Shawn Casselberry
Shawn Casselberry's Blog
Your Presence is Requested / Dec 8, 06:59 AM
If you are thinking about joining Mission Year you need to read this!
Yeah, you! The one who has been devouring this website trying to figure out if God could possibly be calling you to take a step of faith.
Maybe you have been waiting for a sign from God. Well, this may not be a sign, but it is an invitation.
I want to cordially invite you on a journey that can potentially transform you into the person you have always dreamed of becoming. But I don’t want to invite you on my own behalf. That might seem self-serving since I work for Mission Year. I want to share some encounters I have had in the last month that all have to do with you.
I was attending a conference in Indianapolis called CCDA which brings together 3,000 urban churches, leaders, and ministries that are transforming neighborhoods and cities across the country. Our staff attended along with our New Orleans Mission Year team. I was walking toward the elevator at the hotel and saw one of the pastors from a former Mission Year church in Chicago. I said “Hi” and we chatted a bit. The last thing he said to me as I was leaving was, “When are we going to get another Mission Year team?”
On the next Friday I went to a banquet for Breakthrough Urban Ministries, an amazing organization that is giving hope to men and women transitioning out of homelessness and despair. One of our teams is currently serving there this year. On my way out I run into a guy who works at another non-profit organization where we used to have Mission Year volunteers. He shared how great it was having Mission Year people and how they just jumped right in to help. He asked me, “Are we going to get any more Mission Year people?”
The next day, I was on a plane from Chicago to Philadelphia to visit our Philly teams and as I walked down the aisle I saw a familiar face. I couldn’t place where I knew the woman so I asked her how we might know each other. She told me her occupation and that did not ring any bells so I asked her what church she went to. When she said the name of her church I knew exactly how I knew her. She was a faithful attender of one of our Mission Year churches. The weird part was it’s the same church as the pastor from the conference and the same neighborhood the guy from the banquet works. As we parted she asked the all too familiar question, “When are we going to get some more Mission Year people?”
This is where you come in.
In order to have Mission Year teams in all the neighborhoods where Mission Year is needed, we need more people to heed the call. We need people to sign up for Mission Year.
One of the things I really respect about Mission Year is we do not go into communities unless we are invited. We want to make sure local leaders and pastors want us there in the community. It’s a way we honor the places we go.
But right now, we have more requests than we have people. Like Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”
If you are waiting for a sign, then let the requests of seasoned urban pastors, hard-working organizations fighting for change, and spirit-filled church members be your sign.
You are needed.
You are wanted.
You are welcomed.
The thing about this invitation and Jesus’ call to “follow me,” is that it not only means your life will be totally transformed, but that you will become a blessing to many people in the neighborhood in the process.
We have requests for Mission Year teams from neighborhoods in all our cities. Become part of a team that will leave a lasting impact for God’s kingdom. A lifestyle of faith and justice starts with a year.
Your presence is requested.
RSVP at www.missionyear.org/applynow
__________________________________________________
Shawn is the Chicago City Director for Mission Year. This post is part of our 15 Dreams blog series supporting The 15 Campaign. Mission Year dreams of making ongoing, lasting impact in our communities.
Are Your Devotions Getting Stale? / Dec 1, 06:20 AM
As City Director I have walked alongside a lot of young adults as they seek to pursue deeper relationship with God. One thing that I hear so often is how hard it is to be consistent in doing devotions. Even those that do devotions rigidly struggle with really connecting with God when it can sometimes feel like they are just checking off another item on their to-do list.
I grew up within the evangelical church where devotions were presented as THE way to grow in your faith. But the emphasis was on whether or not you were doing devotions rather than whether or not you were cultivating a love relationship with God. Therefore, my devotions were often very stale. I was largely inconsistent throughout my high school and college years until I started attending a church where they had contemporary Christian worship that focused on a personal love relationship with God. All of a sudden, my devotions were not something I dreaded, but a source of intimacy, joy, and delight. I lived to worship God. I was passionate about being with God. My devotions were still inconsistent, but my devotion grew and grew.
