they showed great enthusiasm in their spirit filled rendition that was sung in multiple languages that expressed the multi-ethnic aspect of the  day.

The Salvation Army was started in 1865 in London England by Catherine and William Booth.  It comes out of mainline Methodism and its mission is to help the poor, destitute and hungry.  Whereas Methodism has its roots in that ministry and continues to outreach to the poor, it has evolved into being more of a middle class church.  The Salvation Army has pretty much stuck with its original mission to the poor.  The new facility in Alief will be focused on the spiritual and physical needs of persons living in Alief which is not always true of other Alief churches whose congregations live out of the community.

Not only will it offer a worship experience on Sunday, the center will also offer Bible studies for children and adults, and programs  such as music, choir, martial arts, and after school programs for children.  The center will be led by Captains Stephen and Sujung Na.

Multi purpose facilities

This new facility will be a welcome addition to Alief and we look forward to noting their impact on the community for the spiritual and physical health of thousand of people.  God bless.

The Quest for Community →

                                                                                                        In 1952 philosopher/sociologist Robert Nisbet wrote “The Quest for Community”. His thesis was that the human impulse toward community was  fulfilled by a multiplicity of human scale associations including guilds, churches, schools and family.  As these institutions that had been intermediaries in society began to dissolve and lose their influence, centralized government began to have more influence on policy and culture.  The irony seems to be that the more society began to seek individualism that was not bound by church, lodge, family and schools the more people turned to centralized government.  The desire to be a part of something was still there, but this desire was supplanted by centralized government and sometimes in its worst scenario by totalitarianism.

As TMO works to engage families in the process of helping parents become more engaged in their children’s success and in the success of the community in general we need to keep Nisbet’s thesis in mind.  Questions exist as to whether we can reestablish and strengthen existing human associations or whether we need to focus on generating support for more centralized institutions of government.  There is no doubt that government is playing a more pervasive role.  The reasons for this are many, but they can be categorized into several general categories.  They include business interests and special interest groups that benefit directly or indirectly from centralization in the form of contracts, regulations and other beneficial legislation or lack thereof.  TMO states that there are two types of power–organized money and organized people.  Notice I used the word “organized”.  Even big money has the ability to organize itself for its self interest.  Organized people who usually represent voters have less influence unless they organize themselves around certain issues.  From the right we have the example of the “Tea Party”  that in the past election cycle showed its power in being able to influence elections and legislation all over the country.  This group could be labeled as “being sick and tired or being sick and tired.”  They tend to be older, white and more republican and independent.  They tend to be more evangelical and, they vote.  And as we know they have made a real impact on the elections of 2012.  Most believe that our country is on the wrong track and that our impulse toward church, family, lodge and community have been negatively influenced by centralized government.  For many the answer to this diminution is for government to get out of the affairs of citizens and letting the market place be the guiding factor.  Somehow there is also the belief that with fewer restrictions on the individual there will be some miraculous move back to the church, better schools, and intact families.

Love God, Love Neighbor

These positions may be desirable, but how do we as a society make this happen?  How do we as parents “make” our children accept our “religious beliefs”?  How do we “make” our children marry a person of the opposite sex, have children and live a life that we may or may not have had?  How do we control what our children watch on TV or the internet or what’s taught in our schools?   How do we  influence the next generation to get a “good” education, a “good job” and put away for retirement.?  When our neighborhood begins to change, how do we respond?  Do we embrace the differences of our new neighbors, or if our economic  situation allows , do we move to be with others who may look like us even though we hold little in common with them?  And how do we deal with some of the everyday issues involving our quality of life such as the water we drink, the air we breathe and the food we eat?  And when a disaster hits our neighbors community how do we deal with that?  Do we say, that’s not my problem; it’s a budget breaker or say that it’s the role of the church?  And what about unemployment and poverty?  Is it the job of the church which may have a large number of members who are also unemployed and impoverished?

In our desire to return to the past we may pass legislation that results in more restrictions on personal freedom.  These would include the Defense of Marriage act which has been struck down, restrictions on abortions and who one can marry.

