Random Acts of Kindness Ideas From the TCL Community!

We tend to think about generosity, thankfulness, and the kind things we can do for others a bit more as seasons change and we head toward the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. But, while many of us have a heart for changing big, systemic things, we also love to hear about things we can easily do in our corners of the universe. So, The Church Lab community is sharing random acts of kindness they like to do or have received! Let us know if you're inspired to try a few of these ideas or some of your own!

Special shout out to TCL community members Joanna Drake, Megan Kees, & Andrea Carroll for contributing some fabulous ideas!

The Church Lab's 2022 Annual Report has arrived!

Please click here to read a digital copy!

TCL Interfaith Dialoguer, Cam Shares in Part 1 of TCL Series: Faith in Times of Tragedy & Struggle

Cam (Qamar) lives in North Austin with his wife and two daughters. Cam works in the Industrial Automation space. He belongs to Ahmadiyya Muslim Community which is a denomination of Muslims who believe in the Messiah Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India. Ahmadiyya Muslims stand to promote inter-faith, inter-ethnicity and international harmony and dialogue in the spirit of "Love for All, Hatred for None".

When it comes to tragedy and suffering, Islam takes a pragmatic approach. It acknowledges that trials and adversity are part of life (Quran 1 chap 2 verse 156: We will surely try you with somewhat of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth and lives and fruits; then give glad tidings to the steadfast) and turns one’s attention towards the Almighty (Quran 1 chap 2 verse 153: Seek Allah's help with steadfastness and Prayer, surely Allah is with the steadfast) and prescribes patience and steadfastness for dealing with such times. One should remember that throughout a person’s life, God Almighty manifests thousands of matters in accord with the wishes of a person and bestows numberless bounties upon him. It would therefore be inequitable on his part that on such occasions when God calls upon him to submit to His will, he should turn away, not pleased with the will of God, and should be critical, or lose faith or go astray 2.

As far as helping others and relieving their suffering, Muslims are spurred to do their part: both in providing temporary assistance & comfort and also in making an effort to change the status quo by removing the underlying causes.

The alms are only for the poor and the needy, and for those employed in connection therewith, and for those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and for the freeing of slaves, and for those in debt, and for the cause of Allah, and for the wayfarer—an ordinance from Allah. And Allah is All-Knowing, Wise.

Quran1 chap 9, verse 60

And give you to the kinsman his due, and to the poor and the wayfarer, and squander not your wealth extravagantly

Quran1 chap 17, verse 27

And in their wealth was a share for one who asked for help and for one who could not.

Quran1 chap 51, verse 20

Quran ties the attainment of righteousness with sacrificing oneself for the sake of others, thus:

Never shall you attain to righteousness unless you spend out of that which you love; 

Quran1 chap 3, verse 93

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has a sister charity organization Humanity First which serves to help humanity in the face of adversity and endeavors to improve living conditions without regard for nationality, race, religion and other qualifications. Its focus areas include:

1. Disaster relief

2. Gift of sight

3. Food security

4. Global health

5. Knowledge for life

6. Water for life

Humanity First’s workers come mainly from the Ahmadiyya community who volunteer their time on an incident-by-incident and also on a periodic basis. 

REFERENCES

1. Quran app

2. Page 78, “The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam” English rendering by Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan of “Islami Usul Ki Philosophy” (Urdu) by Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian. First Urdu edition published in 1905. First English edition published in 1979

TCL's Empowering Experiments Mini-Grant Recipients!

The Church Lab is proud to announce our inaugural mini-grant awards for our Empowering Experiments program! We had strong applicants whose calling, ideas and pursuits gave us reason to celebrate the great work and potential work for the future of faith practice out there. The following are the 2 leaders and the projects receiving this year's awards. We are excited to partner with them, connect them meaningfully with TCL's community, and lift up the great work they are doing!

If you applied and didn't get an award this year, we still hope to lift up your work and hope you will reach out so we can brainstorm just how to do that.

If you did not apply this year, but this sounds like a solid fit for you, we hope you'll apply next year!

Read on to learn about our rockstar mini-grant recipients and the fantastic work they're up to!

Roll for Spirituality: Spiritual Growth, Exploration, and Healing through Tabletop Role-playing Games

Grant Recipient: Ryan Cagle
Roll for Spirituality is an experiment that seeks to cultivate a space for self discovery and spiritual exploration outside the bounds of normative religious institutions and dogma. In this space individuals can safely explore new worlds, beliefs, ideas, face challenges, learn to solve problems, and explore deep truths about themselves, the world, and God through the medium of tabletop role playing games.

Anxiety about the church's future, faith practice, and spirituality abound in the US. However, Ryan Cagle doesn't believe the "death" of the church is a problem to be fixed but an invitation for us and our communities to dream new dreams and launch new experiments in cultivating space for self-discovery and spiritual exploration in our individual and communal lives. Ryan has spent the last decade working in church plants and ministry revitalization across various socioeconomic and political contexts within different church traditions. He has an intense passion for seeing people live into new ways of being and becoming beyond the boundaries of traditional religious institutions.

He found that role-playing games have the wonderful ability to help us explore theological ideas, worlds, and concepts that we may have never thought to explore or can't explore because we lack a safe and affirming environment to do so. "I believe that role-playing games, when done with intention, can leave us deeply transformed in the same way that prayer, meditation, participation in liturgy, and religious rituals can. Like these practices that help us on our journeys of spiritual growth, exploration, and healing, role-playing games can also be used to facilitate such outcomes."

Ryan notes that "quite often, we do not have supportive structures or safe spaces in our lives that allow us to explore our spirituality, beliefs, ideas, and life circumstances. It's difficult to wrestle with our doubts, questions, and curiosities when we feel alone, and this is the problem that Roll For Spirituality seeks to remedy. Regardless of the environment we find ourselves in, spiritual direction shows us that we do not have to go on this journey alone. By using role-playing games alongside the tools of spiritual direction, I hope to create an environment that enables individuals the freedom and safety to participate in deep reflective work and spiritual exploration in fresh ways." The Church Lab loves the creativity and experimental nature of Roll For Spirituality and we’re honored to play a role in supporting it!

Grant Recipient: Rev. Amy Meyer, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Elgin, Texas
Lane 8 Yoga combines yoga and swimming in a fun, team-like atmosphere. Participants will experience a mind-body-spirit approach to health and wellness as well as a creative mixture of cardiovascular exercise, deep stretching, mindfulness, and meditation.

After speaking with the principal of a local elementary school, Rev. Amy Meyer discovered an increasing need for mental health resources for children in the small Texas town of Elgin. Unfortunately, Elgin is limited in resources that are noticeable to the average person. While there are crisis numbers to call for mental health emergencies, there aren’t many options for families who need ongoing care or preventative tools and resources to practice a healthy lifestyle. Rev. Amy & her church believes that God desires for each of God’s children to live life to the full, and this includes access to programs that would benefit physical, spiritual, and mental health. While urgent care and emergency options are essential, it is equally important to offer teaching tools and practices that can help with long-term mental, physical, and spiritual needs.

