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Urban Church Conference Participants Celebrate Sunday Worship at Peoples Church
in Chicago
(Chicago, IL - March 11, 2001) The participants of the third UUA Urban
Church Conference traveled on buses to the north side of Chicago to celebrate
Sunday worship with members of the historic Peoples Church. The congregation,
organized in 1912, was founded and once ministered to by Dr. Preston Bradley
and was described in the 1924 edition of the "Western Unitarian" as "one of
the most largely attended liberal churches in the world, its Sunday morning
attendance being upwards of two thousand." Dr. Bradley, who was 24 years old
when he founded the congregation, finally located it in the former Pantheon
Theatre (its current location), a huge building of five floors with two balconies
and a wide stage. Bradley's dream, as published in a 1942 press clipping,
was that this congregation would have "a prophetic voice and civic conscience,"
and it grew to have a membership of over 4,000 in the 1940's, along with a
distinguished social action program. Bradley's ministry included several church
services each week, radio broadcasts reaching several million listeners, and
an active community relief effort serving hundreds on the north side.
As urban flight took place over the last four decades, membership in the
congregation dwindled dramatically, and the congregation nearly closed its
doors. A decision was made to jointly affiliate with the United Church of
Christ while maintaining UUA membership, and the congregation today has a
membership of about fifty adults, maintaining an active social justice outreach
ministry. Among its many activities, the church rents space to an organization
known as REST, which is the largest homeless shelter on north side of Chicago,
housing 60 men on its 4th floor who eat and sleep in the building and receive
social service assistance. The 5th floor is rented to an organization fostering
women's involvement in the visual arts through training in documentary film
making and video and photography production. The church serves 3 meals/wk
to 150 people needing food, many from local community and local shelters.
The congregation also hosts the Empty Spoon Job Club, which assists people
who are difficult to place in jobs, in meaningful employment in the city.
Many of these people are homeless, ex-offenders, or people in shelters, or
welfare-to-work persons who need assistance in finding jobs.
 The
Rev. Susan Harlow, professor of Theology at Meadville/Lombard
Theological School who is a member of the congregation and currently serves
as its president, said, "The Peoples Church is a church for all people, and
all of the members of the church are the ministers in this place." She said,
"We also recognize the ministry of our young children, who can choose to join
as members, limiting votes on hiring/firing and selling property till they
are age 18, but otherwise allowing young people to join. Many of the attendees
at worship are the men who have slept in the building overnight. We welcome
all to this service."
Unitarian Church in Chicago. The Rev. Leonetta Bugleisi, minister of Beverly
Unitarian Church, Chicago, gave opening words as the chalice was lit by a
youth member of Peoples Church. The opening song was "Lift Every Voice and
Sing," and was followed by a Unison Affirmation, written by Adrienne Rich:
My heart is moved by all I cannot save;
So much has been destroyed
I have to cast my lot with those who, age after age,
Perversely, with no extraordinary power,
Reconstitute the world.
The Affirmation was followed by a sung response (Morning Song):
From all that dwell below the skies,
Let songs of love and peace arise.
Let songs of joy and praise be sung,
Through every land, by every tongue.
 The
Rev. Michelle Bentley, who serves the Third Unitarian Church, said, "My entire
career, fifteen years or so, has been in this [UUA] Central Midwest District.
Right out of seminary, I worked as Associate Minister for Outreach, and was
the last UU minister to serve here [at Peoples Church]. Members, thank you.
Interconnecting hands will lead us to salvation, working together... " Bentley
then referred to the images of hands which were seen around the church, drawn
by people who attended the urban church conference, and which can link us
to other hands "around the world. The children [in today's service] are building
a justice city… a magnificent city," Bentley said. And, continuing with her
meditation of hands, she proceeded to introduce the speaker for the service,
a "sister whose hands have touched people all over the earth."
