Yesterday, it was announced at the Everything Must Change tour that Glocal Teach-In’s are back! Here’s the flyer. You can download a pdf here. More to come.

Note: In San Diego, as well as the rest of North America, we are realizing more and more that Consumerism is an alternative gospel. We, The Collective, have felt more and more convinced that as followers of Jesus, we are called to another way. We’ve been fortunate to have Lee Van Ham around to teach us about Jubilee and other biblical principles to help shape our way of life. Lee will be speaking at the Everything Must Change tour this weekend with Brian McLaren here in San Diego. He will also be a part of the next GLOCAL event on May 3rd. The following is an excerpt from a booklet, The Sabbath-Jubilee Economics in Brief, by Lee. Copies of the full booklet are available (see below). This is the first in a series of articles to be posted on The Ecclesia Collective blog.

Where in the bible do we read about Sabbath-Jubilee? The usual reading of the bible finds Sabbath-Jubilee in a limited selection of passages, the following being the most common. From the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) in Exodus 16, 21:2-6, 23:10-11 Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15:1-18. From the Old Testament Prophets in Nehemiah 5:1-13, Isaiah 58, 61:1-2 and Jeremiah 34:8-22. From the Gospels and Acts of the New Testament in Matthew 5:3-10, 6:9-13, Luke 4:16-30 and Acts 2:43-47, 4:32-37.

When Sabbath-Jubilee is perceived in only these passages, the common conclusion is that Sabbath-Jubilee was an ideal too Utopian to ever be really practiced except in a few moments of renewal, all of which soon faded away. Such a conclusion reinforces the thinking of Domination Culture. In other words, Sabbath-Jubilee is an impractical, Utopian notion that doesn’t merit much attention.

But today many who have studied the bible carefully are concluding the reverse. Even these limited passages come from many different authors over centuries of time and report on an even greater span of history – more than a millennium, and one during which the people of the bible saw a succession of Empires – Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Greece, and Rome.

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Recently I heard a number of ex-felons share their stories about their releases from prison. One was handed $200 “gate money” outside an institution in the Central Valley. He spent nearly half of the sum on the bus to San Diego. All his family lives in Chicago.

Another’s parole was violated when he left a voice mail for his parole officer regarding an address change instead of submitting it in writing. That mistake cost him four more months behind bars.

On the day of her release, one woman went to the health clinic where she was required to report only to find it closed. Fortunately, a passerby connected her with Welcome Home Ministries after a short conversation.

Gemini House. Second Chance. UAMMAC. Metro. The Rock Church’s Prison Ministry. Others. These programs, many faith-based, change lives. They provide support where there is little or none.

Join me on a tour of Donovan Correctional Facility in San Ysidro, a state prison on the border, or contact Patti Colston, the Community Partnership Manager at Donovan: 619-661-6500 x5057, patti.colston@cdcr.ca.gov.

The formerly incarcerated must struggle for everything upon release. It can be difficult to obtain an ID card, a drivers license, health records. Childcare payments paid by the state while she or he was serving time now become due, often to the tune of thousands of dollars. Credit card debt may have been multiplying each month since day one. Families left may no longer be the same. Finding housing and employment within the exacting expectations of parole further communicate to the former prisoner that his or her community might not mind of she or he just returned to jail. Would it be easier for all of us? Perhaps 70% make just that choice, ensuring housing, daily routines, a certain camaraderie, or at least an escape from the stigma.

But they all come back to our communities eventually. What can we do to help?

It’s a common misconception to believe that kindergarteners are the only ones that exercise something we like to call imagination. Vested into a drama of good vs. evil, these young heroes vanquish evil with their flaming swords—i.e. sticks—, only to be interrupted by the sound of a bell and the call of a teacher to return to class.

It is the central thesis of this article that us “big-kids” likewise exercise imaginations; the only difference is that our weapons cause much more damage and turmoil than mere sticks. Utilizing the works of William Cavanaugh, I will attempt to identify parts of the social imagination in which contemporary society is vested into by the discipline of the State. (more…)

John and Betsy Mustol hang out with the Collective from time to time, being quiet encourager’s of the GLOCAL teach-in’s, teaching us theology and how to bake bread amongst other things. In the wake of the 5th anniversary of the Iraq invasion and the death of over 4,000 American soldiers, we asked John to share his thoughts with us.

This month marks the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its coalition allies. After five years, almost 4,000 American soldiers have died, some 29,000 have been wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars spent. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi men, women, and children have been killed and wounded, and millions have been displaced. American prestige in the world is at a low point. Over this past year, violence has decreased in Iraq, but it is unclear why. The “surge” has probably helped. Contrary to President Bush’s policies of preemptive violence and pugnacity, General Petraeus and other military leaders in Iraq have implemented policies of negotiation and reconciliation with local insurgent factions, groups, clans, and tribes that have probably been helpful. In any case, I thank God for this improvement in what remains a highly unstable and unpredictable situation. I pray things will continue to improve.

All reasonable people now recognize that our decision to invade Iraq was a grave error. In light of that, confession and repentance are in order. But short of that, we need, at least, a clear and rational policy in Iraq and the Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. As we enter this, the sixth year of the Iraq War, (and the seventh year of the Afghan War), I encourage everyone to write your political representatives to encourage them to work for peace and for the timely, just, and responsible withdrawal of all foreign forces from Iraq (and Afghanistan) as soon as practicable. We must clearly state our intention to leave Iraq as soon as we are able. I encourage you to write editorial comments in newspapers and magazines.