First Presbyterian Church has incorporated mindfulness, meditation, and yoga into some of their Sunday morning church routines and has found it beneficial. They’re excited to experiment with incorporating similar practices with swimming and anticipate that it will be a successful combination for the participants physically, mentally, and spiritually. They wonder if some participants might be interested in learning more about First Presbyterian Church, the sponsoring church where the coach, Rev. Amy, happens to be the pastor. However, there won’t be any intentional evangelism. And if they find that participants aren’t curious about the church, they’re happy to keep their interactions limited to the pool. Rev. Amy Meyer and First Presbyterian feel this is an important experiment regardless of how it might affect their church.

Rev. Amy adds that “the combination of swimming, meditation, mindfulness, and yoga will be an especially interesting experiment, noting that while swimming, the brain’s blood flow increases. This can potentially enhance the usual benefits of mindfulness and meditation activities that are typically practiced on land.” In addition, Swim Yoga will provide a supportive team-like atmosphere with mindfulness and meditation practices that children can use at home and throughout the school year. It can even be helpful for those managing conditions such as depression and anxiety. The Church Lab is excited about this experiment and excited to help be the springboard for Swim Yoga becoming a yearly summer offering in Elgin!

Wendy Cooper, TCL’s New Board Chair, Shares Her Annual Board Retreat Experience

Wendy Cooper has been a member of the TCL community for many years. She joined the Board of Directors in 2020 and will serve as Board Chair for our 2022-23 year. Wendy lives in Houston and is a compliance and ethics advisor, championing ethical standards and practices in the energy industry.

Last month, The Church Lab Board of Directors met for their annual board retreat. For the first time in three years, many of the Board members were able to meet together in Austin, with others who were not able to be there in person joining online. There were the usual discussions of strategy, vision, budgets, and fundraising, but there were also the fun conversations that happen around dinner that many of us missed during the time of social distancing.

The Board Retreat began with a day of orientation for the new Board members followed by a special Thursday night dialogue. Because I am not able to attend dialogue on a regular basis, I look forward to this night every year when TCL’s dedicated dialoguers graciously agree to meet on a different night to allow the Board members to join. As always, the conversation was open and supportive, allowing everyone to share their thoughts and experiences.

Speaking of sharing, each year at the Retreat, Carrie asks the board members to share a personal story of how TCL’s purpose or practices have resonated in their lives. The story I shared reflected my experience with diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the corporate world. Although always well-intentioned, these programs often fall short of their intended goal of creating environments that feel safe and open to all. Interestingly though, I accidentally discovered a diverse and inclusive community when I visited a Toastmasters meeting.

For those who are not familiar, Toastmasters is an organization that has been around for almost one hundred years where people can join to practice their public speaking skills. The meetings are very regimented with clearly defined roles and expectations. What I came to realize is that the inclusive nature of this group was created because there were no hidden agendas or unspoken rules. When everyone has the same set of instructions, everyone can participate.

Reflecting on this realization, I immediately drew a parallel to The Church Lab and the ground rules that are recited at the beginning of each dialogue. This simple exercise ensures that whether it is someone’s first dialogue or their fiftieth, everyone starts on the same page. And with this, TCL is able to create a level of inclusivity that is hard to find elsewhere.

The Church Lab’s unique way of creating open spaces while simultaneously bridging divides is what draws people not just from Austin, but other parts of Texas, California, and Washington DC to serve on its Board of Directors. Board members know how valuable TCL’s work is to individuals and faith communities of all kinds. We believe deeply in the mission of TCL and have set goals for ourselves and the organization that will keep it moving forward and growing into the future.

TCL Invites You to Apply for the Empowering Experiments Grant!

The Church Lab is delighted to introduce Empowered Experiments (EE), our granting program in which we seek to empower established or aspiring non-traditional faith leaders in a ministry project with which they wish to experiment!

Applications are open now! Application materials, which can be found below, should be sent to help@thechurchlab.org by or before August 31, 2022.

Please CLICK HERE to access application instructions. Thank you!

An Inter-Faith Friendly Prayer in Response to the Uvalde Shooting, from Pastor Carrie

photo credit: Eyasu Etsub

Kyrie Eleison.

God, we have no sufficient words.

Yet we lift up the community of Robb Elementary in Uvalde here in Texas. We lift up all the precious children, the brave teachers and the grandmother whose lives have been robbed, dear God. We mourn with broken hearts that which should not be. This should not be. We beg that you bring support to surround and envelop every family member, every parent, every Robb Elementary teacher and school employee and volunteer, every loved one of those who have passed, who are enduring a day beyond comprehension.

We pray fervently for the healing of those who are in the hospital right now, fighting for their lives in the aftermath of this tragedy.

God we cry out for the brokenness, we mourn the light that went out in the soul who found himself causing this destruction.

God, we ask that You would provide Peace which surpasses understanding, consistent comfort, to the children and staff who have lived through this day and who will forever be affected by this experience. We ask you for healing. For connection. For resilience. May we hold hope for them when they need it, both now and many years into the future.

God, we ask that You make Your presence known to the families, to the loved ones of those affected directly by this day. Usher them to a place of connection as a community. Bring evidence of Your care into their midst, as they both process their trauma around this event, and in turn care for others they love who have primary trauma as well.

We ask that You give the baseline necessary to emergency workers, to medical staff, to therapists, counselors, pastors and any helper who might be called to walk with those in suffering now and into the future in the Uvalde community. Give them the strength, the resolve, the energy, the opportunities for rest and resilience from which to pour into others.

In the midst of this, loving God, we ask that those who have faced all too many tragedies involving public violence, particularly in schools like Sandy Hook or Columbine, might be met by others with immense tenderness today.

And of course, dear God, we ask that you'd give us hearts of enduring compassion for those who have faced unspeakable suffering of this nature. Whether we feel like bystanders, or are veteran or aspiring activists, or find ourselves unsure of how to respond, I implore you would grant us resolve and a spirit of response in the best ways we might muster as a means of advocacy for our neighbors across our nation impacted by senseless violence.

Amen.

Rev. Carrie Offers a Prayer in the Wake of Continued Hate Crimes & Mass Shootings

photo by Jozsef Szabo

Loving God,

We pray for the loved ones of those who were unjustly and brutally murdered in Buffalo. We pray for their ability to sleep at night. We pray for their ability to experience peace, which in this case, must surpass all understanding. We pray for their grief process. May Your love cover them, protect them, comfort them without ceasing in days, weeks, months and years to come. These are children, grandchildren, spouses and siblings, best friends whose lives have been cut short by hate. May the lens of eternity provide hope to an unjustifiable, irreparable situation in our earthly midst.

We pray for the Black community of Buffalo, for their sense of safety and, I'm grieved to need to ask, also for their actual safety.

We lift up the communities of color across the nation, as we receive this news of a shooter in Buffalo targeting our Black neighbors, reaching an anniversary of the El Paso shootings which targeted our Hispanic neighbors and grieving a shooting of Taiwanese neighbors in a church in Laguna Woods, just on the heels of another anti-Asian shooting at a Korean-run hair salon in Dallas.

In the last 40 years, statistics show us that an easy, overwhelming majority of mass shooters are white neighbors. I'm so ashamed that this is true, especially in reflecting on how often mass shootings are clear hate crimes against people of U.S. minority races or ethnicities, if not some other distinguishing factor that is not an actual burden to anyone, and is actually instead a gift to the world!