It was at that time that I really understood the love of God and that God desired to be in close relationship with me. Up until then I viewed devotions as something God wanted me to do FOR Him rather than something I do WITH Him. I kinda viewed God as a doctor who was there to prescribe medicine (the Bible) for my sickness (sin). Medicine may not taste good (devotions may be boring) but it’s good for you. But that made devotions more clinical than relational and I ended up preferring to be sick than bored.
Something that revolutionized my devotions, and that I would suggest to struggling devotioners, is to treat your times with God like time you would spend with someone you are dating or married to. Doing devotions the same way everyday is like a married couple going to the same restaurant every time they go out. You have to spice things up in a relationship, you have to do the same with devotions.
So I am always doing different things in my devotion time. Sometimes I will sit and listen to music that makes me think of God. Sometimes I light candles and journal about where I’ve seen God working in my day or week. Sometimes I will worship on guitar or sing songs I’ve written that express my honest emotions. Sometimes I will just rest on the couch trusting in God’s love to refuel me and restore me. In the summer time I will take walks and invite God into my thoughts, fears, and future plans as well as intercede for people or issues in my community. It’s much more like a relationship now than an assignment. One basic assumption I now carry into my devotions is that God wants me to enjoy that time (weird right?!). I know I want my wife Jen to enjoy our dates and not dread them. I believe God also wants us to enjoy our times with Him.
I also like reading and I connect with God through reading. I will often read books along with my Bible reading. I have read classics like Thomas Aquinas’ Imitation of Christ, Martin Luther King’s Strenth to Love, Mother Teresa’s No Greater Love and Brother Lawrence’s Practicing the Presence of God. Others I know love connecting with God through podcasts, making art, dance, or physical fitness. These are all valid ways we can grow in our intimacy with God.
Other ways I have refreshed my devotions is exploring various Christian practices used by people throughout history to connect with the God of love. One summer I went through St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, a Jesuit tradition. For one season I focused on learning and practicing Centering Prayer (centeringprayer.com), a Christian form of meditation that is great for someone like me who gets easily overcommitted and stressed. I also enjoy going to Catholic churches and sitting in silence in awe of who God is or following the stations of the cross. I’ve done the Jesus Prayer from the Greek Orthodox tradition aa well as participated in Charismatic styles of worship and prayer.
In addition to doing stuff with God that I like, I am serious about knowing what God likes. We are in a committed relationship after all. In the past, I have studied Scripture in order to know aspects about God’s character. One time I went through the Bible highlighting all the passages that talk about God’s love, grace, salvation and mercy. Then I would go back and read those passages and meditate on God’s love until it sank in. One time I went through all the passages in the Bible that talk about the Holy Spirit, to better understand how God’s Spirit wants to be active in my life. Another time I went through all the passages about holiness, righteousness, and integrity. For the last 5-7 years, I have been getting to know God’s heart for justice. I am discovering how much God loves justice for the poor and oppressed and I want to share that desire with God.
There’s nothing wrong with structure in our relationship with God either. My wife and I structure a date night on Fridays every week to make sure we get quality time together. We also make time to see each other and talk to each other daily. Last fall I would read Scripture before I went to sleep at night and first thing in the morning. Structuring daily or weekly times to connect with God can be helpful in going deeper in our love relationship. Sometimes I’ll use a yearly devotional to provide more structure so I can be intentional about fanning the flame of love with God. I have used the Experiencing God yearly devotional, Eugene Peterson’s SOLO Remix, Henri Nouwen’s Daily Bread, All Saints (yearly devotional about saints and prophets who changed history), and Read Through the Bible in a year. I’ve also just focused on individual books and read a Proverb a day for a month, or read through the Psalms, or the Gospels. God enjoys revealing Himself through His Spirit when we read Scriptures so we should anticipate meeting with God in Scripture.
Lastly, in a dating or marriage relationship there is giving and receiving. Sometimes our devotions are stale because we are exerting so much effort to give to God without receiving what God wants to give. Jesus said the Father loves to give good gifts to His children. My devotions are times of receiving from God love, strength, power, holiness, compassion, grace, and forgiveness. Often my prayer time is me just opening my heart to receive what I need from my God. When our relationship with God is one-sided it is easy to grow bitter and resentful (think Martha). When we see devotions as opportunities to receive from God then they become something we actually look forward to.
Are your devotions stale? What helps you connect with the God of love?
