Study Guide BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Transcription

1 Study Guide This study guide is designed to help groups use the Connections DVD to gain a deeper understanding of justice issues in the Gulf Coast and beyond. The design here calls for two one-hour sessions, but many other possibilities exist. The DVD, this guide, and a period of congregational discernment could be the basis of a day-long church retreat on your calling to address local issues. For groups that enjoy discussion, the sessions below could easily be expanded. Or the sessions below could be the beginning of a longer series of sessions in which your church examines local issues of education, afordable housing, fair wages, and spending priorities. BACKGROUND INFORMATION In August 2005, veteran civil rights activist C.T. Vivian watched in horror as television reports revealed the utter devastation that Hurricane Katrina was unleashing on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Like many others across the country and around the world, he felt agony in witnessing the immense sufering and loss. He also had one recurring question, What about the churches? Dr. Vivian knew, though the news stories never mentioned it, that church buildings by the hundreds were being destroyed and that the congregations who worshipped in them were being scattered. After a lifetime of working toward justice for all people (he describes himself as the man who put his face up against Bull Conner s fst), he understood as well as anyone the centrality of the church in African-American life. He knew that the churches lying in ruins represented generations of work and sacrifce by people who had consistently given more than they could aford for the Lord s work. He realized that those churches had in return given people spiritual solace and emotional strength and had also been a venue for advocacy, education, and community. He also grasped that those very ruined churches represented the best hope for recreating the communities he was watching being shattered. He understood that he had a new calling -- to engender an efort to rebuild the churches that had and would once again form the backbone of strong and nurturing communities. Dr. Vivian s vision found a ready audience. The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America and numerous other denominational and ecumenical bodies quickly responded to his call to form a group whose main purpose would be to support churches in their recovery eforts. In October 2005, the frst meeting of Churches Supporting Churches (CSC) was held in the ravaged city of New Orleans. Though the struggles have been many, CSC has consistently served as a voice for and a support to pastors and congregations seeking the just recreation of their neighborhoods and their city. This DVD is an efort to highlight that work and the immensity of still unmet needs. It also has a second purpose to ask viewers everywhere to consider, Do the issues of injustice that have hampered the recovery eforts in New Orleans also exist here? What would happen here if a Katrina-sized disaster took place? What are WE being called to do both to help the continuing struggle on the Gulf Coast and to address issues of justice and injustice right here?

2 SESSION ONE UNDERSTANDING KATRINA AND ITS AFTERMATH Remembering What We Already Know (15 minutes) Spend some time encouraging the group to remember and share their own memories of watching the disaster of Hurricane Katrina unfold. (Small groups such as a Sunday School class or youth group may want to share as a group. Larger gatherings can encourage people to share around their own table or in small groups of 4-6 people.) What do you remember about your frst impressions of Hurricane Katrina? What was the frst news you heard and how did it difer from later news? What images of Katrina and its aftermath stick with you? Is there any one story which or any one person who symbolizes Hurricane Katrina for you? If anyone in the group has been to New Orleans since the storm, ask them to share their impressions. Learning More (30 minutes) Watch the video Ask people to pay attention to things that are new for them: new information, thoughts, or understandings. Asking Why (15 minutes) Think back to the comments of Pastor Ruth Orantes who leads the Shekinah Baptist Church in El Salvador. Why do YOU think that the problems have been allowed to continue for so long? Pastor Orantes feels rage. What feelings do you experience? Close with a prayer that God lead us to discern what we are called to do to bring greater justice to the continued struggles in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. For further consideration What have you done to assist in rebuilding eforts in New Orleans or the Gulf Coast? Your church? Your denomination? Other groups of which you are a part? What is the most inspiring post-katrina story that you know? BPFNA s Program Coordinator has written of an experience of pulling out a Northwest Airline fight magazine with the front-page headline New Orleans is Back! What might reading that feel like to someone whose entire neighborhood still lies in ruins? (This is true of the Upper Ninth Ward as of 2011, for example.) To a family who has not yet been able to rebuild their home? To someone whose livelihood is still threatened? Why might such false statements be made?