May those who need convicting of racial hate crimes and mass shootings as a problem to deal with, by all means, be very convicted. May they seek very seriously the Lord's help in taking action to be part of a solution which upholds the safety of all of God's children, all of our neighbors, all of our sisters and brothers.

May my own convictions around this remain steadfast; may I stay true to this commitment myself, as I ask others to marry their actions and words to this cause, with God's help.
May my siblings of many faith traditions, those who dialogue with me at The Church Lab, unite in lifting up those so hurt and broken by this injustice, and may we be a space for both grief and conviction expressed in our conversations to then find its way into cooperative actions which seek justice, love mercy and help us walk humbly with our higher powers, as well as walk with all our neighbors, in tireless pursuit of jubilant equity and love.

Amen.

Meet TCL's New Pastoral Assistant!

Hi! I'm Andrea, TCL's new Pastoral Assistant. Just in case you haven't met me yet, here are a few things about me:

In 2017, I joined the TCL interfaith dialogue community and Chortle, the TCL discipleship group for various Christian-ish folks. I love Jesus, and I love people! I'm also super clumsy about it, there are nuances, and I'm figuring out my relationship with the Church as an institution. When self-identifying our traditions before dialogues, one of my fellow dialoguers & Chortle friends loves it when I get a little flustered and blurt out, "Uhh…I just kick it with Jesus," so Hi! My name is Andrea, and I kick it with Jesus!

I also nerd out about breaking stereotypes and learning about various people's perspectives & traditions, how they navigate life, and what is meaningful to them. The ripple effect of understanding and connection this creates is so incredible. It's something that I truly believe makes this world a better place where we aren't scared of our differences but acknowledge and sometimes even celebrate them, which helps us progress together in times of disagreement or when repair and healing are needed. So naturally, The Church Lab's experimental ministry of interfaith dialogue community felt like a good fit. I'm honored to participate in and belong to this community that has celebrated wins with me and supported me in deep times of need. I'm eternally grateful for them!

In addition to Chortle and dialogue, I've had opportunities to support TCL's mission through our annual giving event, hurricane relief efforts, volunteering with TCL at Community First! Village, and attending TCL's workshops and facilitator training. It feels extra special getting to participate in TCL events like our interfaith-friendly labyrinth walks, being invited to Iftar dinners during Ramadan with our Ahmadiyya Muslim friends, and meeting new friends at a variety of faith communities like the Sikh gurdwara and Buddhist temple.

Before getting more involved with TCL, I worked in the nonprofit field for years, and beginning in 2019, I was honored to join the TCL Board of Directors and serve as the Fundraising Chair. It generally involves being a big ol' fundraising cheerleader for the Board because, really, who likes fundraising (if you do and dig TCL, please talk to me, you beautiful unicorn!). Most recently, I filled in with logistics at TCL to help make Rev. Carrie's sabbatical possible. I'm now beginning to settle into my new role as TCL's Pastoral Assistant, which means I dream a little more about TCL's future with Rev. Carrie. I'm also learning TCL's bookkeeping system from the fabulous Natalie Traylor, whom I'm convinced is secretly Wonder Woman, as she's determined, diligent, and a nurturing guide in all things TCL bookkeeping.

When I'm not participating in TCL activities, you can find me in the professional music world and involved in various lanes of activism. I'm a multi-instrumentalist musician with decades of live performance, recording, and touring experience and a Bachelor of Science in Music Performance. I'm also passionate about voting and participating in democracy! I'm a Volunteer Deputy Registrar, a member of the League of Women Voters- Austin Area, and I volunteer with political campaigns and causes. You can also find me out and about supporting fellow musicians at live shows, geeking out about comic books and TV shows (including all things Star Trek, anything Jim Henson, and I'm currently excited about the upcoming season of Dr. Who). I like swimming, conversations (not small talk), am always up for a friendly game of pool or trivia, and have developed a bit of a plant collecting habit. If my apartment got just a bit more sunlight, I’d probably get so many plants it would look like a jungle! My most recent favorites are the Willie Nelson chia pet that my spouse gifted me and Queen LaTreefa, the Pachira Aquatica. To sum it up, I'm a plant hoarding, kinda nerdy, political, pro-musician that does a lot of nonprofit work, loves Jesus, loves people, and is excited to be a part of The Church Lab community! Nice to meet you!

TCL's Spring 2022 Recipe Stories!

Photo by Jason Jarrach

As we know, Spring holds some joyous occasions and sacred practices in our various traditions like: Ostara, Ramadan, Pesach, Holy week (Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday & Resurrection Sunday, the latter of which is also known as Easter), Ridván, Beltane and more. During these observances, families & faith communities may gather at some point and share a special meal. These meals enable us to stay connected to one another and our traditions, and oftentimes, there are traditional dishes or symbolic foods to be served during these special times that hold significance. We reached out to The Church Lab interfaith dialogue community to find out some of their favorite dishes for this time of year! Sharing some of our favorite foods lets us get a glimpse into people’s history and their culture, and allows us to connect in authentic ways. We’re excited to share some of these Spring favorites from the TCL community!

Easter Candy & Fatherly Love

Eileen is one of our Christian dialoguers in the TCL interfaith community and shares about a special treat that her father would lovingly share with his daughters around Easter. “My family does not have any special foods for Easter except for Whopper Eggs and Robin Eggs, haha! My dad would buy them every Easter and would share his stash with my sisters and I. We loved them and looked forward to them every year! Whopper and Robin Eggs only come around once a year so they are a special treat. The fact that my dad was generous with his sweets is also a fond memory.”

When asked about favorite traditions for this time of year in her worshiping community and corresponding sacred texts, Eileen shares, “I love going to church on Easter. I dress very nicely on Easter and sing joyful worship songs about Jesus rising from the dead and defeating death. I also love all the glorious flowers at church during Easter! At my planting church, we would have a BBQ right after church and everyone was invited. Easter is one of my most favorite days of the year because it is so glorious in what it symbolizes to me. If my mom is not working, we might go out to eat for lunch or have a nice meal at home. My grandparents just moved to the greater Austin area, so I am hoping we get to do some Easter traditions with them.”

Eileen also shared some of her favorite Bible Verses about Easter: Matthew 27: 50-54 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Isaiah 53:5 "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."

Mark 16:6-7 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’"

Ramaddan Iftar & Pakoras

Bushra Zafar, a beloved Ahmadiyya Muslim dialoguer in the TCL interfaith community shares her favorite go-to dish to break the fast during Ramadan!

Photo by Nagi on RecipeTinEats

If you wake up in the middle of the night and see a house all lit up don’t be alarmed, it’s probably a Muslim household up at pre-dawn to start their fast. The Muslim fast requires a pre-dawn meal and then the whole day to be spent in the remembrance of God Almighty and recitation of the Quran to increase our understanding of our purpose on this Earth. The fast is broken at sunset. This is a general guideline, but Islam being a religion of ease there are exceptions to the rules where applicable. For example, those who are sick or women who are pregnant or breastfeeding are exempted from the requirement to fast. Travelers are also exempted. However, if they are staying at a place for longer than a few days, and are able to fast then they should do so. If one misses the fast for any reason, they are supposed to compensate by feeding a person, and also completing the missed amount at another time in the year before next Ramadan. As much as people understand fasting as a ritual of starving and feeding, it is much more than just starving our bodies for a time and then filling it with copious amounts of fried stuff. It is also about community and charity and self-control not just on hunger, but also on anger. As I have grown older, I have come to associate this time with a chance to reset the record so to speak in your life. It is a time to come clean in front of God and His creation. Finding balance between the two because it is in that balance that life is worth living.

