Reporting from England

We are several days into our England trip, and I haven’t been able to post as I had hoped because our access to the Internet is much less consistent than we had anticipated. I’ll try to encapsulate some of our experiences briefly.

Sheffield is an interesting city. Though diverse in other areas, the sections we have been exploring are largely Muslim, evidenced by Muslim businesses, mosques, and people in Muslim dress everywhere on the streets. Long-time Sheffield residents have no doubt seen many changes over the years!

And here, in the Sheffield neighborhood of Pitsmoor, in the center of Muslim life, is the Urban Theology Unit, where we’ve spent much of our time since arriving on Monday. We have found our work with Rev. Dr. John Vincent to be quite helpful as we continue to sharpen a vision for ministry in Portland. The vision is emerging – quite possibly to include a coffee shop/ laundromat in the Portland neighborhood where we’ve begun to focus our sights – not for the sake of providing coffee or laundry facilities per se, and certainly not because we’re looking at profit potentials, but specifically as a means of developing community in a neighborhood that lacks such amenities and thus lacks stability. Most important, we’re realizing, is to ensure a low threshold, so people in the neighborhood will enter our doors. Then once they’re there, we can practice Christian hospitality, begin to develop relationships, and form community. Our facility might include meetings spaces, a chapel (of sorts), space for children, eating space (of course!), art on the walls, community bulletin boards, and possibly performance space for concerts and the like. We can imagine all sorts of groups – reading groups, discussion groups, worship gatherings, and interest groups focusing on peace and justice issues, for example – that we might form to gather people together. This kind of space would also provide opportunity for a variety of worship gatherings – mid-week Taize worship, traditional worship, more quiet & reflective worship, and possibly worship with musical styles appealing to younger adults as well. Our goal in this proposed center is not to provide social services, and not necessarily to “do good things” for people in need, but rather to form authentic community, striving always for mutuality in relationships.

But these our just our ideas, which sound great in the abstract. First, though, we’ll need to begin by listening… listening… listening to the people who are already on the ground, who call this neighborhood their home, who know their own needs much better than we know them as outsiders looking in.