The Rev. Cheng Imm Tan, the preacher for the service, is an Associate Minister
at the UU Urban Ministry, and also serves as Director of New Bostonians for
the City of Boston. She is founder of Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence,
and also founded "Rice Sticks and Tea," the only Asian food program in the
city of Boston. A member of the Society for the Larger Ministry (UU), Tan
received her M.Div. from Harvard University.
Bentley then continued with the service liturgy, and invited participants
to greet their neighbors. The greeting was followed by a hymn, Carolyn McDade's
"Holly Near's," and then the Offering, to benefit the Peoples Church. The
Rev. Penny Willis, a member of the Pastoral Team of Peoples Church, led the
celebration of Joys and Concerns. The choir, led by Roberta Wallis, music
director of the UU Church of the Palisades (NJ), sang "Words Like Freedom,"
words by Langston Hughes, music by Audrey Snyder.
 The
reading for the morning was taken from "The Great City" by Walt Whitman, and
was followed by the sermon from Cheng Imm Tan, on the topic of "Building Inclusive
Cities and What That Demands of Us".
Cheng Imm Tan asked the congregation if they knew what the world would look
like if its population, with all its differences, was shrunk down to the size
of one global village, based on current statistics. She also shared some of
the realities of today's world - realities that most of us in North America
are unaware of in our daily existence: "if you woke up with health, you are
more fortunate than most people. If you can attend a church meeting without
a fear of arrest, torture or death, you are more fortunate than 3 billion
people in the world. If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your
back, and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the world…
"I had seen this piece before," Tan said, "and although I don't know how
current the statistics are, I was struck by them. For me as an immigrant Asian
woman in the U.S., it reminded me that injustices around race, class and sexual
orientation and other forms of oppression must be addressed not only locally,
but globally. Four percent of the world's population consumes 40% of the world's
resources. This presents us with a picture of how our nation will look in
the not so distant future…"
Tan said, "I remember when I first came to the U.S. some 23 years ago. I
saw the U.S. as a land of opportunity, of freedom, equality. Where I came
from, color racism did not exist. I had learned a lot of history of racism.
I knew that it existed. But I did not know how it would affect me as an Asian
woman. I knew nothing of experiences of the Chinese or Japanese in the U.S.,
of the treatment of railroad workers in the U.S.
"I did not understand why I could not 'get in.' I did not understand why
people seemed not to hear me when I spoke. I did not know why people treated
me as if I did not exist - as if I was wallpaper. I did not know why people
told me to go home. I did not know what to make of these experiences. I knew
something was wrong, and I thought it was me. I began to blame myself, thinking
that there was something wrong with me, and that I needed to change.
"As an Asian and immigrant woman, I learned, finally, how to fit in. Assimilation.
Leaving the parts that are different behind. You learn to speak at the right
time, speak about the right thing, and an Asian woman shouldn't be too outspoken
or pushy, should eat the right foods. And don't bring up anything that is
different. Don't make waves. Agree a lot. I had to learn to reach out, to
let out on the one hand, and to conform on the other, to fit in.
"When racism is this divisive, everyone loses. There is no chance to learn
from the wisdom of various communities, or experience the richness or wealth
of various cultures.
"We need to learn from the mistakes of the past, to build effective relationships.
For many immigrants, the experience of discrimination is based not only on
color, but on language, relationships, many things. People have low paying
jobs, little accessibility to health care, no choice in schools. Taking the
bus or subway can be very challenging. Many of us have been penalized because
we did not understand the mainstream culture. A young immigrant man was arrested
and jailed because he answered 'yes' to everything the police officer was
asking him. Another person lost his job because his religion called for him
to pray several times a day. "
As director or renewal house, I saw Asian women forced to face their batterers
over and over again because no interpreters were available. I saw Asian women
killed because they could not access support services. Anti-immigrant sentiment
is born out of oppression.
Anti-immigrant sentiments are aroused by peoples' fear of differences; they
are ignited when immigrants are viewed as competitors in a world where there
are too few resources. Immigrants are seen as commodities to be used at will.