The point of this is that society is highly complex and the issues facing us are interwoven in the fabric of community.  And the island of isolation is getting smaller and smaller.  It is for we citizens to recognize our responsibility, and with civility cross the great divides of class, race and economics to hammer solutions for our community.  One common belief of many of our faith traditions call on us to love God and love neighbor and to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.”  This is both difficult and subject to multiple interpretations.  But if we are to survive, this is our call by God.  I believe that community demands personal engagement in the work of the community but it cannot be done by itself and there has to be a reliance on our responsibility to engagement in the political process that we are all a part of and that informs all our lives.

 

Can Public Schools Close the Achievement Gap? →

For over fifty years, since desegregation,  our country has recognized that there was an educational achievement gap between white children and children of color.  In the past few years that belief has changed somewhat to say that there is a distinct achievement gap between those children who are above the poverty level and those children living in poverty.  States like Texas have addressed the issue in numerous ways using testing and associated educational interventions in order to move the needle to more successful outcomes.  But the only conclusion that we can point to is that affluence is more of an indicator of academic success than is race.  And in these years since 1960, we have tried numerous ways of combating drop out  rates, underachievement and deteriorating public schools.  As a result we continue to point fingers at such areas as teachers unions, poor parenting, lack of funding for education, etc. etc.  At the end of the day the one common denominator for lack of success seems to be poverty.

But there may be clues about school achievement among low income families that schools may or may not be about to address.  In a 2012 study by John Hopkins professor Dr. Lingxin Hao, et al made some conclusions about success of “first” generation immigrant children including Hispanic children about why they might be successful in school.

There are several reasons why foreign-born immigrant children show these educational and social advantages, often referred to as the “immigrant paradox” by educators and sociologists.
“The first thing is family,” explains Dr. Hao. “Immigrants who come to the U.S. are self-selective; they overcome difficulties to create a better life, and foreign-born immigrant parents transmit this motivation, values and expectations to their children,” she explains. Children absorb these expectations and their actions demonstrate a ‘mom and dad made all this sacrifice for me, I better do okay’ type of behavior.
The second thing is the tight-knit interaction within immigrant communities. A low-income immigrant parent might not know advanced math or science, for example, but he or she will point to someone else in the immigrant community “who has made it,” explains Dr. Hao, and point that high achiever to their children, expecting they will do well.  The third factor is not about the parents, but about the immigrant children themselves. Foreign-born immigrant children seem to benefit from the “dual culture” inherent in having been born in a different country, absorbing those cultural values, and then coming here and navigating a different culture. “The 1.5 generation is able to combine the best of two cultures to navigate the educational system and the labor market,” says Dr. Hao.

The study also finds Latino immigrant children do not lag behind Asian immigrant children, provided some factors are similar. The more important factors are two parents versus one parent households, better-educated parents, and better school districts, including those which offer more advanced classes, lower class sizes and higher attendance levels. “We found children are very constrained by their educational context; some schools don’t even offer high-level courses, yet 1.5 generation children will still reach higher, even in underperforming schools,” says Dr. Hao.

Can schools provide this kind of environment?  Possibly, but only in a limited way.  In 2012-13 in Alief as well as other Texas schools only about 70% of children passed the STAAR test, the benchmark for a districts success.  The key component in Dr. Hao’s study is family stability.  How then, does a community address the issues surrounding family instability.  We have discussed some of these issues in this blog.  Such issues as raising the minimum wage, affordable housing, adult education, and community safety are key components.  But we also need to consider the spiritual component.   In TMO’s work in Alief we have noted that most people do not attend a church, mosque, or temple.  Families have few roots and connections to those institutions that can help create stability.  Religious institutions may give food and clothing assistance but offer little in the way of spiritual nurturing.  In some cases its as if the religious institution does not want the unwashed and dysfunctional to pass through their doors on the day of worship.  Families are isolated within the community with few connections.

