Consuming Jesus

Our post for in the trenches comes from Curtis May. Curtis is Director of the Office of Reconciliation Ministries for Grace Communion International.  We’re excited to be able to have Curtis share about what he does with the Office of Reconciliation Ministries (from here on referred to as ORM).  Below is Curtis’ description of his involvement with ORM.

At ORM I counsel Christians and non-Christians alike on issues of conflict, disputes and broken relationships in general. We have 27 chapters in 5 countries – the U.S., Canada, Ireland, England and Scotland. Our work has extended into Africa and the Philippines as well. Our Vision is: ‘To put the teachings of Jesus Christ into action by advancing relationships between people of different beliefs and points of view.” Our Mission: “To respond to situations of racial or ethnic tension and to help build lasting, harmonious and accepting relationships.

Our Core Values are guided by Scripture:

1. Reconciliation as a ministry given to us by God (II Corinthians 5:18-19)

2. All humans made from one blood (Acts 17:26)

3. The inclusive mission/vision of Jesus (Luke 4:18)

4. Neither Jew, Greek, male nor female, but all one in Christ (Galatians 3:28)

5. Practical demonstrations of love and faith, including literature resources such as our book, Mending Broken Relationships (James 2:16)

In fulfilling our mission we conduct workshops, seminars and give presentations on the topics of reconciliation and conflict resolution throughout the United States and occasionally overseas. We see the need to stand in the gaps that divide people.

ORM has worked with police departments, city halls, schools and other organizations to participate in the mandate of Jesus “that they may be one” (John 17:20-23). We specifically emphasize this message of oneness as we work among churches in the spirit of interdenominationalism. As Dr. Paul Metzger points out so poignantly in his book Consuming Jesus, the church has a huge problem of race, class and consumerism.

We have received a number of awards and certificates for our work, including the key to the city of Memphis. (Please see “Awards” on our website at www.ATimeToReconcile.org.) We also work in inter-faith settings with Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Ba’hai.

Dr. Metzger recently had an article posted on the Out of Ur blog examining and contrasting the types of community formed around the coffee bar and the Lord’s Table.  It is a helpful reflection on the type of communities we are seeking to raise up in our churches, and well worth the read.  You can read the article here.

What do you think about the difference in the sort of communities created around the coffee bar or the Lord’s Table?

Do you have any thoughts or ideas on how we use space to represent the values of our communities?  Share your ideas in the comments here.

There is an upcoming Drum Majors for Love, Truth and Justice event in the Portland area, on November 20-21.  Dr. Paul Louis Metzger and nationally acclaimed civil rights leader Dr. John M. Perkins will be leading this event, offering a biblically rooted message about the theology of engagement for running a marathon race of holistic gospel service.  This conference is open to anyone interested in developing a theology of engagement for a lifetime of service.Check out the Drum Majors Event Details for more information on this event!

Consuming Jesus was recently listed in the fall 2008 issue of Leadership Journal (leadershipjournal.net) as part of its Golden Canon–the top 10 books of 2008.  Also featured in the journal is a great review of Consuming Jesus by David Swanson (who has contributed his story as part of this blog).  Be sure to look for it in the most recent Leadership Journal.  In addition, Out of Ur, the official blog of Leadership Journal, just posted this audio interview of Dr. Metzger by David Swanson.

We would like to highlight this article about some folks involved in Compassion Connect, a ministry program in Portland that is helping to mobilize area churches to serve their community.  Also if you live in the Portland area, be sure to go to the Compassion Connect website to find out about the Home For the Holidays program.

We are adding a new section to the Consuming Jesus blog.  This section is titled Consuming Cyberspace, which will serve to draw attention to online articles and other blogs’ entries related to the themes discussed in Consuming Jesus.  Check out our link to a recently posted article on “mystery worshippers” and don’t miss Dr. Metzger’s quote at the end of the article.

We are going to be introducing a new category to the Consuming Jesus blog.  This category is titled “From the Trenches,” and will give us an opportunity to hear from pastors and practitioners that are active in engaging in the ideas presented in the book.   We hope that it will be another good way to spark discussion about how Jesus’ consuming love calls us to address these race and class issues in the church.

 There is now a free Consuming Jesus study guide available for download.  It is a great resource for those going through the book, or who would like to go through the book with a small group.  The study guide includes questions for sparking group discussion, and possible ways to apply the ideas of each chapter.  To access the study guide, click the link below or on the column to the right.

Consuming Jesus Study Guide