When I was in my twenties and living in New Mexico, I befriended a professional rodeo-guy named Buck Harris. His skin was sun-bronzed leather, and the comfy trailer he lived in smelled vaguely of piñon and pot.
I asked “Bucky” once if he’d teach me how to ride. He agreed. The next day I showed up, Buck saddled up one of his horses, had me climb on by myself, and delivered a lightning-quick lecture in his southwestern drawl: “Darlin’, the way you learn to ride a horse is to ride. And I suggest you stay on, ‘cause the only thing you learn from fallin’ off a horse is that it hurts.” And that was it. Off I went, with a grin on his face as horse and I got acquainted with one another, very … efficiently.
Years later, I find myself learnin’ to ride again, although this time, the “horse” is “Community Engagement”, and the place is Redeemer. Moreover, unlike my riding “lessons” in New Mexico, which were often solitary affairs (unless, of course, you count the horse!), I find myself surrounded by a veritable posse of riders — some seasoned cowboys and cowgirls, others just learning the ropes, but all of us, together, kicking up dust and getting our hands nice and good and dirty.
There’s the kind of dirty your hands get, for instance, when you’re slabbing Quikwall-Surface-Bonding-Cement onto bricks at 714 McCabe Avenue in Govans as part of Habitat for Humanity. It is a different kind of dirty from when you’re sticking a finger (shhhhhhhh!) in a cheesy-chicken-mushroom-noodle-concoction in our parish kitchen, a quick taste-test for our Paul’s Place Holy Casserole-y ministry. Which is, of course, still a different kind of dirty from when you’re finger-painting with children at Govans Elementary as part of an after-school activity … or lifting bags of food to help stock the shelves at GEDCO/Cares food pantry … or simply scratching your head, trying to understand the ins-and-outs of TIF financing and the new Port Covington legislation, as an ally of Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD).
“But I thought that was all part of ‘Outreach’?” you might ask. “What’s all this stuff now about ‘Community Engagement’? Isn’t it all the same thing?”
Well, yes. And, no.
Yes, in that both “outreach” and “community engagement” are ways to respond to Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:35, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me …”; as well as ways to honor our baptismal promises, to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves” and to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.”
No, in that “outreach” implies a “do-er” at the center “reaching out” to target recipients. Blogger Doug Borwick continues: “Outreach is (at best) done ‘for,’ community engagement is done ‘with’ … Community engagement is rooted in relationship building. The [ministry] grows out of the relationship, factoring in the interests and needs of the community. This is not simply a semantic distinction. The frame of reference … impacts the quality (or even the existence) of the relationship. It will also affect the nature of the work [done] ….”
Wouldn’t you know it, it’s all about relationship! Not us “reaching out” to them, as much as all of us in relationship together … creating …building … dreaming … doing … slabbing … painting … cooking … learning … journeying … and yes, riding … along The Way … each of us transformed by one another … and transforming our city and communities, one house, one family, one relationship-at-a-time …
So how about it? Won’t you come along for the ride?
Cristina