North Shore Narrative

'By spirituality we intend to point to personal life in union with Christ - a relationship with the incarnate and risen Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit, where His death is our death, His resurrection our resurrection. This life expresses itself in praise to the Triune God through loving service to the neighbor.

Spirituality in the New Testament sense is not a moral program, not a set of rules, not a level of ethical achievement, not a philosophy, not a rhetoric, not an idea, not a strategy, not a theory of meditation, but rather simply life lived in Christ'
- Thomas C. Oden

On Halloween, and the few weeks which precede it, Salem becomes the hub for celebration, striking similarities of a Mardi Gras or New Years at Time Square. After all, it's Salem, with its enigmatic history of witch trial and current communities of neo-paganism.The Gathering, a church with a influential presence in the city, engages in a multifaceted ministry during this time.Because of their hard work at establishing true relationships and social work, they are well received in the city by it's officials and the surrounding communities, including the covens. Yesterday's Wall Street Journal reveals more of their story.

I was able to participate in their ministry this season, alongside Jeff and James. We operated the Confession Booth, an idea we took from Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz. We set up a tent with chairs and a table within, lit some incense, and placed the Pantocrator and the Scriptures on the table. We all threw on Monk robes, and grabbed our pipes. We then send a couple of monks to call all who want to Confess. However, the spin is that when someone arrives to confess, we begin by confessing the sins of the church. As stated in Blue Like Jazz, "We are going to confess to them. We are going to confess that, as followers of Jesus, we have not been very loving; we have been bitter, and for that we are sorry. We will apologize for the Crusades, we will apologize for televangelists, we will apologize for neglecting the poor and the lonely, we will ask them to forgive us, and we will tell them that in our selfishness, we have misrepresented Jesus on this campus. We will tell people who come into the booth that Jesus loves them."

The reactions from the crowds were mixed. Some were confused. Some were angered. Some bitterly mocked. Yet some asked for prayer, some revealed abuse they had recieved from priests, and some went and got friends to come in. One commented that 'there is something you guys have. you guys actually believe in this.'

Probably the most opposition we received was the people who drove in from out of state to wave banners of repentance. Scriptural, perhaps proofed text, but nevertheless, suffused with the presentation of Turn and Burn. They mocked our robes, and called us liars and vipers. They became rowdy when the Gathering requested them to stop their bullhorn blows in front of their doors. They videotaped Jeff who came under one of their inquisitions, probably to make a video of what intellectual confrontation to expect next year. who knows. maybe someone listened to them. maybe many more were turned away.

Happy Birthday Dear Aidan