Sunday, November 16, 2008

What New Monastics Can Learn from History (Part 2)

What New Monastics Can Learn from History (Part 2)

by Onleilove Alston

[continued from part 1] Out of a general respect for anyone who seeks to serve the inner city (I grew up in the housing projects of Brooklyn’s equivalent to Kensington), and with an excitement for the church’s renewed dedication to preaching “the good news to the poor,” I humbly give a few suggestions for how New Monasticism can avoid repeating the past mistakes of the Settlement House movement.

1. Seek creative ways to recruit people of color and poor people to the work of this movement. For example, if your community lacks racial diversity, consider going to historically African-American theological institutions such as Palmer Theological Seminary to invite students to join your work at a career fair, or speak about your work during a chapel service. Speaking at career fairs and chapel services may not seem like an exciting way to subvert the empire, but when Jesus was looking for people to join his movement, he did not wait for them to come to him. Jesus went where the disciples were, inviting them to join him in building the Kingdom. Additional places to find Christian minorities who are dedicated to social justice are: The Hispanic Theological Institute, The Hispanic Summer Program, The Campus Crusade for Christ Impact Conference, or the Asian American Christian Fellowship.

2. Make sure a vital part of community life is reading books on racism, class, and sexism, even if these works are not purely theological in nature. Peggy McIntosh’s article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” is a great place to start and the foundation for many anti-racism training classes and workshops.

3. Do not racialize poverty! In many ways we promote dangerous stereotypes about the nature of poverty by not discussing the diversity of the poor. By focusing on inner-city poverty with no discussion of white poverty or the working-class poor, we simplify the issue and prevent a wider movement to end poverty from developing. New Monastic communities can do just as much good in Appalachia as in the inner city. As my friend Sharaya Tindal so eloquently put it in a previous post, “go where you are called (by God), not where you are drawn.”

4. In the words of Jane Addams: Don‘t forget the women! Much of the literature and preaching coming from the New Monastic movement is dominated by men. Though I am aware that women have been an important part of this movement, from its inception they still are not a major part of translating the message of New Monasticism to the church. We need more women speaking and writing about this movement. Women disproportionately suffer from poverty when compared to men, giving great value to the insights women can bring to this movement.

I offer these suggestions as someone who has visited both New Monastic communities (being warmly welcomed to visit the Rutba House in the summer of 2007), and homeless shelters (as a resident). The dual realities I live in have allowed me to develop a unique perspective. I pray that as the Holy Spirit continues to nudge all of us (especially myself), we will examine the church’s legacy of reform and activism to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Finally, let us keep the liberating love of Christ at the center of all we do.

source: http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=3028

3 comments:

Steve Hayes said...

Why do I get the impression that it is only white people who are interested in new monasticism?

And if that is really so, why is it so?

Father Theodosius - Dayroyo Theodosius said...

Not only, but at least mostly. I have gotten that impression from much of what I have read, from correspondence, and from visits. Several weeks ago I republished an article which said just that. However, it seems that some do not like that suggestions.

We see a similar happen with the counter-culture in the 60's.

Steve, do who have any suggestions as for the reasons?

Father Theodosius - Dayroyo Theodosius said...

By the way, I have a problem with the name new monastics in the first place. Some that i have talked to do not have any idea about what monastics is, never have visited on lived at a monastery. Their only idea may be some thing they read, and that concerns Catholic monasteries, not Orthodox.

They may mention St. Anthony the Great, but do not want to hear anything about him. They seem to quote Dietrich Bonheoffer who wrote something about a new form of monasticism, yet he was never a monk nd from a church where there were no monks. So how can he know anything about it in the first place?

All of this does not mean I think that this movement is out of place. What I do see is people looking to live a Christian life as close to the way Christ and the early Christians did. There is nothing wrong with that.

Orthodox Christmas in January?