A friend wrote to ask me last week if I could come up with ten key resources that have most shaped my thinking on my work in service-learning. Below is what I came up with - I'm sure there are many more:
1. Nick Wolterstorff's 1982 commencement address at Wheaton College:
http://www.calvin.edu/admin/slc/about/articles/mission.pdf on the mission of the Christian college at the end of the 20th century - all the theological/philosophical groundwork is here.
2. Deb Rienstra's wonderful book, So Much More: An Invitation to Christian Spirituality has a nice little chapter called, "The Work of our Hands: Serving God and Others" that provides great insight into the Christian virtue of service.
3. Richard Mouw's books When the Kings Come Marching In, and He Shines in all that's Fair provide great theological grounding for the idea that the now connects to the not-yet, and for common grace.
4. Gail Gunst Heffner and Claudia Beversluis edited a collection of essays in 2002 called Commitment and Connection: Service-Learning and Christian Higher Education. Both of their introductory essays lay out important frameworks for the conversation about service-learning for Christians and Christian colleges.
5. I reviewed a book a few years ago called The Spirit of Service: Exploring Faith, Service and Social Justice in Higher Education written primarily by faculty at Gustavus Adolphus College in MN. It was in important book for me to read because a few of the chapters were excellent ("Faith, Social Justice, and Service-Learning in Environmental Studies: The Struggle for Integration," by Mark Bjelland, and "Ora et Labora: Prayer and Service in an International Study Abroad Program," by Jenifer Ward) and most were not, at least to someone with Calvinist/Kuyperian sensibilities. It helped me figure out some of the differences between Lutherans and Calvinists in this area.
6. Charles Marsh's book, The Beloved Community: How Faith Shapes Social Justice, from the Civil Rights Movement to Today has been tremendously helpful with some theological accounts that connect social justice movements with the church over the past 50 years or so.
7. A short article called "Educating for Citizenship," by Caryn McTighe Musil that appeared in the journal Peer Review in 2003:
http://www.calvin.edu/admin/slc/about/articles/educating_for_citizenship.pdf - it has a nice taxonomy that shows one way of thinking regarding how students develop through community engagement.
8. Kurt Verbeek and Jo-Ann VanEngen have each written important pieces that have helped me think more broadly about service in the international context. Jo-Ann's article on The Cost of Short-Term Missions, http://www.calvin.edu/admin/slc/about/articles/short-term-missions.pdf, has been broadly read in Calvin and CRC circles, to good effect I think. And Kurt's chapter in Heffner and Beversluis's book, International Service-Learning: A Call to Caution has gotten less attention ( http://www.calvin.edu/admin/slc/about/pdf/verbeek_intl_s-.pdf ) but is worth pondering, particularly for its caution regarding power and reciprocity in international contexts.
9. The best source for helpful thinking from the mainstream academic world is the Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, based at UM in Ann Arbor. And both Campus Compact ( www.compact.org ) and the National Youth Leadership Council ( http://nylc.org/ ) have excellent general resources.
10. I have also recently dabbled in the literature on Christian Practices and Christian Teaching and Learning, and have a number of very valuable resources in this vein - including the work of Craig Dykstra and Dorothy Bass (Practicing our Faith, Growing in the Life of Faith etc) and the Journal of Education and Christian Belief ( www.jecb.org ).
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Surprised by Hope - Book Review
I was drawn to this book when I saw it on a table at a lecture a year or two back. The image of a lone tree on the side of a dirt road is captivating, but so is the title. What do I think about the resurrection, heaven and the mission of the church? These are all somewhat vague ideas to me; all somewhat distant and ethereal. And where do those ideas come from? I guess there were always some Biblical scenes that spoke into my understanding of these: Easter, the rich man and Lazarus, the great commission. Things that I've learned and experienced in my lifespan have wanted for something more tangible related to these ideas.
Since seeing the book on that table, I've heard it referred to by many folks who I respect a great deal. A sermon by a Calvin Chaplain Nathaniel Bradford just after the new year referred to the book when speaking of hope, something of which our church is in short supply. So, as a member of the worship planning team, it was decided to transform our evening service into a book discussion group with this book as the focal point.