3 SESSION TWO WHAT WOULD HAPPEN HERE? Share thoughts and refections from the frst session. (5 minutes) What would it be like for me? (10 minutes) As we move toward thinking about our own towns and cities, help people to move into an attitude of compassion with this exercise. Close your eyes and imagine (allow seconds for each realization) A natural disaster is predicted to hit your town/city so you decide to be cautious and evacuate. The next day you turn on the news and as the news unfolds throughout the day, you realize that: The place where you work has been destroyed. The bridge that allows your spouse access to his/her job has been destroyed. Your child s school is in ruins. The building where you worship is under water. The neighborhood in which you live no longer exists. As you see the camera pan your devastated neighborhood, you notice the ruins of your grocery store, your favorite restaurant, the pharmacy you use, your neighbors homes, the nearest gas station... What would be your reaction? Or can you even imagine? Open your eyes and consider these questions: What do you feel as you consider these losses in your own life? What would your life be like if: Neither you nor your spouse has a job. Your kids have no place to go to school. You have no house but you do have a mortgage payment. Your social groups (church, work, little league, neighborhood groups, etc) are all scattered. Is this a fair comparison to people s lives after Hurricane Katrina? What do you think makes some people able to survive and even thrive in such circumstances? Going Deeper into the Struggle (30 minutes) What do you make of Rev. Dr. C.T. Vivian s observation that Katrina made clear the continuing strength of what Martin Luther King, Jr. called the triple evils of our society racism, poverty, and militarism? What do you make of the sentiment Make levees, not war? Is this a legitimate comment on political priorities? Why or why not? What do you know about the issues that Rev. Don Boutte mentions that exist in YOUR town/city? [Leader s Note If time allows, you may want to show again Rev. Boutte s interview.] Is education in your town/city equitable? Why or why not? (continued)

4 Are there fair wages in your town/city? What is a living wage in your area? Do families make a living wage? Is there local commitment to the idea of a living wage? Why or why not? Is afordable housing available in your town/city? Why or why not? If you live in the US, how has your city moved to implement federal mandates to eliminate large public housing projects? Has the transition gone smoothly? Do you know the answers to these questions: Is there a one-to-one replacement so that every displaced resident ends up with a place to live? If not, what happens to the people forced out with no place to go? Were the residents themselves consulted and involved in the decisions that shape their lives? Did anyone think about the loss of community? The results when neighbors are separated? If you live outside the US, what is your country s approach to the need for afordable housing? Where in your city do you hear the refrain There simply is not enough money. Do you see ways in which money is misspent? Are there ways that money is spent that you can celebrate? Why do you suppose Mayor Nagin thought a casino would help a hard-hit neighborhood to recover? Do you agree with his logic? How might rebuilding a church or churches help? Is that a logical place to start? What are your thoughts on Pastor Aldon Cotton s comments about the role of the church? What are we called to do? (15 minutes) How do you in your life seek to rebuild the city? How do you see your work as connected to that of others? To larger issues? How does your church seek to rebuild the city? How do you see your congregation s work as connected to that of others? To larger issues? To use Rev. Cotton s words what is the Lord s assignment for you and your church? For further consideration: Pastor Duplessis refers to a Road Block Home. Is that block intentional or unintentional? The average gap for African-American families between rebuilding money received and the actual funds needed to rebuild was $75,000. What would you do if you experienced such a gap? Could you cover it? Do you agree with Ms. Duplessis assertion that the church must come back in order for people to come back? What is the importance of houses of worship in your city? What role(s) do people of faith play in your city when issues of justice are considered? In your town/city Where do you see connections that hurt? Connections that heal?

5 For further information, please contact: Rev. Dwight Webster, Executive Director Churches Supporting Churches 1700 Conti Street New Orleans, LA / Rev. LeDayne McLeese Polaski, Program Coordinator Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America 4800 Wedgewood Drive Charlotte, NC / Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America 4800 Wedgewood Dr. Charlotte, NC USA 704/ The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America gathers, equips and mobilizes Baptists to build a culture of peace rooted in justice. We labour with a wide array of peacemakers to change the world. 5/2011