Shane Claiborne was the featured speaker at the Oregon Synod Assembly. He stood out from most of the participants there because he was young, because he had dreadlocks past his waist, and because he identifies himself as part of an irresistible revolution, a missionary of sorts to the American Church. To put it simply, Shane follows Jesus.
Most of us are not going to imitate the life of Shane, living simply and sharing most things in common. Shane, however, can help us unpack what we on Outreach have been doing to reach our neighborhood. One of the words we have chosen to identify Mt. Carmel is "Community." Shane has the following words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer inscribed on his wall:
"The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community."
We at Mt. Carmel understand that the basis of community is love. We serve love at Transition Projects and Jean's Place. We serve love around the tables after church. We serve love around the quilting frame. We at Mt. Carmel have been given a gift from God, like Shane says "we can look in the eyes of those we don't even like and see the One [Jesus] we love."
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