“O ye who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become righteous.” (Quran 2-184)

The root word “Ramad” in the name “Ramadan” means burning. It alludes to the human condition during fasting in this month which causes heat and burning due to thirst; worship and devotion in this month burns away the traces of sin in man, thus producing in the heart of man the necessary warmth of love for his Creator and compassion for his fellow beings.

I remember as a child as we all sat around the table during morning “Sehr” time and how as soon as we’d hear the Muezzin start the call to prayer, we would hurriedly finish our meal and get the last drink of water just as the last words were uttered. Then at sunset again I would be tasked with standing outside (perhaps because I was a fast runner) so that as soon as I hear the Muezzin turn on his microphone and say Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest) even if it was a faint voice coming from a distant mosque to run screaming, “break the fast! break the fast!” As a kid I was not supposed to fast so my mom seeing how much I also wanted to partake in this ritual would tell us that as kids you can keep 2 fasts in a day, and would feed us lunch in the middle; we called it “chirri roza” meaning small fast.

Breaking the fast or Iftar with a date was a practice of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) and Muslims try to emulate his actions by doing the same. In South Asia another staple for Iftar time is what is known as “pakora” or a fried gram flour dumpling. In our own household any day pakoras are made is a day of much celebration. It is my go-to on days I find myself out of menu options or will to cook a more time-consuming dish. My recipe for pakoras is below, but there are many items that are optional and a simpler dumpling can be had if anyone so chooses.

Ingredients:

Gram flour 1cup (sifted)

Salt to taste (3/4 to 1 tsp)

Red pepper powder (1/2 tsp for mild 3/4 to 1 tsp for hot)

Cumin seeds (2 tsp)

Baking soda (1 or 2 pinch)

(This is all you need for a simple dumpling. Mix this in water to make smooth batter but not very runny and deep-frying small spoonful’s in oil pre-heated at medium heat)

Onion 1/2 finely chopped

Potatoes 1 or 2 depending on size, again cut in very fine fries shape

Spinach finely chopped 1 or 2 cups (Can use cilantro to add some green if out of spinach)

Green chilies 2 to 3 chopped (optional)

Dried pomegranate seeds 15 to 20 (optional)

Directions:

Mix the batter with just the dry ingredients and water before adding onions, potatoes and spinach.

Photo by Bushra Zafar

The thicker the batter the better, as onions and potatoes will bring moisture to it also.

Photo by Bushra Zafar

Once all of these ingredients are mixed up you will fry spoonful’s of this batter in preheated oil, turning over from time to time until golden brown all around. Don’t worry if each dumpling comes out looking differently, we love diversity :)

The Church Lab 2022: Growing at the Heart of Who We Are

photo by Nicola Fioravanti

Between 2013 and 2016, TCL launched and formed its identity in mission and action. We tried different spiritual-growth experiments in different formats, as we still do, yet we also settled into a rhythm of what we now recognize as our dialogue community, Chortle (discipleship), mission and worship. We gained 501(c)3 status and everything!

Between 2016 and 2018, TCL experienced further stabilization, growth in the depth and breadth of our experiments as well as the time we were able to dedicate to the ministry. A part-time pastoral assistant came on to help with bookkeeping and communications.

In 2019, we began to use lessons gleaned from our work and share with other faith leaders and communities.

Between 2020-2021, we experienced growth in unforeseen ways, helping 11 faith communities across the state to reimagine service during the pandemic, in addition to working with 2 subscribing Lab Partner pastors and various other faith communities and leaders along the way. We wrote a curriculum, hired and trained a team of pastoral facilitators. The pastoral assistant’s role evolved into creatively nurturing and connecting our community, from dialoguers to donors. He also developed the social justice block to our newsletter and evolved our blog content to include a wider array of topics and perspectives related to our mission. We pivoted and pivoted and pivoted in response to pandemic needs. Our board grew significantly more active. We had our first 3 interns - each from a different seminary, and each harnessed their own gifts to perpetuate our mission while learning from it as well. Carrie worked to grow into expanded administrative responsibilities and to foster a work culture that aligns with TCL’s mission, and she did so with 7+ contractors in addition to interns.

And now here we are in 2022. Phew! And what shall this year be all about?

If 2020-21 were about pivoting to the pandemic and flexing to catch up to our operational and project-based growth,

2022 is about nurturing the heart of our mission,

further smoothing out a healthy administrative framework so as to make sure central attention stays and deepens in the realm of our dialogue community, discipleship, pastoral care, worship and mission.

It is about resourcefully making sure Carrie’s and our contractors’ time management are testaments to our mission by prioritizing spiritual groundedness, sincerity of heart in our ministry and nurturing spaces for the on-the-frontier creativity into which our mission compels us.

We often get asked questions about what growth means for TCL. This word - “growth” - in ministry has for too long implied growth in numbers. While TCL is deeply grateful to have recently been experiencing this type of growth in our own grassroots way, the heart of our mission calls for growth to be defined by depth and authenticity. Furthermore, we are called to evolution through continuous learning, experimentation, curiosity around spiritual growth, by tinkering with operational sustainability perpetuating this type of growth-by-depth mission instead of holding it hostage like some traditional models threaten these days (e.g., increased attendance or death: eek!). Then it means sharing with our neighbors what these less-paved or unpaved paths have taught us that might also help them with their missions.

At times this involves scaling up to involve more people, though simply as a strategic byproduct of the central mode of growth: go deep, and sincerely. We do of course hope we will continue to invite in more people to the work of our mission, but quantity is not a metric we are worried with, whether up or down or sideways. That is because we do not ever wish to find ourselves drifting our mission to a place where people become numbers or in which growth first means a quantity over the heart of our mission: innovative paths to spiritual growth. This is especially because we recognize spiritual growth happens through transformative experiences, which we believe are most impactfully fostered through highly relational, ongoing, small group settings, whether for dialoguers or faith leaders or anyone else.

It is with all this in mind that our 2022 metrics and goals center on what for years we have framed our annual silent vision retreat by: WMACS. That is to say, with our thoughts and actions both, we will make decisions by asking if a particular action will perpetuate and/or make our mission Whole-hearted, Mission-centric, Action-oriented, Creative and Spirit-led.

This commits our ministry to continued flexibility by our very DNA, allowing God to unfold our various next steps by pressing our attention most centrally on earnestly serving our mission on any given scale, with all our hearts, with trust in God’s guidance.

I can’t wait to discover with you where the Spirit leads this year!

Thanks be to God for our TCL community and all we are learning together, for the ways we get to both create change and find ourselves changed by God and by one another.

