Jubilee Ministry Conference Held In Boston
Episcopal News Service. June 8, 1989 [89110]
BOSTON (DPS, June 8) -- Justice for the city was the overriding concerns at the annual conference of the Jubilee Ministry here, April 27-30. The 125 participants went on two field trips "to provide exposure to two critical issues that affect the poor in Boston -- the current crisis in public housing and the issues of community control of development," according to the Rev. Joseph Pelham, executive director of Episcopal City Mission and Jubilee officer for the Diocese of Massachusetts.
Instead of visiting church sites as they have in the past, Jubilee participants looked for "occasions for dialogue with the poor and those who work with them." The Rev. Glenn Chalmers of Episcopal City Mission, instrumental in planning the program, said the field trips were "the essence of the conference." He presided during the visit to South Boston, which produced a "lively debate" around the issue of public housing and neighborhood integrity. During a debate between a city councilor, James Kelly, and Diane Wilkerson, legal counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), "we found ourselves right in the middle of the controversy. It got everybody riled up," Chalmers said. The NAACP has filed suit against the Boston Housing Authority charging discrimination.
Conference participants also visited St. Cyprian's Church for a discussion between city and community representatives on how residents can exercise some control in the face of continuing gentrification of their neighborhoods.
The field trips were used as the basis of theological reflection to set the tone for the conference. The reflection was guided by the Rev. Canon Nan Peete of Atlanta, who told the conference in an opening keynote address, "The Church is not called to be a social service delivery system. We need to transform the system so we are no longer needed. We cannot just dish out a hot meal without challenging a system that uses food to oppress and contribute to the perpetuation of poverty".
Bishop Allen Bartlett, Jr., Diocese of Pennsylvania, said the field trips were "extraordinary" and led to some "authentic revelations" on the basic problems of urban housing and urban planning. Bartlett, who chairs the Jubilee Committee, said Jubilee was more of a movement than an organization and represents "the diversity of social ministry in the Episcopal Church." As Jubilee continues to grow, his committee will be looking for additional ways to expand the training aspect that has always been an important part of the Jubilee Ministry. "It may be possible to place interns on college campuses, for example," Bartlett said. "One thing is clear -- we want to do more with the intern aspect of Jubilee."
Speaking on the conference theme, "Servant Leadership: Planting the Seeds of Hope," Ntsiki Kabane Langford, national Jubilee staff officer, said her 14 years in the United States had taught her an important lesson. "Coming from Soweto, South Africa, a place where the battle against apartheid is fierce, I came to this country and immediately saw that perhaps I hadn't gotten far enough away from injustice. I saw that human need was human need -- whether in Africa or North America, and that my learnings and experience gained from political activities in Soweto were just as applicable here."
Langford spent a dozen years in Boston where she "brought social justice issues to television screens as producer for public affairs programming."
She has spent most of her first six months in the new position listening to "a broad spectrum of people" interested in justice issues. "My understanding is that Jubilee Ministry is called upon to lead the way in interrupting the cycle of poverty through advocacy and empowerment; to establish a vigorous healing and caring Church-wide ministry with the poor and oppressed." During those conversations she said she has discovered a "wide-ranging, lively, and enthusiastic network of enablers who are ready and eager to join in partnership with me to plant the seeds of hope, to move Jubilee forward into its third triennium."
Jubilee was established at the 67th General Convention around what Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning recalled, in a letter read to the conference, "God's decree that the Year of Jubilee demands a time of new beginnings, when the relationships of power and servitude come to an end and all members of society are restored to equality and freedom." He added that "the challenge of Jubilee is to bring a reality to our often talked about program of advocacy."
After what Langford described as a shaky start for the Jubilee Ministry, she thanked the conference participants for participating "with enthusiasm and support" to bring about a significant change. And she reported with obvious pleasure that there are now 101 Jubilee centers in the Episcopal Church, with 69 diocesan Jubilee officers.