It probably would have been a good idea to read the book in whole before suggesting it, but having finished the book now, I don't think I would have chosen against it. I did realize early on that I was in a bit over my head, with a deeply theological book that I had to summarize for the gathered congregation. It ended up being a rather enjoyable if time-consuming task.
I wasn't sure exactly what to expect as it relates to Wright's theology compared with the Reformed theology I've been raised in. It turned out to be pretty spot on in my read of the book. There was a nice strong emphasis on the good old Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation rubric, though not necessarily such a focus on the heavy-handed T.U.L.I.P. framework that also courses throughout the Reformed perspective.
Fellow congregation members were concerned with Wright's lack of definition for hell, punishment, and sin; but I really resonate with his focus on the joy of God's kingdom building as the motivation for discipleship and evangelism. Some balked at his insistence at the goodness of creation and its persistence at the time of Christ's return, but I'm happy to step clear of that border-line gnosticism and embrace the idea that "God so loved the cosmos."
I loved Wright's persistent encouragement to a fuller celebration of Easter and resurrection, the central tenant of our faith. The idea of "taking something up" in the forty days after Easter leading up to ascension to counter balance the "giving something up" of Lent was a refreshing challenge. I'm not sure what exactly that will be for me, but it may be connected to the image Wright used to explain this concept: that of uprooting and weeding in Lent not with a purpose of blank soil, but a garden to be sown with seeds that will one day blossom and bear fruit.
How exciting, yea surprising, to be invited into the work of justice, beauty and evangelism as kingdom building; God's work done through the Spirit's power in our lives and communities; reclaiming our geographic space, God's gift of time, and the matter of our lives for his glory. I can see how one might declare this as slipping towards a social gospel, but if that's so, it is one that is firmly supported by a Biblical reading of the New Testament that centers on Christ resurrected, allowing for a retelling of the Old Testament in light of God's story of restoration made reality through the people of Israel.
If the dense theology scares you, I'd recommend starting with the last chapter and working your way backwards. I think that if I'd done that, knowing the climax of the book, the earlier chapters would have held more meaning. I may have to go back and read them after letting the final chapter settle in my heart for a while.
I'm re-energized by reading this book. Excited for kingdom work. Surprised by hope.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
S-LC Spring Retreat
Three times a year the Service-Learning Center staff embarks on an overnight retreat. Two weeks ago we had our spring retreat in Chicago. We arrived in the late afternoon on Friday and stayed at an International Team (http://www.iteams.org/) community house in the Lawndale area. Over deep dish pizza that evening we heard about International Team’s ministry in Lawndale and then spent the rest of the evening playing games and laughing. The next day we stuffed newsletters for an organization called GRIP (http://www.gripyouth.com/) and in the afternoon headed home in two mini-vans.
Sometimes it’s hard to pull ourselves away from the homework we’re supposed to be doing, the friends we want to hang out with and the sleep we’d like to be getting in order have a retreat, but after each one, I’m reminded of why we have them.
Although a little cheesy, when I was pondering the reasons for our retreats I thought of three more “re” words besides “retreat” that describe well some of the great parts of our retreats.
First, the retreats are a time of reconnecting with other staff members. Because we’re a student staff we’re only in the office a couple of hours a day between our classes and can go a long time without having a conversation. For this reason the time in the car, during meals and relaxing is great for catching up on each other’s lives and processing our work together at the Service-Learning Center. This retreat we had a good time discussing some of the speakers we’ve had in past staff meetings and thinking about our roles as Service-Learning Center employees.
Second, through the activities we engage in during our retreats we are also able to remember the reasons that we do the work we do. This retreat we got to talk with Noel and Ashley from International Teams. They live in the Lawndale neighborhood working alongside members of a local church in youth development. Their philosophy of working with and learning from the people they are serving is central to what we hope to do at the Service-Learning Center. The time we spent with them was a good reminder and challenge for the work we do. In addition, we got to spend the morning helping out at a local Chicago agency, GRIP, which works to match mentors with Chicago teens. Often we at the Service-Learning Center coordinate service-learning opportunities for other students but don’t get to service-learn ourselves. Having the opportunity to do so on this retreat reminded us of some of the “nuts and bolts” of what we do; we experienced an agency orientation, got instructions to do our work and spent the morning helping out. It is good for us to remember the types of experiences our students have on an everyday basis so we can make them as helpful and applicable as possible.