-Pastor Carrie

Sharing Reflections & Prayers from TCL's Interfaith Vigil for Ukraine

photo by Tina Hartung

In light of events in Ukraine which affect our world and each of us in different ways, members of The Church Lab’s interfaith dialogue community gathered for an informal time of inter-religious vigil, bringing prayers, meditations, Scripture, poems, and whatever we were moved to lift up during this time. With permission, TCL is sharing a few of the words offered up from members of our interfaith community to further your own reflections and prayers.  

Shehechiyanu (שֶׁהֶחֱיָֽינוּ), a meditation on this moment, recited by one of our dialoguers with a Jewish background:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה, אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁהֶחֱיָֽינוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמָן הַזֶּה

Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Haolam, shehechiyanu, v’kiy’manu, v’higianu lazman hazeh.

Blessed are You Eternal Spirit who has given us life, sustained us and allowed us to arrive in this moment.

A prayer shared from one of our Bahá'í dialoguers:

    O Thou Provider! The dearest wish of this servant of Thy Threshold is to behold the friends of East and West in close embrace; to see all the members of human society gathered with love in a single great assemblage, even as individual drops of water collected in one mighty sea; to behold them all as birds in one garden of roses, as pearls of one ocean, as leaves of one tree, as rays of one sun.

    Thou art the Mighty, the Powerful, and Thou art the God of strength, the Omnipotent, the All-Seeing.

—‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Our Pagan dialoguer shares a portion of a prayer from the author, teacher & speaker, Mat Auryn:

“I call to Mighty Hekate,

She of Many Names and Many Faces

She whom Zeus son of Kronos honors above all

She who is the saffron-veiled keyholder,

She who holds Kronos’ chains,

She who wears his crown, and his scepter

She who is the Anima Mundi, the World Soul

She who is Pammetor, Mother of All

She who is Dadouchos,

whose torches have the power to slay

the very Giants and Titans themselves

She who is Adamantaea,

The Unconquerable One

She who is Damnodamia,

The Subduer of Subduers

She who is Pasimedeonsa, The All-Protecting

She who is Soteira, the Savioress

Lend your protection and safety

to the people of Ukraine”

Our dialoguer identifying as a Jesus follower shared this timely prayer for Lent in relation to Ukraine, and current events from the author of This Here Flesh & creator of @blackliturgies, Cole Arthur Riley:

"Lent is the forty-day liturgical season that embodies a longing for liberation as well as a commitment to bear witness to the suffering of the world. In many Christian traditions, Lent is a season to choose a desire or practice to give up, as a kind of sacrifice. But we can also consider taking up a new practice. What are practices we can commit to in solidarity with those suffering? How will we bear witness to the dust? Lent is about existing in the pain of the world, not rushing past it toward some kind of spiritual toxic positivity. There's a heaviness in the air. I suspect you feel it too. In Lent, we are reminded we are free to say so. Free to grieve. Come, let us journey together."

A breath prayer

INHALE:

I won't rush from grief.

EXHALE:

I make space for the ashes. 

One of our dialoguers from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community shares this sincere prayer of the Promised Messiah Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian.

The Terrible, Magical "I Don't Know."

Photo by Jan Kopřiva

Rev. Carrie Graham is the founding pastor of The Church Lab.

"I don't know."

This must be one of the most valuable phrases in the English language. Or any language.

For many, including myself, this phrase connotes humility. It can be a nod to God's control or sovereignty. In some cases, "I don't know" can be a way of leaning into our faith commitment, and all that may be bigger or wiser than ourselves. 

However, for good reason, 2022 may not feel like a year in which cozying up to the phrase "I don't know" feels nice in any way. 

Have we not suffered through enough explicit uncertainty in our lives?

Why would the phrase "I don't know" be celebrated, when it seems this phrase has been held over our heads for 2 years and counting?

There is a harsh reality to the hardship that constant detours and pivoting have brought us, and the callousness it seems to show around our own exhaustion around it. 

Yet there is another kind of "I don't know." It's the "I don't know" of dreaming. It's the "I don't know" that answers the question, "What shall I do today?" after an enduring season of hardship, whether in illness or captivity or a job whose routine is so seared in the back of your brain, you'd give your right arm to get rid of structure for a moment and say, "I don't know what the day holds." There's the magical freedom that "I don't know" can carry.

Both personally and professionally, this is the time of year when I uphold traditions of reflection and vision for what's next. I take time to pray and listen to how God might be guiding TCL to focus on its mission in the coming year. I create images and metaphors and share them on this blog and with my board. (Last year it was a ship whose parts were all labeled with different aspects of who we are and how we were focusing on our vision for 2021.)  I make decisions based on those focal points along the way. It checks all my boxes of wishing to be spiritually grounded and super productive at the same time. I like to match it with our 1, 3, 5, and 10-year plans, which we review annually. Our board is forming a Strategic Plan right now; it would be satisfying to match it to that work as well. It is all very tidy work.

But we know that spiritual work does not always fit into our boxes, and if it does, we should be wary of who we have made God.

This week, when it came time to do that aforementioned prayerful work of discernment for the year, one immediate certainty came up, perhaps ironically: 

I don't know.

I do know many things. I know TCL's mission. I know TCL is exploring innovative paths to spiritual maturity, helping the Church find her future. I know that we expanded to full-time work two years ago, as a pandemic began, as we are going strong in the difference we wish to make in this world, and in accordance with the way we believe God is guiding us to do so. I know this is a steady force guiding us into and through 2022. I'm so grateful.

I know our activities and community is strong: our dialogues, Chortle, the social or worshipful or missional experiments we lace into our community offerings along the way, our penpals, our internships, our board, our donors, our work helping faith communities in the state of Texas, our work with supporting pastors and helping them innovate, and still more beyond this. I am amazed at the caliber of people in our orbit, through these activities.

I know there are good things ahead. I know TCL's community is tight, strong, integrity-filled, connected. I know TCL people are peacemakers, bridge-builders, life-long learners. We are risk-takers. We are faith-filled in a variety of ways, and we are educated by learning from one another's faith commitments and practice. We have grown to be able to share our experimental lessons with faith communities far beyond our own. 

I know I am beyond grateful for this community.

Thanks be to God.

Finally, I know that I am about to embark on a long-awaited Sabbatical for 6 weeks, in which I will engage in intentional spiritual reflection throughout. 

With this in mind, I say in the best of terms, I do not know. 

I do not know what I will learn from God or about myself or a 2022 vision for TCL while I am spending this intentional spiritual time away, beginning at the end of next week, which is still in our very beginnings of the year. I do not know how the world may look different after breathing in some fresh air for a bit. I am excited to find out. I am grateful for being afforded the time to do so, so that I might serve and lead with a whole heart and a clear mind. What a gift indeed to be able to honor my spiritual journey this way, and to know that it will benefit TCL greatly.

And so it is with joy and anticipation that I share with you, instead of a super official and unique-to-2022 vision on this particular January: While I know the steadiness of who we are and that we are carrying that strongly into 2022, I do not yet know the focal point or image of the year. It seems clear to me now that presuming to establish that focal point just before, rather than just after, a Sabbatical, would be more myopic than what I hope to give TCL's 2022.

As such, I say proudly here in January, I do not know. 

