tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493310654947594295.post580085180488361595..comments2023-05-17T04:11:33.077-05:00Comments on Peoria Assn. Of Pastors For Community & Spiritual Renewal: The Peoria Church & Crime And ViolencePeoria Pastors Assn.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11513647797947298964noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493310654947594295.post-45001652672763783962010-11-27T01:21:00.150-06:002010-11-27T01:21:00.150-06:00Brother Burnett, it may not be very much, but a gr...Brother Burnett, it may not be very much, but a group based at St. Ann's Catholic Church on the South Side has for the last four years gathered to pray near the sites of shootings and to witness to Christ's healing to those living in those places. I was participating with them until I had my cancer surgery, and that is part of why I supported and participated (with my congregation) in the 40 Days of Prayer for Peoria in '08 and '09. I regret that, since my recovery, I have not returned to participating with them, nor have I worked hard to seek other ways in which I could re-engage on this particular issue with our brother pastors. <br /><br />In acknowledging my part in our churches' quietness on these particular acts of crime and violence, though, I'd suggest that our response has not been total inaction -- I point to the long-term ministries that aim to show a better way, such as Christ Lutheran School and Preschool, those congregations of several denominations that participate in the South Side Mission's "Adopt-a-Block" program, or even (if I may toot the horn of my congregation and our sisters that support it) Project Return of Peoria. And I'd note that many of the police and other city/county and school (public and private) officials dealing with the immediate emergencies are part of the church community -- and I pray that all us pastors are encouraging them in their vocations as public servants.<br /><br />You are right that we could be doing more. Having served in Peoria for 18 years, I learned long ago that getting ministers together for *anything* is really, really hard. The response to the Mayor's call to churches in 2007 that lead to the first 40 Days of Prayer was by far the best response I'd seen of many attempts. I wish I knew how to do it.<br /><br />Pastor Steven Tibbetts<br /><a href="http://www.zionpeoria.org" rel="nofollow">Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church</a> of PeoriaPastor Ziphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17236185339118076545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8493310654947594295.post-49052102120380376952010-07-28T10:10:57.559-05:002010-07-28T10:10:57.559-05:00Now, there is another excuse that has arisen as a ...Now, there is another excuse that has arisen as a result of this post and continued chatter regarding the issue. <br /><br />I was told, <i>"You have a very small congregation which affords you the opportunity to do more outside of the church."</i><br /><br />To which I responded:<br /><br /><b>So, let's get this...a "small" congregation pastor can do things that a large congregation pastor can't??? What is that? If a church is "small" (in your opinion) the pastor just has plenty of time for community things right???<br /><br />So based on this, where does the mission of Christ come into effect? I mean if the large churches have an excuse, then they must be exempt from the mission of Christ right? In essence, according to what you're intimating, they (pastors with large congregations) have BETTER things to do. Or at the very least they are too busy to be bothered with these type of issues right??? Now, I don’t suggest that but you do. If that is true doesn’t it just seem to lead right back to my original argument?</b><br /><br />So now we have an excuse based on the size of the church. Thank God that doesn't hold true. The Association has churches that work with it that could be considered to be "large" churches. Those pastors are "active" outside their churches and within their community. <br /><br />There is NO excuse for inaction. This is an emergency. What happens when the shooting spreads to North Peoria? I'm glad that the police and other governmental entities have and had the foresight to ramp up the activity, but when we listen to some from the church community regarding the issue, we're in bad shape.District Supt. Harvey Burnetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15315686602819371111noreply@blogger.com