These are a few of the reasons why TMO sees its role to not only address the achievement gap through strengthening the Family Centers in AISD but also developing relationships with other institutions such as congregations and bringing them together to address multiple concerns where developing constructive community power to act for change is important.  Emphasis should always focus on the sacredness of all life from our faith traditions, but to then address these issues that inhibit persons from achieving all the Creator has ordained.  This is a huge job and TMO is always looking for leaders and religious institution that are willing to study and consider this multifaceted challenge and see that acting together is in each of our interests and in the case of congregations is a part of our calling as a faith community.

MDUMC Justice Charter–Part 2 →

What then will we do?

Having considered the Charter’s declaration of beliefs, we now examine the possibilities of living into our call to do justice.

Therefore, we will:

• Seek ways to do justice through our church programs and ministries, prayerfully asking God’s guidance in helping us to recognize systemic structures of injustice and granting courage to respond;
• Step with love into the gap to speak for those who have no voice;
• Work through our ministries to remove barriers and social conditions that perpetuate injustice, seeking to create an environment where all may live in fullness and wholeness;
• Pledge to continue to be in respectful conversation with those whom we differ, and to explore the sources of our differences with the goal of reconciliation;
• Open our hearts and minds as we seek to love all persons with kindness and agape love;
• Strive to walk humbly with our God, prayerfully asking the Holy Spirit to guide us;
• Honor our sacred worth of all persons as we continue to seek the mind of Christ and to do the will of God in all things.

The call of the Charter  calls us to look at ourselves, our prejudices, our timidity, and our shortcomings.  The Charter calls us to call upon God for strength and guidance, to remove the scales from our eyes and then to have the courage to do justice.  In the context of the Charter doing justice is not a singular action.  We are called to be the community of the faithful, to trust one another to not just to learn and study, but to then take action with other believers to bring about justice.  Justice is not just about finding what is wrong with the world, but is also about finding solutions and then taking action to alleviate those injustices.  It is not about coming up with a liberal or conservative agenda.  It’s about coming up with Christian solutions that are based on our understanding of our Christian principles.  It’s recognizing that solutions to injustice are complex and that there are no easy answers.  At every step we are called to ask, “what is the roll of the Church in this issue and more importantly, what is God’s will.”

How can we solve the issue of poverty if we do not offer the love of Jesus Christ to them, get to know them personally, build relationships and invite them into our congregations.  We know that many in our culture have no spiritual connections and are often lost in the complexities of life. And what does it say to persons when we are not willing to be inclusive and offer full participation in the life of the church through the covenant of marriage and ministerial ordination.  And does the situation ever arise when it is time for brothers and sisters in Christ to decide to divorce one another when the disagreements on justice are too divisive, thereby limiting the body’s ability to effectively address other issues of justice.

Issues of justice have elements of relationally.  It is therefore important to build relationships with those persons in power whether it be elected or appointed officials, business groups, or civic groups.  These persons and organizations are often the groups that hold power over those who are marginalized.  And they often are reluctant to relinquish their power whether it is a result of their own conviction or that they are merely the puppet of others.  Justice cannot always be achieved in an atmosphere of harmony.  Throughout history we have seen that justice has a price for those who advocate for those who are oppressed.  But it can always be done in an atmosphere of love.  Love is power and sometimes can be contentious.

God calls us to do justice and we believe that God’s will towards justice will prevail.  And we must remember that justice will prevail in God’s time, not ours.  But I believe that it will not occur at all until the faithful join in the struggle and are willing to pay the price.

One last thought.  When someone says something so outrageous concerning justice issues that it catches you off guard and you know you should say something, but you don’t know what, says this, “I don’t agree.   That goes against my Christian convictions.”

Epilogue

For Courage to Do Justice

Lord open my eyes that I may see the needs of others;

Open my ears that I may hear their cries;

Open my heart so that they need not be without succor;

Let me not be afraid to defend the weak because of the anger of the strong,

Not afraid to defend the poor because of the anger of the rich.

Show me where love and hope and faith are needed,

And use me to bring them to those places.

And so open my eyes and my ears

That I may this coming day be able to do some work of peace for thee.

Amen*

*The United Methodist Hymnal #456

As always I encourage your comments and hope that you will develop conversations and actions in your classes, bible studies and with friends on what God is calling us to do in the area of justice.  In the next few months  our  TMO (The Metropolitan Organization) will be offering “pressures on families” to find leaders interested in issues of justice and the issues affecting families in our community.  We will also be discussing how the Justice Charter informs and impacts “pressures on families”.