I am excited to find out more about the specific contours of this year for TCL, as I embark on my first mini-Sabbatical for 6 weeks. 

I am excited to come back and share whatever degrees of mysteries or clarity I encounter during this time. I am excited to share about the unexpected adventures that will come up, which I would not know to write about here. 

I do pray they relate to safe and smooth experiences, and appreciate those prayers and thoughts from you, as you're able.

I am very excited for the ways this will more meaningfully shape TCL's 2022 than what my pre-Sabbatical perspective might stretch to suppose in this here and now. 

I am beyond excited for how our TCL community will continue to thrive, both during and beyond my Sabbatical, and I can't wait to serve y'all in our enduring mission, along with specific focal points that may surface during and beyond my Sabbatical for this 2022.

May the mysteries already presented to us in 2022 not all be weighty with the pandemic and detours. For the burdens that reside here for us anyway, may we continue to be there for one another, to always bear the harsher uncertainties together. May we lift one another up and hold hope on behalf of one another if we take turns being weary.

May you, too, find yourself celebrating uncertainties that bring you a sense of freedom and allow you to dream, allow you to encounter your faith with fresh eyes and an increasingly whole heart, as we journey alongside one another each step of the way. I am certain this is my prayer for each of you, and for our community, as we venture into this new year.

With gratitude and anticipation of God's work…and more to share in March!

Carrie

OLLIE!

Ollie, who has been working with TCL for a few years -important ones!- has made it possible for us to deepen and widen our mission here at TCL. At first, Ollie took on tasks like bookkeeping, blog curating, and communicating messages I wanted expressed in our weekly mailchimp. Even when Ollie met challenges, or even just did not prefer to do the tasks before him, he persisted. He found ways to be resilient. He gathered new tools; he got resourceful. These characteristics are the mark of the kind of faith leaders we need in this era of change in and around our religious institutions. People who believe in a mission and will open themselves up for discomfort and growth in service to something they believe serves God and all our neighbors. 

Over time, Ollie invented our wonderful social justice block. He honed his interview skills as he found his rhythm with blog curation. Ollie shifted from a visitor at dialogues to a vital participant in our community. He built friendships and bridges he didn't expect, and that made our community thrive all the more. In the last couple of years, Ollie's contribution to community care has been paramount for all of us. His pastoral and editorial skills both have helped TCL meet this challenging pandemic season, harnessing our experimental nature to care creatively, undeterred by challenges which might invite us to sink. Ollie knew TCL could instead rise to the occasion, and he contributed with that conviction at heart. We have all benefited from this in TCL's community, directly and otherwise. 

Most tender to my heart is that before Ollie joined TCL's work, I mostly toiled alone as I tried to grow our mission. Ollie has become beloved to our community, and in addition to being beloved to me, he is my right hand. He is my teammate on an absolutely wild journey. 

There are many aspects of who Ollie is that made it possible for me to trust him so implicitly with TCL's mission in his work and presence with us. He is enjoyable to be around; he is heartfelt and sincere in how he navigates the world. He is insightful and open-minded. He is compassionate and a lifelong learner, even when it is difficult to stretch into compassion and empathy of the diverse perspectives we embrace here. Most precious to me in a work companion has been and continues to be his integrity. Ollie is committed to living a life of integrity, and that has allowed me to both fully trust Ollie's work and freely enjoy Ollie's good -and fun!- company. Ollie integrates his wisdom and faith into all aspects of life, professional and personal; he stands as an example of someone to never take for granted, especially as a friend and neighbor.

Ollie is not saying goodbye to TCL; he is still an active part of our community. But his role with TCL on a weekly basis is changing, and that is why we are commemorating with thanks and farewells to his role as we have known it. Three years may not seem like much to some, but when it changes the way an organization can move and breathe in this world, every one of those days counts big. 

Thank you for each and every one of those days, Ollie. I cannot wait to do more dialoguing and facilitating with you, to share your gifts with our community in new ways and to continue to enjoy your good company, and to know I'll be a better person because of you in our lives, in my life. 

With immense gratitude,

Carrie

Off We Go

Hello Dear Friends,

Three and a half years ago, I was graduating from seminary without a church job to start. My denomination and I had decided together that there wasn’t a place for non-traditional ministry within my conference, despite my clear call to just that. The resources, the structures, the pathways, the mentors: all the support was geared to traditional parish ministry. I’m called to pastoral work, but I’m not called to a parish.

And when I look around, it seems that the ‘parish’ model for church is crumbling in front of us. Although I think the reasons why are good ones, the reality is that unless we actively imagine and road-test new models, we won’t have anything to replace it with, no matter why or how fast it happens. So how lucky I was that I happened to go out for fried chicken with my friend Carrie Graham. And how lucky it was that she and the board of directors of The Church Lab had just decided they were ready to hire on some part-time help. And how lucky it was that TCL’s goals and offerings aligned with exactly what I thought I needed to learn. Or maybe it wasn’t luck. Maybe it was God’s providence.

Here, three and a half years later, the role I have with TCL is about to make a big shift. I’ve learned, as Carrie says, ‘how the sausage is made’ when it comes to non-traditional ministry. That is to say, I’ve learned about the demand for technology and the need for flexibility and the need to raise enough money each December to keep the doors open starting in January. I’ve learned how to create a healthy, dynamic, reliable culture; one wherein trust is paramount, boundaries are respected, and genuine friendships are built. I’ve learned pastoral care and worship leadership, how to integrate social justice, and how to use what felt like a million online platforms! I was offered the opportunity to grow myself and my leadership capacity as the organization also grew exponentially.

Starting in 2022, I’ll move from being Carrie’s pastoral assistant to being someone she can call on to step in and lead dialogue or write a blog when she needs to. I’ll also move into a consulting role, one I’ve been nurtured and prepared for all along. I’ll use the creativity, flexibility, imagination, road-testing, and knowledge I’ve gained to innovate spiritual growth in those who participate with us and to help the church I love find her future. Hopefully, as the old models deteriorate, something we have yet to imagine will emerge. Something built on true bridge-building; something flexible and stronger for being so. I hope I can be a part of that.

I’ll still be around TCL. TheChurch Lab is in my heart, especially since I know how the sausage is made. I’ll be sharing my resources so that the doors will continue to open each January. I’ll be attending dialogue every other Monday as often as my new job will allow. And I’ll continue to do my best to support all those still deeply inside as they carry TCL to whatever its next level is.

Thank you to Carrie, to this year’s shoulder-to-the-grindstone BOD, to all the people I dialogue with (whom I love), and to all TCL’s financial and prayer supporters. We’re all making it happen. I couldn’t be more grateful for the last three and a half years and to God for making it happen.

Blessings,

Ollie

The Church Lab on Social Media!

The Church Lab has a renewed presence on popular social media platforms these days.

We would love for you to join, friend, and follow us to keep up with everything we have going on!

The Work and Impact of The Church Lab

The Church Lab’s mission is exploring innovative paths to spiritual maturity, helping the Church find her future. This statement accurately reflects all we do and gives those of us internally the point of light upon which to keep our ideas centered. Those new to the idea of TCL regularly ask what that means, exactly. What are the specific activities we create and engage in to further spiritual development in all people and God’s work in the Church itself?