“I will betroth you to me forever, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love and mercy.” Hosea 2:19
_________________________________________
Shawn is the Chicago City Director for Mission Year. This post is part of our 15 Dreams blog series supporting The 15 Campaign addressing Dream #10: That Relationships with Christ Would Deepen. (Originally published 4.17.10)
The Challenge of Multi-Racial Churches / Nov 9, 06:56 AM
In honor of The 15 Campaign, we are sharing Mission Year’s 15 Dreams. Dream #3 is a world where multiethnic communities live out reconciliation. This post (originally published on 7.05.10) by Chicago City Director Shawn Casselberry reveals the major barrier than can prevent harmonious relationships and the revolutionary approach that encourages reconciliation.
______________________________________________________
I was part of a multi-racial church plant that went horribly wrong. The majority white church I attended “partnered” with a majority African American church in our college town to plant a multi-racial church in a nearby city.
It looked great on paper: a white pastor and a black pastor coming together from two segregated congregations to give witness to the reconciling power of the gospel (and it looked great on the Billboard the church paid for!).
I was drawn to this vision from my own experience growing up in segregated neighborhoods and churches and always having a gnawing feeling that this division was counter to what God intended for us.
I longed for relationship and community with my African American brothers and sisters and thought what better way to tear down the barriers than to worship together and start a new kind of church.
So I put my energy into this effort until it slowly crashed and burned. We were all scratching our heads wondering what the heck happened? How could God let such a worthy cause derail?
What derailed this effort is the same thing that derails so many genuine attempts at reconciliation. Power. There was a power imbalance.
Everyone on the leadership team of the new church plant except the black pastor was from the white church. The white church provided the majority of the money, so the white church felt like it had the authority to call the shots. The black pastor preached on alternating Sundays, but the day to day decisions of the church were controlled and made by the white pastor and congregation.
Pretty soon the black pastor stopped coming to the leadership meetings out of frustration while the white church saw this lack of involvement as further proof that he was not really committed.
The church lasted only a year and a half until it crumbled.
When I relocated to Chicago I had this experience fresh in my mind. I decided going to a multi-racial church was not enough. I needed to plant myself in an African American community, not from a position of power, but of submission.
I made up my mind to submit my white instincts to lead, control, fix, and dominate. I felt like a character in Lord of the Rings trying to avoid the lure of the ring of power that so easily distorts and destroys lives (and ministries). I decided I would not seek to lead in the community, but to place myself under local African American leaders. I wouldn’t try to start my own organization or church, but support the dreams and visions of the community. I wouldn’t seek my own advantage, but leverage my privilege and resources for the community’s benefit.
Soong Chan Rah is a professor at North Park University and he is a prophetic voice for the church in the area of racism and multi-ethnicity. Earlier this year at a round table discussion on race, he was asked what white people can do to address the power dynamic that so often befalls reconciliation.
He suggested white people place themselves underneath people of color. He said they should seek a mentor that they can learn from. When white people put themselves in the place of learner, they challenge the power imbalance. He says the majority of people of color have had to submit to white leaders, be it pastors, teachers, professors, or bosses. The majority of white people have not had to submit to leaders of color. By choosing to do so, they open doors for amazing opportunities for partnership and growth.
This is something we feel strongly about at Mission Year so we intentionally partner with churches and organizations where our team members can serve underneath community leaders of color. This allows our white team members to practice submission so they can enjoy meaningful cross-cultural relationships.
It is also empowering for team members of color to see strong, respected diverse leaders who are passionately pursuing God’s call. And lastly, it is incredibly affirming for the leaders themselves. Sadly, too many leaders of color have experienced the discouragement and paternalism of well intentioned white people who do not know how to practice mutual submission.
For the last six years I have experienced the joy that comes from living among, working under, and being mentored by tremendously gifted leaders of color. As I have done this, I have been able to build authentic relationships based on trust and mutual respect. I have also been able to grow by listening and learning from those who are doing kingdom work in the community.
I will always seek out ways to overturn the power imbalance until we have true mutuality in missions and in the church. I believe this is vital to the work of the gospel.
The prophet Isaiah said the work of the Messiah would include hills being brought low and valleys being raised. This is the movement of the gospel. Those with privilege are humbled through voluntary submission and service, while those that have been disadvantaged are raised through empowerment and leadership.