Finally, the retreat is a great time for us to rest and be restored after many weeks of work. I always seem to forget how important it is both personally and as a staff just to have fun with each other. Time laughing, playing games and eating together is so important for our own mental health :) and for the productivity of our office.
Although it’s sometimes difficult to get the gumption up to go on a staff retreat, every time we do venture out I am thankful I did.
Sometimes it’s hard to pull ourselves away from the homework we’re supposed to be doing, the friends we want to hang out with and the sleep we’d like to be getting in order have a retreat, but after each one, I’m reminded of why we have them.
Although a little cheesy, when I was pondering the reasons for our retreats I thought of three more “re” words besides “retreat” that describe well some of the great parts of our retreats.
First, the retreats are a time of reconnecting with other staff members. Because we’re a student staff we’re only in the office a couple of hours a day between our classes and can go a long time without having a conversation. For this reason the time in the car, during meals and relaxing is great for catching up on each other’s lives and processing our work together at the Service-Learning Center. This retreat we had a good time discussing some of the speakers we’ve had in past staff meetings and thinking about our roles as Service-Learning Center employees.
Second, through the activities we engage in during our retreats we are also able to remember the reasons that we do the work we do. This retreat we got to talk with Noel and Ashley from International Teams. They live in the Lawndale neighborhood working alongside members of a local church in youth development. Their philosophy of working with and learning from the people they are serving is central to what we hope to do at the Service-Learning Center. The time we spent with them was a good reminder and challenge for the work we do. In addition, we got to spend the morning helping out at a local Chicago agency, GRIP, which works to match mentors with Chicago teens. Often we at the Service-Learning Center coordinate service-learning opportunities for other students but don’t get to service-learn ourselves. Having the opportunity to do so on this retreat reminded us of some of the “nuts and bolts” of what we do; we experienced an agency orientation, got instructions to do our work and spent the morning helping out. It is good for us to remember the types of experiences our students have on an everyday basis so we can make them as helpful and applicable as possible.
Finally, the retreat is a great time for us to rest and be restored after many weeks of work. I always seem to forget how important it is both personally and as a staff just to have fun with each other. Time laughing, playing games and eating together is so important for our own mental health :) and for the productivity of our office.
Although it’s sometimes difficult to get the gumption up to go on a staff retreat, every time we do venture out I am thankful I did.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
A Christian Student at a Secular University: Who Is My Neighbo[u]r?
This entry serves three purposes: 1) A break from reading some arcane 18C court judgments, 2) an opportunity to process the question on my mind since day one of my being at a major state university (note: ambiguity is necessary to avoid defamation lawsuits), and 3) an excuse to blog since I last blogged as a staff.
So what does it mean to be a Christian at a secular university? I have to get used to the idea that my worldview is the (lone) minority position. I suspect my experience might be very similar to those before me—especially those who are experiencing/have experienced the transition from Calvin to a state university. The only Christian voice, however, need not be silent. I just have to learn how to present myself in a language that the others understand. That’s not too bad. Sunday—according to my peers—isn’t a day of rest spent in worship. Sundays are used to recover from hangovers.
The Cupps mug equivalent over here is a booze mug. Granted it might be a cultural thing, yet many drinkers can’t hold their own. End result: missed lectures, and desperate visits to the doctors for screening, counseling, and scheduling medical procedures. If only condoms came with gospel tracks, or cars could detect alcohol. Not that such cases do not happen at Calvin, but it’s definitely fewer.
When I first set foot in a beautiful, prominent church one Sunday morning, I was surprised that there weren’t any more than 30 in attendance. Choose any two members of that church and their combined age would be greater than 120. Where are the younger people, I asked myself. Maybe I was at the wrong church. No, they are still in bed.
Calvin is truly a unique environment. I find myself in many conversations where I could talk about my faith, even challenge it. It’s also somewhere where I hear people ask themselves such hard questions like “what’s my purpose in life?” and “why do good people suffer?” Calvin is a place where one’s intellectual, philosophical, and spiritual dimensions dovetail to receive some real prime-time attention for some imminent center stage action.