Is Religion Dying in Alief? →

One of the largest groups that receives little notice by demographers in Alief are probably the fifty or so independent store front congregations with anywhere from 25- 100 members.  The reason I’m aware of this group is that my family owns a business center in Alief.  During the week you can go by the center and see only a few cars in the parking lot.  But on Sunday, the parking lot is totally full and people are double parked.  In this center we have six congregations and every time there is a vacancy another church wants to rent space.  Because the parking is at such a premium we no longer can rent to another church.  In one instance we told a new church that they would be fined $500. per hour for having services before 1 p.m. and if they would not adhere to the rules, they would be evicted.  Can you imagine evicting a church?  Assuming that each of these congregations has 50 members and that there are 50 congregations in Alief at any one time, that’s 2500 members, which makes a pretty good congregation.  Most of the pastors of these small churches have little formal theological background and little or no affiliation with an organized religious movement.  Most of the pastors have another job and have established a small following before they open their doors in a business center.  If the church is successful they will often find a bigger place of worship or go out into the community and buy property.  If the pastor doesn’t do well the doors will close within a year.  That doesn’t often happen.  But, as TMO has discovered there are vast numbers of people in Alief who have no religious affiliation.  They are almost completely isolated from the rest of the community. They move around a lot, change jobs, and have few or no friends.

The reason this is of interest is that people need a spiritual and moral compass, and a connection to the community and a support system of friends and family.   Alief has dramatically changed in the last thirty years resulting in a community that may be perceived as having little cohesiveness. Some would say that the faith communities are losing their influence in American communities and particularly in a community as diverse as Alief. In the past there were a number of strong mainline churches in Alief that supported a primarily white community with the spiritual and relational opportunities needed in their lives.  As racial and economic changes have occurred so has the influence and presence of many of the traditional mainline churches.  Currently, there are no Presbyterian, Lutheran or Anglo dominated Episcopal churches.  Two predominately Anglo Methodist congregations are on the perimeter of Alief but the one Anglo Methodist church in Alief closed ten years ago.   There is also a small Filipino Methodist church.  Several other mainline churches are still in the community but their congregations live predominately in other parts of Houston.  Two Catholic congregations now have large ethnic memberships.  Buddhist, Moslem, and Hindu among other traditions have a significant presence in the community.  One of the largest presences’ is Hispanic Pentecostals.  So, with the change in demographics we see a vast change in religious affiliation and participation.  So, what draws anyone to a faith community whether Christian,

Moslem, Buddhist, or Hindu?   In the case of immigrants it is primarily familial and traditional.  If a person was a Buddhist in their home country, they will probably be a Buddhist in their new country.  But as time goes by there are other considerations.  Adam Hamilton, a Methodist pastor in his book Relational Evangelism addresses the question of what draws people to a congregation.  The book is from a Christian perspective but could apply to all faiths.  At the center are three questions.  Why do I need my deity or philosophy in my life? He then asks the question, “Why do I need a faith community?”  and lastly, “Why do I need “this” congregation?  At the center of these question are several considerations such as family tradition, and peer pressure.  But at its core is relationality.  How am I connected to something bigger than myself that I call God, and to community, family and friends.  Faith communities can give persons a sense of grounding.  As communities like Alief evolve, older religious institutions either find new relationships and ways to be  relevant to that evolving tradition within the community or they die from lack of  relevance between themselves and the community around them.

Congregations are also mediating institutions.  Congregations and institutions such as schools, businesses and associations act as the glue to hold the community together.  Congregations can remove themselves from the evolving community around them or they can instill the vibrancy that has made them relevant to the ages.   Alief is an incredibly diverse community whose religious institutions have evolved with some passing from existence and others becoming dominant and vibrant.  And at their core they will not only be relevant to their members but to the community at large.

It is my prayer that regardless of whether congregations come and go, that the creative force we call God, Allah or our own particular named life force, will be a positive force in the unfolding life of the community.