Dash Kees, in their capacity as our 2020-21 intern, created a quick visual site that answers those questions for those of you new to our organization, as well as those of you who have been around a while but may not realize the breadth of our reach or the ways we have grown. The last three years have shown not only the need for our work, but the capacity our organization has to adapt and innovate when conditions both demand and allow. In response to the pandemic, an ice storm, numerous natural and world disasters, the burdens placed on our collective spiritual psyches, and all of our financial supporters, The Church Lab has had many invitations to rise to the needs of the occasion. We are poised and ready to respond in new and creative ways as we all move into 2022 and beyond.

Please peruse Dash’s cool online cards. Read the testimonials below. And get ready to join TCL in creating spiritual lives and faith communities equipped to meet all that awaits us.

TCL Testimonials

Rev. Rob Mueller, Divine Redeemer Presbyterian Church:

“The Church Lab brings to my life as a pastor an incredible richness in understanding how to converse with people of varying viewpoints, how to create the kind of space within which I can be honest and straightforward, I can be vulnerable, and I can take risks. I can take risks in ideas; I can take risks in sharing my own vulnerabilities with colleagues in ways that are just not simply possible in the normal day-to-day operations as a pastor. The Church Lab has created a brave space for me and has helped me learn how to create a brave space for my congregants and for my friends and colleagues in ministry. Without brave space we cannot completely unfold ourselves into the people that God calls us to be.”

Bedxeli Amaya, atheist dialoguer from Puebla City, Mexico:

“When [Carrie and I ] met we started talking about atheism. When [she] said atheists were also welcome, I said, “Really? So, I need to be there.” When we spoke on the subject of faith and spirituality, I felt [Carrie] could understand. It was the first time a person of faith was so open to hear me, to accept and try to understand all of what I thought about religion.”

Rev. Amy Meyer, First Presbyterian Church, Elgin:

“I’ve had opportunities to be in dialogue with people who I would otherwise have never met, to have even deeper relationships with people who I would otherwise have never known. This has been a time over the past years that I have been able to plug in creatively, to brainstorm with other creative people, and to come up with ideas that I would have never thought of on my own. The Church Lab has had a tremendous impact on me as a leader and as an individual.”

Eileen Drake, conservative Christian and long-term dialoguer:

“I have truly benefited from interfaith dialogue and Carrie's facilitation. I used to be debative when I talked with people about things I felt strongly about. Now, because of my interfaith dialogue experience, I am able to listen with compassion and share with others without a "me against them" mentality. It has been refreshing to be in a space where everyone respects each other and cares for one another. This speaks to the "honoring and respecting each individual" culture Carrie creates. My fellow dialoguers have become my friends and it is awesome to be part of each other's lives. ❤”

Qamar Zafar, Ahmadiyya Muslim dialogue participant:

“I keep coming back because I feel there is still more learning to be done. There have been changes in my communication at work, with my family, and with strangers. I appreciate the moments in dialogue when I express a thought or feeling and the follow-up questions from others indicate that what I said was heard and made an impact. Those are my favorite dialogue moments.”

Jonathan Freeman of 1st Presbyterian Church Austin, Reimagining Service participant and Pastoral Resident:

I have nothing but deep appreciation and admiration for what The Church Lab is doing. As someone who happens to have death and resurrection at the crux of my faith, I believe that constant discernment around entirely new paths for discipleship is a vital and undervalued aspect of our calling. In many undeniable and even necessary ways, the Church is indeed dying right now. But luckily, The Church Lab is engaged in the loving and faithful work of resurrection.

Curtis Doss, a practitioner of the Baha’i tradition and participant in dialogues:

“We’re all learning and we’re sharing with each other on the common issue of being human…which isn’t easy, especially if we’re angry at each other! In Church Lab there’s a lot of good fellowship, laughter, and an understanding that we’re here together sharing our [personal] experience, rather than trying to represent the millions of other people who practice our tradition.”

The Ground Rules

Ollie Jarvis is The Church Lab’s Pastoral Assistant. He writes this month about the ground rules that make TCL’s every-two-weeks dialogues a fertile ground for relationship-building and spiritual growth. He was inspired to write based on his participation in challenging conversations with people he loves but disagrees with.

In today’s fraught and uncertain times, one thing is clear: we do not agree with one another. When we hear something that runs counter to what we already believe, the new information often lands outside our ability to take it in and tends to further harden the opinions we already hold. Sometimes, we don’t agree in fundamental ways. Our beliefs are deep and can point to things that are core to our being. 

When I’m talking to someone who’s never heard of TCL and tell them it’s centered around interfaith dialogue, they sometimes nod approvingly and move right on. One reason may be that they don’t realize that the discussions that occur during dialogue aren’t simply about the differences in religious traditions. The reality is, what we are doing in talking about a given topic among persons with varying faith traditions is exposing our deepest, most core selves to one another. What we are really doing is learning to care about someone with whom we deeply disagree.

As Carrie, our facilitator, likes to say, we play with fire every other Monday evening as we enter into fellowship together. Doing so successfully takes masterful guidance and a common understanding about how we will move through what we say out loud. Here are the ground rules we use to frame our dialogues:

• Our facilitator doesn’t have an agenda. She doesn’t bring her own opinion to bear; she will not sum up the exchange into a neat bow at the end.

• Our facilitator is everyone’s advocate. She wants anyone who cares to speak to have a chance to do so; she will help us repair any unintentional hurt that may occur to our hearts. 

• We speak only about faith traditions that are present in the room with us.

• We only talk on behalf of our personal experience, not our entire faith tradition. There are as many shades of expression as there are people, and a wide range at that. We don’t take what others say as representative of everyone of that faith.

• There is no proselytizing when we are gathered for dialogue. We are free to speak about this value openly, but we suspend its practice. No one tries to convince anyone that their own belief (about anything!) is superior to others’. No one can be there to win.

• We seek to understand before being understood. This is the bottom line: we turn to wonder; we listen carefully; we yearn for a clear sense of what others are expressing over trying to express our own perspective.

It’s hard enough to maintain these parameters for two hours twice a month when everyone has previously agreed upon them! It’s even more difficult when we are engaging in an exchange with a faceless person on social media or with a family member whom we love but whose mind we desperately want to change. Not everyone is ready to dialogue, sometimes even ourselves! For the sake of our emotional health and in some cases the relationship itself, sometimes the best call is to suspend the exchange for the time being.

We have found, however, that the practice of exercising these muscles in dialogue allows us to carry new skills out into the world with hope. So feel free to try them on your own, or reach out to see if joining dialogues on Monday evenings would interest you. Either way, you may be surprised at the shift in your perspective over time as you practice a search for understanding those with whom you disagree, even when doing so means you both live with the difference.

Negotiating Care: Rabbi Neil Blumofe

Neil Blumofe serves as the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Agudas Achim in Austin, Texas.  He has smicha from JTS and the Academy for Jewish Religion - Los Angeles, and cantorial investiture from JTS. He is a deft improviser, schooled in the dynamics of jazz performance. In his studies, he is interested in how music informs our cultural, national, and religious identities.   

As your community transitioned online, did you try unique things? What worked? What did you learn?

