Peace and Justice Ministries

The following are the opening remarks made at the Peace and Justice presentation to the Vision to Action Team in April 2006...

Good Evening!

[Jim spent his preparation time by watching The Passion of Christ. I prepared by listening to the tapes from the Brennan Manning Weekend Retreat…..]

When we talk about multi-generational involvement, we often focus on each age group or demographic participating and/or contributing.  When I think about why I am sitting here in front of you, I know it is because of Multi-Generational Involvement.

You see at the core of multi-generational involvement is the idea that even the least of these matter.  It means we care not just about the comfort of the two year old but also about the perspective of the two year old.  At Pasadena Covenant that means that the perspective of everyone is of equal value.   And the expectation, the invitation is that everyone has something of value to share.  This manifests itself as a spirit of inclusiveness that I know delights God’s heart. It means that anyone that walks into those doors immediately feels that they have found a home.

As I have said to my Companion’s Group, Being a member of Pasadena Covenant has been about saying yes to God. As I exercise my faith, God meets me, I am transformed and my faith increases.  So the first yes was to join; so I joined at the first opportunity.  The second yes was you are not going to be allowed to be a pew warmer. So I got involved…Global Girls, Vacation to LA, a Companion’s group.  The third yes was I expect you to give; you have been fed, now give. So I was interim trustee and now Chair of Peace and Justice.

All God asks is the yes we are able to give. At each yes, He has not let me down and at each yes, I have been blessed.  Sometimes challenged but always blessed.

Pasadena Covenant said Yes and that is why I, Shola, an African not even an African American is sitting here in front of you as Chair of the Peace and Justice Committee of Pasadena Covenant.  Pasadena Covenant, which when I described the Church’s heritage to my friends at work; their comment was any whiter and you would be at the North Pole. 

And of course this brings me back to Multi-Generational Involvement and Missions and Evangelism and Peace and Justice ….A Holistic Approach to Outreach.

Jim has made reference to the fact that every one on this team has given above and beyond the call of duty. But I also want to say thank you. Thank you to Brenda, Christine, Don, Donna, Emilie, Gaithri, Lela, Mike, Pastor Charles, Rob, Suren and Wayne.  And thank you to my personal support network – Pastor Laurie, Mary Barkman and Marylin Peck.  I may be standing here before you, but the Product/the Vision is born out of sacrificial giving by every one of us.  One tip - never let Wayne suggest a meeting time.  I think it went like this:  “What time should we meet?” The calendars come out and we realize how busy every one is. Wayne says “Well, nothing is happening at 7:30 AM.”  So 7:30 AM on Sundays it was.

In the interest of time, I can not thank everyone individually but I have to spotlight the following three:

Ø     Donna, who carried the torch for many years and passed it on still shining brightly and who bequeathed me with a brilliant team; Donna, Thank you.

Ø     Don does not know this but I was most intimidated by him. I had not met him before and my fear was how do I ask this man who has spearheaded the Bad Weather Shelter for 16+ years to submit to what amounted to a team evaluation process.  Well, Don is a Christian Gentlemen, the epitome of graciousness. He not only humbly submitted himself to team deliberations but made it a point to always offer a word of encouragement.  Don, thank you.

Ø     And last but not least, Rob Filback. If Don is my yes man then Ron is my … Oh yes, we disagreed passionately and we will probably be at loggerheads again but Rob never tried to intimidate me with his position as Chair of the Trustee Council. And his contribution to the team is consistent and unflagging. Another example of a humble man of God who submitted to the Team process.  Rob, thank you.

And now for my opening line…

I have rehearsed this moment several times in my mind and of course I have discarded several opening lines.  The last idea was a dramatic reading of Isaiah 61. In my Bible Isaiah 61 is subtitled the Good News of Salvation.  I still think that Isaiah 61 is an apt opening and we will get back to the idea of Peace and Justice being fundamentally about advancing the Kingdom of God; and Peace and Justice being about responding holistically to our call to serve the least of these; and Peace and Justice being about Seeking God, Sharing God and…Transforming our Community. 

But back to my opening line… Are you ready? [It was actually raining on the night of the presentation]

It is raining Peace and Justice in Pasadena Covenant.

I am sure that every one here has experienced the phenomenon when you decide to do something and all of a sudden all you notice are reminders of what you have decided to do. Like couples thinking about having babies and every where they go they see pregnant mothers or you decide to buy a car and every where you go you see a yellow mini cooper.

Well, it is raining Peace and Justice at Pasadena Covenant and it appears that the rain has caused quite a few of you to seek shelter here tonight.  Thank you for coming.

The Peace and Justice Ministry Team will testify that No one said no. Every church member we talked to affirmed our Vision. In fact the challenge has been not to submit to the temptation to deliver a big bang and thereby pre-empt God.

We believe that we are on the right track because our proposal honors the journey of faith that has brought Pasadena Covenant thus far; and asks for nothing more than a holistic approach to the way Pasadena Covenant reaches out to the least of these…

The work we submit is a work in progress. We wish we could come back in three months.  We have much work to do in terms of coalescing as a team and thinking through what it means for Pasadena Covenant to adopt Justice as a core value.

We know we have your support and we thank you for the sacrificial giving of your time as we explore together our Vision for Shalom in our Community.