Praxis UCC

While there is some confusion about what Occupy Wall Street and its affiliates stand for, the community that has sprouted up around the movement is something to behold.  At Occupy Atlanta they offer food, childcare, legal assistance, and health care to anyone participating as a testament to an alternate way of doing community.  Occupy Atlanta actually includes many people in its ranks who were already experiencing homelessness.  Together with those who have chosen homelessness in protest of a broken economic system, they have now created what is so difficult to find in so many American cities: a group of neighbors willing to take care of each other and share “all things in common,” distributing “to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:44)

This is a movement where it’s difficult to see who has a home to return to and who does not.  Whether you agree with the many grievances the movement has espoused, the occupiers have shown us a face of solidarity between those who have and those in need.  Isn’t this what the church should be striving for?  To erase the lines that divide us?  To treat one another as equals regardless of social location? This might be summed up in our UCC motto: “That they might all be one”.

I’m excited for the upcoming Mission 1, where the United Church of Christ will take 11 days between 11/1/11 and 11/11/11 to feed the hungry and confront food related injustice.

As part of our Mission 1 collection at Praxis we’ll be taking donations to the Occupy Atlanta movement where it will help support those who are living on the street–whether by choice or by circumstance.  We’ll also collect canned goods that will go to the Atlanta Community food bank.

Here’s a list of items that the Occupy Atlanta protesters are requesting.  If you bring these to Praxis we’ll make sure that they get to the organizers:

Dan Fishman, our drummer in the Praxis band, also plays with Always Saturday, a band that plays wonderful music for children. They are currently doing a 10K – A mission to get 10,000 downloads of their song “Love is Plural” with 100% of the proceeds going to Camp Sunshine.

Camp Sunshine is an incredible organization that helps kids that are living with cancer. They are centered locally in Decatur. For more information on Camp Sunshine, go to www.mycampsunshine.com.

Please join us in supporting Always Saturday in their mission to help Camp Sunshine! To listen to some of their great music check out alwayssaturday.com and then download the song through itunes by clicking here!

Through the season of Advent we’ll be focusing on different aspects of humanity.  We’ll be following the traditional themes of the Advent candles – hope, love, joy, and peace.  How do these themes emphasize what it means to be truly human?  Tomorrow night we’ll start with the theme of  ”Love”.  What does love mean to us?  As we prepare for the coming of Jesus, what does love mean to God?

Come join us for dinner and small group discussions on Thursday nights.  Meal starts at 6:30, discussion starts at 7:30.

As you may already know, there is currently a shortage of shelters for people who are homeless in Atlanta.  The emergency freeze shelter at St John’s is opening up in the next few days to provide space for those who are homeless on the nights when it is freezing outside.  I’m really excited that Praxis has the opportunity to connect with the larger community in our area and do ministry with the members of St. John’s who is housing our worship services.

This Sunday, December 5th at 12:15 pm there is an informational session and orientation for those who are interested in this important ministry.  If you are interested in helping out please come this Sunday and see what it’s all about.  This is a rewarding way to make a difference and spread love in this time of Advent and Christmas!

Photo Credit: Michelle Friswell

During this past Thursday’s small group gathering much of our conversation revolved around miracles – starting with the miraculously cheese-like tofu/cashew mixture masquerading as ricotta in the vegan lasagna that we shared for dinner. I don’t typically enjoy fooling anyone, but there was an almost sick satisfaction I get from hearing people exclaim, “What? There’s no dairy in this?”

Following dinner, we reflected on Matthew 10:40 to 11:6. John the Baptist, sitting in jail has heard about all of things that Jesus and his disciples are doing so he sends his students to ask Jesus if he’s the messiah. Jesus gives an interesting response, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” Now, you might think that Jesus is talking about all of the miracles that he, himself has done, but this conversation happens at a really interesting moment – right after Jesus has just debriefed the disciples upon returning from being sent out in pairs. What were they sent to do? Jesus sent them out to do exactly what he’s just talked about – to preach, to cure the sick, to raise the dead, and make those with leprosy clean.

The miracle here is not that Jesus can heal those who are sick – the miracle is that those who follow Jesus are the instrument of God’s healing and good news.

We spent some time talking about the needs of Atlanta, the places where healing and wholeness are in short supply, the communities where people need to hear and feel God’s good news. Often the issues of overcoming the divides created by various “-isms”, homelessness, sex-trafficking, violence, or rifts in our political system feel impossible to overcome – but it didn’t feel so overwhelming when we gathered to pray to be a part of God’s miracle. This is the power of community, of sharing our stories, of praying, of reaching for something together, knowing that we’re not walking alone.

We are excited to share that we are having our first small group gathering on Thursday, January 21 at 6:30pm. Everyone is invited to our weekly gatherings to eat, talk, pray, seek God, and conspire in the building of a new faith community. Join us in creating a space to reflect, laugh, connect, and serve.

Our First 8-Week Conversation: Taking on Faith as a Cycle of Reflection and Action

How is living out our faith an act of creating art?

How does prayer change the way we relate to other people?

How does the way we serve others inform our faith?

To what extent are we paralyzed by trying to live up to Christ? How would our faith look different if we focused instead on walking with Jesus?

Our gathering is at 1093D North Jamestown Road in Decatur. If you have any questions hit us up with an email: chris@praxisucc.org or leah@praxisucc.org

Praxis UCC is a new ministry of the United Church of Christ and is open to everyone. We believe that each person is crafted by God’s hand and loved by the Divine. We celebrate the diversity in which God has made us–different sizes and shapes, abilities and families, races and ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations–and we affirm that everyone has something important to contribute to God’s community.

Today I heard Michael Piazza, pastor of Cathedral of Hope in Dallas, talk about what he says during new membership classes. He said, “we don’t need your butts to hold down the pews”. Somehow a traditional-looking church sends the message when you walk in that the goal is to fill seats, take care of your spirituality in an hour that week, and contribute financially to the building. Even with all the work that a church might be doing in the community (and Cathedral of Hope exemplifies this!), one still has to point it out, and say, “this is what it means to be church”.

I thought about what this might mean for Praxis. We’re not planning on having pews. Of course, we’ll have gatherings, but we don’t want anyone to get the impression that Praxis is about where you plop down on a Sunday. This is why we’re starting with small groups. Faith is about how we walk throughout the week, how we connect with God, and how we share with and support one another. It’s about a community of people working together following the path of Christ. So we want to create the space where this can happen, not just in a sanctuary, but in living rooms, coffee shops, on street corners, and in homeless shelters.

Growing up in a new church plant in Vermont, we gathered each week in a school gymnasium. Worship didn’t begin until we had set up the 80 or so folding chairs together in a semi circle. After our service, we’d take down the chairs, and then often play a game of basketball. Having such a temporary, makeshift group worship taught me from a young age that the church was the people, not the place. We were free to be a vibrant community of faith in how and where we lived the other six days of the week. This is what we seek to accomplish with Praxis.