This morning in the bathroom, the janitor came in to collect the trash. I acknowledged his presence but he only came in to do his stuff. I thanked him for his work as he made his way out; he didn’t even make a sound. He came back in a few minutes later, “It was nice of you to say ‘thank you’.” That moment—a moment where the two-dimensional reading from a senior’s capstone seminar became alive in the very world that we have being wanting to reform and serve—made me realize that my neighbors are those whom I cross paths with. It’s that missing “u” in my “neighborhood.” Everyone is my neighbor. Ah, it’s so easy to associate with and stay close to those who share my worldview. Such brief moments, like the one with the janitor, might never come again, and any one of those moments might just be my last chance to love that neighbor.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Another Exercise in Walking Humbly
When we send students to UCOM I expect them to do good work. I think that they should be on time, be polite and do an excellent job tutoring the elementary students with whom they work. I want them to reflect when they return and make a long-term commitment to the program.
These goals are easy for me to make as I sit in the Service-Learning Center, a place I am very comfortable in after three years of working there. However, my perspective has changed slightly after beginning my own “service-learning” experience at UCOM. At UCOM I have to ask, even about the smallest detail—“How do you use the printer?”, “What’s the name of that volunteer again?”, “How many pounds of cheese go into the bag?” It’s frustrating sometimes not knowing what to do and feeling as though I’m not doing a very good job or being helpful to the agency. I’m tired after a day of communicating in Spanish and I don’t particularly want to reflect on my experience. And, I probably can’t make a long-term commitment to UCOM because I most likely will be leaving Grand Rapids after this semester.
How, then, do I reconcile my experiences feeling not-so helpful and not-so reflective with my goals for the service-learners sent from our office? Well, to begin with, it’s important to remember that service-learning is a process for everyone involved. Service-learners won’t be terribly helpful at the beginning of their time and may not be very reflective. Hopefully, though, after spending time at their agencies students will learn the ins and outs of the agency and start to be an asset instead of a burden. Hopefully, too, as students have more experiences they will begin to reflect naturally on how what they see and the lives they live are connected.
Also, it is important for us at the Service-Learning Center to treat the service-learners with grace and humility. We don’t know their life experiences or even their experiences at their sites, so we must be careful not to judge their involvement without a little more investigation. Our expectations for them shouldn’t necessarily lower, but our way of interacting with them must be careful.
In fact, the whole process of service-learning is a game of grace and humility. The agencies we work with must treat the Service-Learning Center staff with grace as we try to be responsible to them and to be full-time students. The students must have grace and humility with us and with the agencies as we work out organizational kinks, and we must have grace and humility with the students and with the organizations as we try to communicate and work together.
Once again, the StreetFest theme of this Fall “Walk Humbly” comes back to challenge and encourage us to walk humbly with our service-learners and agencies.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Transition 10: Being Reminded of How to Walk Humbly
On Saturday, January 30th, we as staffs of the Service-Learning Center were blessed to be able to spend our days serving and learning with the new and transferred students of Transition 2010. Though this day was in many ways a much smaller scale of Streetfest Day, we were glad to see the same excitement and willingness from the students to learn and serve as those came in the fall.
The students were given a more detailed presentation of the city of Grand Rapids and its unique neighborhoods. They also had a van tour around Grand Rapids before their arrivals at the agency and thus were able to see these neighborhoods outside the classroom introduction. The students were then split off to go serve at two different agencies, YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) and UCOM(United Church Outreach Ministry). I stayed in the group of students working at UCOM and enjoyed much of the interactions and the reflective conversations we had. It was the first time for me at UCOM and thus like all the new students, I was very appreciative of the history through which UCOM has developed as an outreach ministry, a tutoring center (Homework House) and a food pantry (partnering with ACCESS) for the southwest community of Grand Rapids.
Not only did we learn about the food system UCOM tries to maintain for their clients, but also we got to be the servers by repackaging the donated food, cleaning the freezer and rearranging the grocery shelves for future clients. Though some projects were done outside in the freezing weather, I was glad that most students were eager to help out with them. The conversation afterwards was refreshing and encouraging. All of them had fun engaging with one another as they served. They also expressed appreciation for the good works being done at UCOM and their eagerness to go out and explore the city of Grand Rapids.
As we wrapped up the day, we as the staffs were glad to have met these new students and been part of their orientation to Calvin. In a way, this Transition day was a refresher and encourager for us to continue our humble walk of service to Calvin students and the greater Grand Rapids community as the whole staff and as individuals.
