From December '07 TRAVERSE newsletter
On Wednesday, September 5, 2007, a Seattle Times headline caught my eye. It was about art gone awry in Belltown. Our neighborhood is often in the news. Belltown stages the clash between soaring skylines and rising incomes against street violence and sidewalk poverty. This urban experience captures the attention of local journalists and confronts some of our deepest concerns. What will become of Seattle as we increase, build in density, and attempt to solve problems we have never encountered? Northwest ideals are tenuously grasped in one hand, as the city faces new challenges and conducts experiments in the other. Meanwhile, some folks are caught in the center of the clash. Neighborhood churches should walk alongside those people.
Joe Corsi, a neighborhood apartment manager, is one such person. Trapped between the red-taped good intentions of the city’s art commission and drug dealers using a sculptured bench as a crack house, Joe struggled for years to overcome the hostility outside his front door. He was in the news that day, the victim of public art that had been hijacked, but a victim who was fighting back. His story intrigued and inspired me. Joe seemed exactly the kind of person the church should be praying for and getting to know.
I showed up at his door and asked about him, but he was not there, so I left a message. The following week, another neighbor who knew Joe introduced me to him. Joe recalled hearing about the neighborhood Pastor who had stopped by, and was willing to meet. Since then, we have spent time together. Joe recently asked Emmaus Road to pray for friends in the neighborhood. I have offered encouragement and willingness to advocate for Joe, and to help him organize and network with neighborhood resources I know about. Joe even inquired about our worship service and small group ministries (though he was careful to warn me against raising my hopes to high). I am simply glad that we’ve connected, wherever the Lord may lead us.
But that’s the point of this story: Joe is a person learning to do God’s work, and is rediscovering God in his life. But we would not have connected on a Sunday morning. After years of ministry in Seattle, it still seems to be the case that most people are not consciously looking for a church to attend. I believe deep down all people belong in worshiping community, but it’s not a felt need on the surface for most. Drawing people through the traditional front door of church, no matter how great that door is, will never be the primary way we connect with neighbors and their daily lives. But I am learning that when we get out of our Sunday morning box to walk alongside them, the way Jesus walks alongside us, the kingdom grows. Some will even walk back to Zion to worship Jesus with us. See the actual Seattle Times story online.