I urge people to carefully consider the coming election this fall. We desperately need radical changes in policies that will return the United States to leadership in the world morally as well as militarily and economically. We need to shift from a policy of unilateralism and belligerence to a policy of dialog, cooperation, and negotiation – something like what General Petraeus is doing in Iraq. We need a leader who is willing to talk with our real or perceived enemies – and not just talk to them but also listen to them. Jesus said love your enemies. At the very least, that means we should listen to them and try to understand them.

We who name Jesus as Lord should be agents of peace in this world. As Mirsoslav Volf wrote in his landmark book, Exclusion and Embrace, “This is what Jesus Christ asks Christians to do. Assured of God’s justice and undergirded by God’s presence, they are to break the cycle of violence by refusing to be caught in the automatism of revenge.” We are to love our enemies, to effect “costly acts of non-retaliation” which may become the seeds of peace. I encourage you to speak out and continue to pray for justice and peace in this broken world.

Editor’s Note: Austin has been hanging out with the Collective for a few months now. He shows up on Sundays at the Hawthorn House from time to time and is incorporating some of the HH people in a short-film series he is working on called, “X”. This article first appeared in a North Carolina church newsletter. It received heated criticism, including one man’s three page rebuke which made the argument “church is not to be stylistically driven.”

I woke up today with a sore throat and tired eyes. When I looked out the window it was raining and a fire truck blazed past my apartment with a piercing scream. I got in the shower and the water seemed to fall down on me in slow motion as I embraced the calm of a morning shower. With calm comes clarity and I remembered I had something I really wanted to see today. When I got out of the shower, I went to my window and saw what I was looking for. The sun had broken the clouds and I remembered what my heart ached to see… God in the midst of pain and chaos. People ask me all the time, “what are people your age looking for in worship?” The truth of the matter is we don’t know, at least not collectively. Some of us want rock bands in huge arenas, some of us want one dude, unplugged in a living room, and some of us don’t want music to even be involved. Humanity can be cruel and our generation knows better than any other. I’m not generationally blind, its reality. Not because our generation has experienced more pain or destruction, but because we have more information flow than any previous time period.

Since time began people have tried to present themselves as perfect to God and each other (see “The women gave it to me.” “Well the serpent gave it to me.”) But since we were kids everyone has been disproving each other. Half of us grew up in divorced homes and heard early on about the depravity of “the other parent.” Parents, Politicians and Pastors have tried to sell us on their own perfection, all the while criticizing the utter failure of everyone else. We’re never surprised when “the scandal breaks”.
 So can worship ever be a style question for us? No, we don’t know, stylistically at least, what we think as a group. We’ve been inundated with musical genres (rap, rock, hip-hop, bluegrass, indie, alternative, punk, jazz, country, folk, post-hardcore, posi-core baroque, surf rock, Mexican new age, 17th Century protest songs, blah blah blah). Between the information flow and the genre explosion, we’re dazed. We’ve never grown up with any sense of consensus on anything from our own households to the world at large. Cold War Kids speak to it best in a song called Sermons vs. the Gospel, “European Travel, the H-bomb, the Presidential Election/the front page of the New York Times, the front page of the New York Times/Lord have mercy on me.”

The “cool church” thing is over. Pop culture knows about it, nobody goes into church anymore and says, “WOW, where’s the cathedral, this is a mall?!?” (see the movie Saved) When I bring friends to church who have never been, they aren’t excited about the hip music; they are excited because the need for a savior has not and will not change.

We are a generation of people with sore throats, tired eyes, and we wake up everyday to piercing sirens. So it seems the only thing we can agree on is something to remedy those things, something that ushers us closer to our big God who we want to say “I love you” to. I think the “style” we’re looking for is not taking for granted the opportunity to say “I love you” to him too, because the only consensus we have is on authenticity.

Austin Pfeiffer is a 25 year old writer, musician, and film maker. He has lived in 8 states around the U.S. He graduated with an English Degree in Creative Writing from the University of Colorado at Boulder, focusing on poetry. His multi-regional, move-a-thon childhood and experience working in multiple churches have informed his thoughts and ideas of the America and Christianity. He currently maintains a creative non-fiction blog called Peacemaker Revolution and is in the band Goodnight Man. He has directed and produced numerous short films and is currently working on a creative non-fiction feature on the Ten Commandments (”X”). Austin’s artistic heroes and indulgences include C.S. Lewis, Conor Oberst, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen Soderburgh and the Gilmore Girls. You can contact him at austin.pfeiffer@gmail.com

Yesterday, some of us attended the Maundy Thursday foot washing ceremony/action, coordinated by ICWJ, in support of the service workers at UCSD Medical Center. It was a beautiful thing. I was really stoked to have my kids there for this. Our friend, Mike, made a video of the event. Here you go:

We have a limited number of Stop Caste Now t-shirts still available from the STOP CASTE NOW BBQ tour w/ Sunil Sardar last summer. For a limited time, you can purchase these shirts through the Stop Caste Now page on this site. The shirt design is by Holly Sharp of The Cobalt Season and the shirts were printed by San Diego artist, Ted Galvez. Sizes and colors are limited. All proceeds go to the Stop Caste Now project and Truthseekers International.