The students were given a more detailed presentation of the city of Grand Rapids and its unique neighborhoods. They also had a van tour around Grand Rapids before their arrivals at the agency and thus were able to see these neighborhoods outside the classroom introduction. The students were then split off to go serve at two different agencies, YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) and UCOM(United Church Outreach Ministry). I stayed in the group of students working at UCOM and enjoyed much of the interactions and the reflective conversations we had. It was the first time for me at UCOM and thus like all the new students, I was very appreciative of the history through which UCOM has developed as an outreach ministry, a tutoring center (Homework House) and a food pantry (partnering with ACCESS) for the southwest community of Grand Rapids.
Not only did we learn about the food system UCOM tries to maintain for their clients, but also we got to be the servers by repackaging the donated food, cleaning the freezer and rearranging the grocery shelves for future clients. Though some projects were done outside in the freezing weather, I was glad that most students were eager to help out with them. The conversation afterwards was refreshing and encouraging. All of them had fun engaging with one another as they served. They also expressed appreciation for the good works being done at UCOM and their eagerness to go out and explore the city of Grand Rapids.
As we wrapped up the day, we as the staffs were glad to have met these new students and been part of their orientation to Calvin. In a way, this Transition day was a refresher and encourager for us to continue our humble walk of service to Calvin students and the greater Grand Rapids community as the whole staff and as individuals.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
The other side. . .
As a Calvin student, I worked at the Service-Learning Center during my sophomore and junior years (2001-2003), coordinating service-learning placements for education students in local schools. The job was fantastic--it was "real" and complex--giving me opportunities to meet the needs of both education students and classrooms around the city of Grand Rapids. I was able to visit many of the schools and agencies where Calvin students were placed, giving me a unique picture of the disparities that exist among schools and putting me into contact with many dedicated teachers and administrators. These folks were willing to put forth the extra effort to include Calvin students in their organizations; I think they recognized the mutual benefit that is offered through service-learning.
Though my job at the SL-C ended, service-learning continued (and continues) to intersect with my life. From 2006-2008, my wife and I were mentors in the Harambee House, a Calvin College Project Neighborhood house partnered with First Christian Reformed Church. Each member of the community engaged in our Grand Rapids neighborhood through service-learning on a weekly basis. Having worked at the SL-C, I was keenly aware of how important it was to recognize the relationships that we formed with our neighbors as mutual-we had to fight our tendencies to be the givers, the helpers, the doers.
I currently teach in a special education classroom at Creston High School in the Grand Rapids Public Schools, and the partnership with the SL-C has continued in various ways. I've enjoyed hosting a Streetfest group at our school, and have had a variety of service-learners in my classroom: tutors from the Education Dept. at Calvin, nursing students presenting health information in my classroom from the Nursing Dept., and students from the local Project Neigborhood House on Travis Street have also been involved in our school and in my classroom. I am so thankful for these partnerships; I know that Calvin students learn much from being in an urban high school setting, but that isn't really my primary concern any longer. I'm simply thankful for what they bring to my classroom and how they enrich the lives of my students when they are in my classroom.
Though my job at the SL-C ended, service-learning continued (and continues) to intersect with my life. From 2006-2008, my wife and I were mentors in the Harambee House, a Calvin College Project Neighborhood house partnered with First Christian Reformed Church. Each member of the community engaged in our Grand Rapids neighborhood through service-learning on a weekly basis. Having worked at the SL-C, I was keenly aware of how important it was to recognize the relationships that we formed with our neighbors as mutual-we had to fight our tendencies to be the givers, the helpers, the doers.
I currently teach in a special education classroom at Creston High School in the Grand Rapids Public Schools, and the partnership with the SL-C has continued in various ways. I've enjoyed hosting a Streetfest group at our school, and have had a variety of service-learners in my classroom: tutors from the Education Dept. at Calvin, nursing students presenting health information in my classroom from the Nursing Dept., and students from the local Project Neigborhood House on Travis Street have also been involved in our school and in my classroom. I am so thankful for these partnerships; I know that Calvin students learn much from being in an urban high school setting, but that isn't really my primary concern any longer. I'm simply thankful for what they bring to my classroom and how they enrich the lives of my students when they are in my classroom.
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