Gym and Swim?
Kroc money. There has been much written about it. Kroc Centers - places where the money will be used to establish unique community servces.
My friend Drew recently shared with me some of his incredible work in making the vision of the Kroc Center come to fruition in Boston. He did great work in meticulously preparing a detailed program proposal. That Drew is a smart boy!!!!
I am in the thick of working to ensure the vision of Joan Kroc (by the way I think it was a heavenly vision) is carried out in a place not far from me. I was in a very long meeting today regarding the Kroc gift. Someone said in that meeting "Is this really the blessng of God?" Those of us who heard chuckled a bit. We realized the enormity of our responsibility in being good stewards of the resources provided. We shuddered at the thought of the hard work ahead.
There was lively talk of mission and whether recreation and arts really did fulfill the mission and mandate Jesus gives us to minister to the poor. There is great fear among many of us we could turn gift into places that are purely "gym and swim" places.
Some have gone as far as to indicate the gift may pull us away from the mission of The Salvation Army. These people think that unless we are conducting soup kitchens and providing large amounts of social service, we are not fulfilling the mission of God. I do believe that there is a great tension these days, regarding this subject.
I for one think that even the gym and swim is fulfilling the mission of God, especially if it is available to the poor. Just before his death Arch Bishiop Romero said this, "We know that every effort to improve society ... is an effort that God blesses, that God wants, that God demands of us."
If these places are just gym and swim and improve society do they fulfill the mission of God? I am not sure that you even have to preach in them.
I am thinking they can be life changing and fulfilling the mission of God.
What do you think?
My friend Drew recently shared with me some of his incredible work in making the vision of the Kroc Center come to fruition in Boston. He did great work in meticulously preparing a detailed program proposal. That Drew is a smart boy!!!!
I am in the thick of working to ensure the vision of Joan Kroc (by the way I think it was a heavenly vision) is carried out in a place not far from me. I was in a very long meeting today regarding the Kroc gift. Someone said in that meeting "Is this really the blessng of God?" Those of us who heard chuckled a bit. We realized the enormity of our responsibility in being good stewards of the resources provided. We shuddered at the thought of the hard work ahead.
There was lively talk of mission and whether recreation and arts really did fulfill the mission and mandate Jesus gives us to minister to the poor. There is great fear among many of us we could turn gift into places that are purely "gym and swim" places.
Some have gone as far as to indicate the gift may pull us away from the mission of The Salvation Army. These people think that unless we are conducting soup kitchens and providing large amounts of social service, we are not fulfilling the mission of God. I do believe that there is a great tension these days, regarding this subject.
I for one think that even the gym and swim is fulfilling the mission of God, especially if it is available to the poor. Just before his death Arch Bishiop Romero said this, "We know that every effort to improve society ... is an effort that God blesses, that God wants, that God demands of us."
If these places are just gym and swim and improve society do they fulfill the mission of God? I am not sure that you even have to preach in them.
I am thinking they can be life changing and fulfilling the mission of God.
What do you think?
posted by Larry at 7:49 PM
11 Comments:
"gym and swim" in itself does not make the kind of life changes that Jesus invites us to, but relationship that surrounds "gym and swim" does.
If our mission (part II) is to meet human need in the name of Christ, then how is human need defined? One definition is the cab horse charter - food, shelter, and honest work - but Maslow would expand Booth's thinking to include physiological, safety, love and belonging, status, esteem, respect, self-actualization, and self-transcendence. I was drawn to the Army because of its commitment to the poor and marginalized, and have had a strong commitment to social service ministry throughout my officership. So am I caving in now because of my willingness to develop a Kroc center? Or am I broadening my understanding of what a holistic approach to human development actually involves? Thinking out lout tonight, Larry, just as you are. A favorite quote reminds me:
You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, look at the skies, sing and dance, and write poems and suffer and understand, for all that is life.
Perhaps Joan Kroc, who began her climb to fame and fortune in a cocktail lounge playing the piano, understood more about human life than I've given her credit for.
Will folks know why the Kroc centers exist? That is one concern that these places bring to mind. Yes, we will open them to the poor but why? Will the public know that we are doing this because of our committment first to Christ and then to society? Or will we just become another YMCA? Where is the C? (I worked for the Y, and there is no C anymore.) Do you see where I'm going?