This mutual movement creates equality which allows us to meet as equals and friends. When this equality is achieved, together we will experience the glory of the Lord.
“Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low, the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 40:4-5
Three Interruptions / Oct 27, 01:18 PM
Lately, I have not been able to go out in public without being interrupted.
This may be a common occurrence for celebrity types, but not me. I’m used to going to a coffee shop or restaurant and having a nice, uninterrupted conversation.
If it had been one instance I may have just shrugged it off, but having had three separate incidents over three days has left me wandering if there may be something more.
On Friday, I was with a team member eating ice cream at a McDonald’s downtown when an energetic man came over to our table and started talking to us. He shared his story how he had gone from a well-paying job to being homeless to being an up and coming street magician. He told us about his passion for magic which went back to childhood and showed us some impressive card tricks. He was very open about the setbacks he has experienced in life and despite being noticeably tired due to lack of sleep had a contagious hope about his future. We listened for awhile but then broke off the conversation because we had somewhere else to be.
On Sunday, a group of Mission Year alumni met up to discuss a book we have been reading together. We met up at Robust Coffee Lounge in Woodlawn. After a few minutes of discussing the book we were interrupted by a guy sitting next to us who was working on his computer. He couldn’t help but hear us talking about Christians and was curious to know about the book we were discussing. We told him the name of the book and gave him a synopsis. He was a Christian and he shared a little about himself. At this point he began asking us unrelated questions and I was afraid this would detract from our conversation. As politely as I could I told him we didn’t have a lot of time to discuss the book and that we needed to get back to our discussion.
Monday, I was in Roseland for 1on1s (a monthly check in) with one of our team members. We walked over to a Wendy’s near his work site and found a table where we could talk. As he was sharing about what has been going on a guy ventured over to us and sat himself down at the table right next to us. I saw him coming and embraced myself for yet another interruption. He said he can tell we are Christians (did he hear our conversation?, is it because we were white people in a black neighborhood?, is that just a good panhandler opening line?). He begins to tell us his story which included an experience he had with God telling him to take care of his mom who lives down the street. He also told us he had some mental illness and showed us his medication to prove it. We sat there listening and at the end he asked us if we could help him out with anything. We didn’t have any money so he moved on and we went back to our conversation.
Three days. Three interruptions.
I am reminded of something Henri Nouwen said, “My whole life I have been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I discovered the interruptions were my work.” I am realizing my work involves listening, discerning, and reflecting on the interruptions as much as the planned relational moments.
Interruptions have a way of revealing things we would not know otherwise. Like a pop-quiz, interruptions test our motives, our assumptions, and our priorities. Sometimes we pass, sometimes we fail. Sometimes it is not so clear.
In each situation above, we did practice a ministry of presence, we acknowledged the person’s existence and listened with sensitivity and care. On the other hand, in each situation, time hindered the length of our encounters as well as tested our patience with each individual. Each interruption took up precious time which required us to navigate our way out of the conversation.
Malcolm Gladwell, in The Tipping Point, writes about a study done at Princeton Theological Seminary that tested the factors most important in determining if a seminarian would respond to someone in need. Some seminarians were asked to prepare a sermon on the Good Samaritan while others were asked to talk about the relevance of clergy to the religious vocation. They were also given surveys to gauge their levels of compassion. On their way to make the presentation some students were told they were late and better get moving while others were told they had a few minutes but they could go ahead over. Along the way each student ran into a man slumped in an alley, head down, coughing and groaning. What they found was that it didn’t matter if they were preaching on the Good Samaritan or if they were highly compassionate people in general, the only thing that really mattered was whether the student was in a rush. The perception of being late had the effect of turning someone who was ordinarily compassionate into someone who was indifferent to suffering (pg 163-66). Like the study, I discovered I can be stingy with my time and neglect opportunities for compassion, or at least cut my compassion short.
I know I am not obligated to help everyone, it is not only impossible, it can be unhealthy. Sometimes we need to cut short the conversation and other times we need to sit in the awkwardness to see what God may be doing. This is where discernment is needed. Discernment is a messy process because it involves making judgments in the moment (does this person just want money?, Is this guy going to be a distraction?, is this person trying to manipulate me with his story?).