Even in the current economic times, the debate shows the white portrayal of
immigrants as separate, competitive, the 'other.'
This separation, this 'other'-ness, this dehumanization of groups, can not
survive…yet I am always struck by how much good will people have; the willingness
to help one another… in the final analysis, we are more alike than different.
The differences that have divided us are superficial differences. We are all
alike in happiness, not in pain. As human beings, we are essentially the same,
part of the complex web of life. If this is true, we can not turn away when
part of the universe is at our knees. We don't have a choice about whether
to be in relationship - we already are. We also live in a world that is full
of pain…how does one live where there is so much suffering? "
The culture abhors fixing pain and suffering. The consumer society encourages
people to work through their pain; sells us alcohol, drugs, other products.
Those of us who are not numb are sometime immobilized by the fear and despair
of the ills of the world… others spring into action… but how do we clearly
see? I am more than aware that atrocities have been carried out in the name
of goodness and love… "
And what are the best trends to use? We have to keep on moving forward, but
we are also a society that is addicted to speed. So how do we move forward,
when we have not been still enough to be present in the moment? To know and
accurately access the moment? Too often, we rush ahead without stopping to
take a look at where we are, at our information, and lack of it, our need
to control, our openness or closeness…we need to look at who we are… "
Sometimes, it takes real wisdom and courage to tell good and bad apart. How
do you relate to those who are agents of oppression? Can we open our hearts
to others and relate to them as humans? There are six women in Massachusetts,
three pro-choice, three against choice, who decided to get together and talk
to one another in secret. At the end of the meetings, they were even more
convinced of their positions, but they all spoke of their relationships in
mystical terms. They saw the humanness of each other. We live in a society
that loves to hate…loves to say there is a problem…however, the line between
victim and oppressor is not always clear. All of us have been victims and
have acted as agents of oppression at some time in our lives. "
We live in a society that loves to put people in boxes. From a spiritual
standpoint, the lines are blurred. As humans, we share a capacity for the
way of generosity as well as compassion, but also to ignore one another…How
many of us have always acted with good intention? It doesn't always come out
the way we want it to… In the face of aggression, the Dalai Lama speaks with
compassion. [There are] no enemies, only people in pain, confusion, and suffering.
The Dalai Lama speaks of the Chinese government that refuses to acknowledge
him in the same way, with compassion…. Anyone who has ever felt victimized
knows how difficult it is to deal with anger…from the spiritual perspective,
an activism that continues to be fueled by hatred will be destructive in the
long run… "
If we meet these internal enemies -- anger, resistance, aggression -- they
grow stronger, or are replaced. We need self-love and acceptance…opening our
heart to those things we do not like, to the shortcomings, where I do not
meet my expectations, and [can embrace] the spirit of generosity and love.
This is spiritual work, to embrace those things with a loving heart. Only
there, is there transformation. Our inner selves can not be destroyed… some
people think spirituality is not justice oriented, but we know that is not
true…spirituality calls us to care more deeply, to let our hearts be open
and caring, and to see pain around us and within us…"
At the conclusion of The Rev. Cheng Imm Tan's sermon, the congregation joined
in singing "This Little Light of Mine. Closing words were from UU Whitney
Young, as published in the UUA Meditation Manual, "Been in the Storm So Long":
"The church must decide what it is going to do and what it is going to be.
Is it a physical plant or is it a social institution? Is the ministry a professional
where practitioners are more concerned with the facial expressions of their
largest contributors than with helping their congregations to live up to the
teachings of the Scriptures? Will ministers only reflect the congregation,
will they merely mirror the prejudices of the congregation, or will they mold
and lead their congregation?"
The postlude for the service was the song, "My Rainbow Race," written by
UU Pete Seeger, a member of the Community Church of New York, and sung by
the Urban Church Conference choir. Reported for the web by Deborah Weiner;
formatted for the web by Julie Albanese. Photos by Deborah Weiner.
Reported for the web by Deborah
Weiner; formatted for the web by Julie
Albanese.
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