I'm by no means saying Kroc centers are bad. Quite the opposite, I guess I'm playing devil's advocate this morning.
As you know, Larry our Corps (well, your old Corps) has a gymnasium. It has been open to the public for many years. However, most of the people who use it have no idea why we allow them to other than the fact that The Salvation Army is a nice organization. Many have no idea that we are even a church. We recently made the decision to close the gym to outside groups for now while we refocus on our mission. I pray the Kroc centers don't meet this same fate.
You say you don't think we even need "preaching" in the Kroc centers. How then (I know preaching is not the only way to witness) will we show who we are?
Andi,
Maybe one of the problems is that the members of our church rarely, if ever, interacted with the public in the gym.
Natr is right in his assessment about needing bigger Christians.
Wouldn't it be nice if we were less insulated and more outward focused? It is not about refocusing on mission....it is about seeing everything as missional.
I wonder if we saw the renters and "outsiders" as our congregation and not outside groups, actually got to know them, if they would know that we were a church.
Just wondering
Octsamone
interesting thought. no problem with the gospel being presented. the famous quote attributed to st. francis comes into play "preach the gospel at all times; and when necessary, use words." even our founder knew that "preaching" was not the key, but relationship. "soup, soap and salvation" is the sequence. our problem, is that we have precisou few people in our movement who will find a way to befriend those who come in our building. preaching presupposes a biblical worldview is present today. i am not convinced there is in today's world. relationship and community will always win because people need people. the world is our parish!
Does having a wonderful building really attract people?
wthom,
As I said to Andi, it is the people in the building who are important. I do think that in a small way, people can be attracted to a nice well-equipped, well-kept, multi-faceted facility.
Once attracted though, people need to keep them.
Andi,
Did the Corps Officer ever go into the gym while the outside groups used the facility? The Corps has people coming to the building and now it's closed to them. Has the Corps ceased social services so it can refocus it's mission? Frankly, I don't understand the reason.
Larry, those outsiders would of course know who we are if we would spend time to just be there while they are there. My opinion is this, if the Corps Officers would set the example the soldiers would follow. Far too many times Corps Officers have their eyes set on what DHQ can do for us as far as programming is concerned. We want leaders and if we don't have leaders we won't do the stuff. It is as simple as having a gym and a ball and the Corps Officer and you got a program.
Andi,
Go to the gym offer to pray before the group starts and then they will know who we are. Please don't take offence but God has given us this innate ability to draw people by whatever means in The Salvation Army it's up to us to be bold about the mission we have been given.
Oh my...I just thought I was going to ask you a mild question this morning...I've been reading lately not commenting as much. The YMCA in my community is the gym I use for daily exercise, and in the pool, the exercise room, the fitness room, the locker room there are posters and physical reminders about the Christian aspect of life. The Ten Commandments. Specific Bible verses - Love God with all your heart, love your neighbor, In the beginning God created, nothing can separate you from the love of God, for God so loved the worl that He gave his one and only Son - not the regular wall decoration fare. There is a room separate exclusively for prayer and counseling - not used for multi-purposes.
It is not a church but the C is firmly planted within their presentation of themselves. I don't know who steps in and defines the spiritual role staff have, but whether they advertise it to outside donators, they are preaching Christ.
In saying that, I feel that it is important to preach Christ actively, not exclusively passively by posters and encouragement - preach Christ.
"Gym and swim" is a pretty trivial statement to consider the scope of minsitry within reaching families for Christ. And to have organized exercise and cultural activities available, more affordable, to poorer families.
Bigger Christians, outwardly focused, accurate and plain.
My question - I've been having problems linking to different sites, many tries, any suggestions or guidance?
Jessie,
Once again, we must ask ourselves what preaching really is. I happen to think that it is over-rated. It is important. It is not as important as we might think. I think relationships and honest searching for opportunity to share in the pursuit of the holy in community may be the way to reach this generation.
this morning a sermon was preached, and there was spiritual conversation around a shared meal - I wonder what had more impact?
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