Sometimes our judgments are right and sometimes we are proven very wrong.
As I think on these encounters I am reminded how badly people need human contact. Each person wanted, maybe even needed, to tell their story, be heard, acknowledged by another human being. Each person was on the outside of society looking in. Each person was outside community wanting to be included in the circle. Isn’t that what we all desire?
And didn’t each of those people reflect the divine in a way that could benefit our community? The street magician had a passion for what he did and a hope for the future despite his present circumstances. The café Christian had a boldness to risk rejection and reach out to a group of fellow Christians. The Wendy’s witness showed me that sometimes obediently following God’s call requires us to ask others for help.
Did I pass or fail? I don’t know. But I know those moments have allowed me to remember that the interruptions are part of my work, that time is not more important than people, that each person reflects the divine in ways I can benefit, and that hopefully with each interruption I will learn to respond a little bit more like the one I claim to follow.
Comment [1]
Reconciled / Sep 19, 09:21 AM
“For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross.” Colossians 1:19-20
I attended the Summer Institute at Duke Divinity’s Center for Reconciliation and came away with a profound understanding of the reconciliation of God. Christ has reconciled everything to God. It doesn’t say Christ will reconcile everything in heaven and on earth some day in the not so distant future.
Christ has reconciled everything.
It’s hard to believe that everything is reconciled, especially living in a segregated city like Chicago, or an under-resourced community like North Lawndale.
So much does not look reconciled. So much does not feel reconciled.
Fragmented families. Church divisions. Ethnic hostilities. Brokenness abounds.
What does it matter that Christ has reconciled everything when there is so much that does not seem reconciled?
Professor Douglas Campbell, a Pauline scholar at Duke Divinity, helped me realize the significance and radical implications for my ministry working in urban communities. Our work as reconcilers is not to wear ourselves out trying to reconcile the world to God, or reconcile people to one another. Christ has already done that.
Our role as reconcilers is to let them know they already are reconciled and to live in that reality. We either live in a reality of segregation and division, which is a false reality, a reality based on selfishness, fear, hatred, and greed. Or we live in Christ’s reality, the true state where we are a beloved community that operates on service, trust, compassion, and generosity.
The question is do we take the broken states of the world as givens, or do we really believe that Christ’s work on the cross actually has created a new reality, a new creation that is fully here to experience? Our role is to live in the new reality ourselves and invite and welcome others into it so that we experience it together.
The picture above is a statue of the prodigal son on the campus of the Center for Reconciliation. We see the prodigal brother clinging to the Father. He has given up trying to reconcile himself to God, he simply accepts the reality of the Father’s love and receives it. The Father had already done the forgiving before the prodigal turned down the road toward home. But the older brother refuses to enter into this new reality. He lives in a false reality that isolates himself from the reality of the Father’s love and keeps him from community with his brother. When we live in false realities we miss out on deeper relationship with God and community with one another.
Being reconcilers doesn’t mean we save anyone or fix anything. Christ is the only one who saves anyone, and Christ is the only one who can fix the brokenness of the world. We are not messiahs, we are messengers. Our role is to truly be the reconciled people of God that Christ has made possible.
It requires us to practice being who God says we are. Loved. Reconciled. Peacemakers. Pure. Holy. It’s not so much about doing good deeds as it is about being the good God says we are, being the good Christ has made possible for us to be. Not about trying to reconcile the world through our efforts, but refusing to live by the false barriers that keep us from being neighbors, friends, and family as Christ has made possible for us to be.
Living in the kingdom reality we do not accept as true or final anything that is not reconciled. We do not accept a reality of segregation, dehumanization, domination, oppression, violence, and bigotry. Those are false realities that lead only to death and destruction. Christ’s reconciled kingdom is a community where we are one and where the false realities are no longer what will be. A new kingdom is here for us to live in now!
In many ways, the work of Mission Year, is to live in the reality of Christ’s new kingdom of love and reconciliation. To get comfortable in that reality. To be witnesses of the abundant life that we experience when we live in that reality. To invite others into that reality.
The reality that Christ HAS reconciled all things and its only a matter of time before we all realize it.
Comment [3]
