Mission Yearbook: Looking to Nehemiah to help gauge the work ahead of us

Wearing two hats simultaneously as both a Baptist pastor and Deputy Borough President of Brooklyn, the Rev. Kimberly Council brought the Synod of the Northeast’s “Connection to Transformation” conference to a rousing close with a sermon tracing the task that faced Nehemiah and the work that’s ahead for the church.

“Bringing a vision to reality is often challenging,” Council said. “You often have 20% of the people doing 80% of the work.”

“Some will help you bring your vision into fruition,” she said, “and there are some you have to leave right where you found them.”

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The Rev. Kimberly Council

Nehemiah went into the city and found willing workers, but he faced both external and internal opposition. “They had the tools and the resources and were of a mind to do the work, but the enemy was within — just like in the church,” Council said. “The worst enemy you will meet is often yourself, that voice inside your head.”

We must work to quiet that voice, she said. “When you embrace who you are and who you were created to be, you will find focus to rebuild and restore. … Push yourself into your purpose, and trust that God will restore.”

In Nehemiah, we learn that “Ezra had worked 20 years, and all of a sudden this cupbearer [Nehemiah] turns things around,” Council said. “Just because you’ve decided to rebuild, it doesn’t mean the enemy is taking a break.”

Prayer doesn’t always change things, but it changes you,” she noted. “The God we serve will restore as promised as we focus on the work God has called us to do.”

After college, Council returned to her home church in Brooklyn, which had turned its manse into a medical clinic and was setting out to work on constructing more than 100 affordable apartments on its parking lot. Like Nehemiah, the church faced “a lot of pain points, a whole lot of nagging naggers. It was a 17-year odyssey full of stops and starts,” Council said.

Elected officials came and went. “The longer it took, the wearier people became,” she said. “The neighborhood began to change, the political environment changed, but our God remained the same.”

“As you move from insight to action, God has not forgotten about your ministry,” Council said. “God can take your willing workers and do the impossible.”

We “have got to learn how to tie our ropes together,” she said. “The Spirit of God is hovering over your ministry. You’re already qualified. Now it’s time to lead. God bless.”

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The Rev. Dr. SanDawna Gaulman Ashley

To wrap up the conference, the Rev. Dr. SanDawna Gaulman Ashley, the synod’s transitional leader,  said that going forward, “our actions need to match what’s going on in society.”

“There’s nothing quiet happening in society, which is begging — pleading — that something be done,” she said. “We wanted this conference to mark the beginning of what we hoped would become a movement in the Synod of the Northeast, a Matthew 25 synod. Our working group conveners know we want to fund initiatives in our communities that are making a difference, so that we can make an impact in this region.”

The Rev. Patrick O’Connor, pastor of the conference’s host church, First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, will lead “a cohort of people who want to learn the art of community organizing,” she said. It’s part of a vision around the need for public theologians. “We need people who see themselves as theologians in residence, where’ve they serve. We aren’t CEOs and CFOs, but prophets and leaders.”

“Today’s pressing issues are best addressed through collaboration,” she said. “We have been learning about being a good partner and about translating insights into actions. We trust everyone has something to take back home — knowledge, more skills, and being empowered to make a difference.”

“You wouldn’t know how much you have blessed us by being here,” O’Connor told conference-goers before offering them a benediction that included these words: “May the Lord bless our journey and give us the networking connections that allow us to survive the hostility of this time. May God give us grace and peace. Amen.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

• Yudelkys Oppenheim, Dishwasher, Stony Point Center, Interim Unified Agency
• Mary Oxford, Communication Specialist, Presbyterian Association of Musicians  

Let us pray:

Father, thank you for your love that enables us to love others. Help us to reflect the free gift of your grace to all who cross our path. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Synod of the Northeast’s Connection to Transformation’ Conference holds ‘Jersey City Together’ Workshop

For his workshop as part of the “Connection to Transformation” conference put on recently by the Synod of the Northeast, the Rev. Jon Brown began his presentation on the organization Jersey City Together with a reading from the prophet Jeremiah that includes these hopeful words for modern-day community organizers: “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. … But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

Photo by Ed Mei via Unsplash

“There was a lot [those in exile] could not control in the big picture of superpowers,” said Brown, pastor of Old Bergen Church in Jersey City. “I’m determined to pray for the city in which God has placed me and to seek its welfare.”

Frank McMillen, the lead organizer for Jersey City Together, spent the first two years on the job getting to know clergy and others before the organization had its initial public launch, “which happened to be at my church,” Brown noted. “We had identified a problem in Jersey City, property taxes,” which hadn’t been reassessed in 30 years.

For the city and county officials who’d gathered that day, organizers presented data including a map depicting how much of their income residents were spending on property taxes. Jersey City Together had crafted three questions for the elected officials to answer and gave them 10 minutes for their responses. “When you are building relational power in the community,” Brown said, “it should be through the voice of the community.”

The point they pressed was this one: “How can you justify putting the biggest burden for your city on the most vulnerable?”

The mayor “was mad at us” initially, Brown said, “but then decided, this is not the legacy I want to leave in Jersey City.” The very next year, properties were reassessed, and Jersey City Together held workshops to explain to people how to appeal their new assessment if they felt it was unfair.

The Rev. Jon Brown

“We listened, we listened, and we listened some more,” Brown said of the process over which issue to address. “We surveyed and we had conversations with 3,000 people” about what they’re passionate about changing in their community.

The top three answers were affordable housing, public safety and police relations and education. Jersey City Together’s strategy team chose to address the property tax assessment as part of the affordable housing problem “because it was a winnable issue.”

The second issue, education funding, has been “a little bit harder,” since rising property tax revenue meant fewer school support dollars from the state. But since 2020 — after Jersey City Together and its supporters showed up at many, many school board meetings — the local school budget is now fully funded, Brown said.

“The biggest step is relationship-building,” Brown said, and Jersey City Together recommends a three-step process:

• Preparation before a relational meeting includes making a brief initial contact and learning what you can about the person before meeting them. “Reflect upon your own story,” the organization suggests, “and what you would like to share about your own formation, self-interests, priorities, institution and relationships.”
• During a meeting, focus on engaging the person. “Listen actively and ask follow-up questions that are focused on them,” Jersey City Together recommends. “Be creative and take risks. Look for opportunities to probe and ask questions you wouldn’t always ask in small talk. Think about next steps that meet the person’s self-interest.”
• Reflect and follow up after the meeting. This step includes reflecting on questions you were left with and “opportunities to teach, probe or agitate that you didn’t take advantage of.” Those could be good starts to a second meeting.

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service, Interim Unified Agency (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

• Patricia Nunez, PT Admin Asst. Stony Point Center, Interim Unified Agency 
• Matthew Nurkin, Vice President, & Managing Director, Investments, Board of Pensions  

Let us pray:

Father, may we, empowered by the Spirit, follow the example of your Son, whose incarnation brought healing, wholeness and redemption. Be present to your church in difficult places as we witness to the good news until “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.” In Christ’s name. Amen.