We did a full pivot because we hadn’t been doing anything online, certainly not recording or filming our Sabbath services, so it was all unexplored territory. We really tried to have an engaging service, using the chat in a way that would help people feel that they were a part of the service in real time. It was a challenge encouraging people that this [shift] was okay and was something that they could successfully do. Sustaining it over months in terms of Zoom fatigue, especially as the worst of the pandemic lifted. It’s hard to maintain a relevance that feels exciting to people. We’re doing the best we can as we start slowly gathering in person. Everything has been layers of discovery.

In what ways did you see your community be resourceful and creative in meeting needs? In what way did their faith rise to the occasion?

One way has been with inreach work; helping see each other and responding, whether that means addressing loneliness or something specific like food or a job or getting a vaccine. We created small support groups that get together to provide support to each other. God has moved in this way. People feel that their needs are being taken seriously by those around them. That is something we had always talked about but never done, that’s been really great. 

This has also been an opportunity to imagine what comes next and how to get there. Trusting that resources will arise as opposed to putting all your eggs in one basket. I feel that has been one thing about this period that’s important.

Are there any unexpected lessons your community or you as a faith leader learned?

We can’t take our community for granted. There are a lot of forces working on us to pull us apart, antagonize us against each other, politically and otherwise. When people are scared and alone they may try to connect the dots in a way that may not be rational to someone else. The ability that we as faith leaders have to be an absolute good in people’s lives is something that I don’t take for granted and has become more clear to me.

What do you think people of faith need to be especially mindful of as we emerge from the pandemic?

That people are in very different places. I’ve seen it said that we’re all in the same storm but in different boats. I preached on that back in April and I feel that acutely. We don't really know what is going on with people as they adjust. There has been damage and casualties; people don't know how to talk to each other; others may have excuses why they don't come anymore. We’ll gingerly explore how to reclaim the joys of sacred community.

I hope that as we emerge, we would continue to notice when we are going a hundred miles a minute. That we slow down and take time to check in about those radical concerns that people have, to lift each other up, to have patience with someone who is in a different place and struggling. I hope we retain these best practices that we’ve begun to develop. 

What do you hope that your faith community will remember about this season in five or ten years?

The opportunity to do better, to prioritize our lives in terms of what we do. To reflect on “who I am” and “what do I need in my life;” to consider what causes joy or contentment and connection as opposed to “I need to make my money.” I think there’s a real opportunity to dial that back a little. And, ironically, not to rely on the internet so much, in order to live a more fulfilling and flourishing life. I hope the patterns will have been interrupted.

Just curious, how did the forced isolation affect your personal spiritual life or your relationship with God or yourself?

I’ll tell you, my kids were home and my wife, so we had lots of activity. All of our schedules overlap various parts of the day; we have a new puppy along with our dog. I wasn’t lonely, I was actually fatigued. There were a lot of interruptions working there, so I spent a lot of time at the synagogue, working to take care of the needs within the community as they arose.

Trying to find the balance of caring for myself and others allowed me to see how fragile everything really is. To try to do things not by quantity but rather to make genuine connections with people. I realized I was pushing myself at a pace that was too much. So I took a month off that was really needed because I felt depleted. There is still a lot to be done before everything is solved and I wanted to be as fresh as possible. Demands on me as a faith leader were exponentially greater during the pandemic than prior to it. We built a technological base from scratch; helping people negotiate their various situations; the vast number of zoom meetings and presentations I didn’t want to miss. I’m shifting some of that this year in light of self-preservation. 

You didn’t ask, but what did I do for that month? I put my tent in my car and camped as many places as I could between here and Washington state. Just me by myself. My family understood that I needed to reset, to not have a schedule. It felt like a spiritual recharge, both for myself but also as a model for people in my community. Whatever boat we’re in, we have to make it the best boat possible.

Right Now

Rev. Carrie Graham is the pastor and dialogue facilitator of The Church Lab.

Dear God,

Right now I’m sitting in a quiet room in my home. My dog snores beside me. A cup of warm tea and a laptop, my phone, a prayer book, a graphic novel, gifts from my nieces and nephews surround me. On my run this morning, as the sun rose, I exchanged greetings with friendly neighbors. I’ll have fresh food for lunch today and walk my dog along safe, sunny sidewalks this afternoon.

Right now there are girls in Afghanistan who were not even alive yet on 9/11, and they are unsure of their ability to go to school anymore. There are men clinging to US Air Force planes taking off from the Kabul airport. There are US veterans who spent years of their lives watching this unfold, with heartstrings and memories and investments laid bare. There are families afraid to open the door to their homes, lest they be recognized as friendly to Americans and killed. There are Afghan-Americans who cannot get a hold of their relatives in Afghanistan because of downed cell phone towers. There is fear, fear, heartbreak, fear, unknowns enveloping the situation.

Right now there are people who were without power in Haiti before an earthquake hit. Now they have no power and are short on water supply. There is a terrible storm on the way. There is rubble to sift through, and reminders of how this has gone before.

Right now there are friends and neighbors and relatives on ventilators or waiting for hours to get infusions to help them breathe properly. Children are filling up Texas Children’s in Houston.

Right now healthcare workers are not just exhausted and burned out from the work, but also from the trauma and emotion of caring for the pandemic’s second round, which brings not only feelings of compassion fatigue but also for many frustration, anger, resentment, along with grief.

Right now there are people fleeing lack of safety in their countries and choosing wildly unsafe routes or death instead of staying in all that is most familiar to them. That is how dangerous their homes have become. They’d rather leave them forever, leave all material possessions behind. All they can do is hope for basic needs getting met, basic safety being felt for them and/or their children again one day. They choose converting from people with a home to people with nowhere to belong to. And many of them are sleeping at or near US borders.

Do I soak in gratitude that I represent the result of veterans’ work, of generations of my family’s work, as I sit here with multiple degrees and a reasonable expectation of safety today and for the foreseeable future? Yes. Yes yes yes.

Do I recognize that the circumstances and location of my birth in this world plays a role in my safety and security that just is, in the same that it just isn’t for others born in other circumstances, in other locations? Yes.

And so do I choose to ignore that millions of my sisters and brothers are, in this very moment, experiencing desperation, fear, danger, illness, oppression, hunger, as I type a post onto a social media platform with bare feet?

It feels like Jesus himself is tugging at my heart.

Praying for Your Peace which surpasses understanding for the little girl in Afghanistan tonight. For your cousin on the ventilator. For nourishment of body and soul to be with the Haitian, to be with those leaving Honduras. For the Dad to exhale who has a little boy at Texas Children’s. For the veteran to have support and connection and bolstering for her or his spirits. For the families separated by downed cell phone towers, covid visitation policies, smugglers or policy. For the Moms of the soldiers headed to Kabul right now.

With an overwhelming amount of suffering, loving God, may those of us celebrating health and peace know that we enjoy it because other nameless neighbors have helped us have it. And may You move us with great focus and clarity -don’t let us get paralyzed! – to be Your hands and feet for our neighbors near and far, to act on their behalf as Your Word instructs us. Help us do, dear Lord. Help us start somewhere and trust Your Guidance in so doing.

Amen.