A Church Without Walls

On Monday evening, after 21 months of conversation and study and dialogue, the Church Conference of Skyline UMC voted 48-6 (with 2 abstentions) to adopt an expanded Mission Statement of welcome to all people into a community of followers of Jesus (regardless of age, racial, ethnic or national origin, physical or mental ability, marital status, religious experience, affectional orientation, gender identity, or socioeconomic status). Such debate as there was focused on why we would need to specify who we are welcoming, when the word All might suffice. The overwhelming majority felt that while most churches claim to welcome All, the reality is that they restrict their welcome to exclude people on the margins of society - the very people Jesus came to serve. The group hopes for the day when spelling out our welcome won't be necessary, when the walls are broken down - but 86% of the 56 members of the church who voted felt that our church needs to make an explicit welcome statement to people for whom All does not in fact mean all in typical churches.

The Statement adopted June 22 reads:

The Mission of Skyline United Methodist Church is to
Reach Out to all people seeking a deeper relationship with God, regardless of age, racial, ethnic or national origin, physical or mental ability, marital status, religious experience, affectional orientation, gender identity, or socioeconomic status,
Welcome them into a community followers of Jesus who freely choose to worship, serve, and live together prayerfullyand in peace following a Methodist understanding of God's gift of grace,
Equip them to live as the Holy Spirit gifts and guides, and
Send them to serve and reach out to all people in Christ's name.

Before the vote on the Welcome Statement, there was considerable debate over the budget. We recognize that we have paid a price for standing with people on the margins, and that we will continue to pay a price. Many in the church want to see us fail - they would rather shut us down than see us open our doors to all people. As we consider the plans God has for us (Jeremiah 29:11-14a), I feel a sense of hope that outweighs fear. Among those who voted last night were our children (including our foster daughter). They joined us in voting to be a part of a church without walls, and then they served us communion. We have fought for the past few years here for their place in God's house as much as anyone else's. Whatever the future holds, last night we affirmed a Light that shines in the darkness (of fear and ignorance and hatred) that can never be extinguished.

Skate Park @ Skyline

Greetings!

Thank you all for expressing your interest in exploring the idea of a skate park at Skyline for youth in our area. The following people decided to vote with their feet Sunday, April 19 and the following week: Josh Magnusson, Lynn Fahey, Cindy Sisofo, Tim Transue, Deb Ressler, Kari Butts, Lori Citro, Ivan Turner, III, Sarah Sacconey, Gwen Cichocki, and Joe DiEmidio.

At this point, I'd like for us to introduce ourselves to each other, and share what attrancted us to this kind of mission/project, and what we might be able to contribute. I want to set a meeting date, so we might also want to let each other know when would be the best time to meet (weekends, weeknights, etc.).

Kari Butts works at Heritage Elementary School, and shared with me Sunday (April 26) that she has already met with more than a dozen 5th graders (who traded away their recess to meet with her to talk about a skate park) and will be surveying them to get an idea of what they would be interested in. A couple of you have shared with me that you might know about some funding sources we could explore.

I spent yesterday visiting area skate shops and came up with the following info: The Newport Skate Park might be the best place for us to begin exploring what might be involved in putting a park together. The website says they're open on Wednesday nights, so if anyone's up for a field trip, I might be going tomorrow night. They've been running since 1997, and are an outreach ministry of Family Life Church.

At a skate shop in Newark, I saw a flyer about the Wilmington Skate Project. It looks like they're halfway toward a goal of raising $800,000 for a skate park to be built under I-95. They run Skate Jams to raise money and awareness from time to time, setting up elements in parking lots, and several hundred skaters always show up.

That's about all I have so far. Let us (everyone in the group) hear from you. Let me know if you're a Facebook maven, to see if it would be worth starting a group there. Check the church website, or simply share your comment on this Blog and let's see where we stand. Feel free to share why you signed up to join us, what attracts you to this project, what kind of vision you have for what you hope we will be able to accomplish (and when we might accomplish it), and what you think you might be able to bring to the effort (information, expertise, passion, research, etc.).

Let's get it on.
Bo