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February, 2000 - Vol. XXIX No. 1
Jubilee: Hope in New Beginnings

"Jubilee Ministries"
by Pam Boston

For many Episcopalians, myself included, the word "Jubilee" has nothing to do with the year 2000. Rather, it has to do with the hands-on ministry that is making a difference in the lives of countless people through parishes and ministry centers across the country. It means feeding families and individuals who simply cannot make ends meet. It means teaching English as a Second Language so that immigrants and refugees can make it in America. It means cutting wood for those who need it to heat their homes. It means providing clothing and transportation and counseling and other types of support. It means walking alongside the poor, the oppressed, and the disadvantaged. And it means being advocates for changing the systems that keep these people from attaining their full potential, or building a world where all have the basics of life and all can live without fear.

At the 1982 General Convention of the Episcopal Church in New Orleans, initiative A-80A was passed. This initiative established the "Jubilee Ministry" program – a program that was meant to be a way of addressing the Church’s need to serve the poor in every generation. "The Jubilee Ministry will be a celebrative ministry, based on our belief that by affirming the biblical priorities of God - in partnership with the poor, the powerless, the vulnerable - we discover our own humanity in Christ, our own freedom…The Jubilee Ministry will be a continuing celebration of the Christ who reigns by taking his place among the lowliest, who rules by emptying himself of all power but the power of love, whose majesty was revealed in sharing our humanity in order to set human beings free, whose strength is weakness in the world’s eyes." (Report from the Standing Commission of the Church in Metropolitan Areas, 1982)

Jubilee Ministry is based on three familiar passages cited in Resolution A-80A:

Leviticus 25, calling for "new beginnings, when the relationships of power and servitude come to an end and all …are restored to equality and freedom"
Luke 4:18-19, when Jesus defined his mission to be "to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, new sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free."
Matthew 25, where Jesus identified so completely with poor and oppressed people that he told his followers that to meet or fail to meet the needs of the hungry, the stranger, the one without clothing, the sick, or the prisoner is to serve or not serve Jesus himself.

Ministry was to have a number of elements: consciousness-raising, designing Jubilee Centers, training, identification of human resources, research and evaluation, publications, and coordination with the Episcopal Network for Public Policy.

The Jubilee vision centers on empowerment. Empowerment takes a number of forms: helping people obtain job skills so they can find employment; teaching people English or how to read so that they can make their way better in the United States; helping a family to move into affordable housing and out of a shelter. It is true that some people can be helped more than others, and some can learn to be more self-sufficient than others, but empowerment, like human dignity, is for everyone. The process of empowerment is very much a part of the everyday operation of each Jubilee center.

Another important aspect of Jubilee Ministry is getting to the root causes. We can continue to put band-aids on problems. But to truly serve as Jesus served, we must get to the root of the problems. The Rev. Carmen Guerrero, National Jubilee Officer, sees the mission of Jubilee Ministry as being fourfold:

Mission as Liberation - economic, social and spiritual.
Mission as Rectification - to rectify things as they are, so that there is justice in all aspects of life.
Mission as Restoration - restoration of people, social systems, and of nature itself.
Mission as Inauguration - our style of mission must be to announce the kingdom of God in a style of Jubilee.

Jubilee Ministry seeks to meet people where they are, and to address their felt needs. Here in Oregon, we know Jubilee Ministry mainly through our local Jubilee Ministry Centers: St. Matthias, Cave Junction; St. Luke, Grants Pass; St. Michael and All Angels, Portland; William Temple House, Portland; Christ the King, Stayton; and St. Barnabas, McMinnville; and through the three Pacific Northwest Jubilee Ministry Conferences we have hosted in Portland. These have been times of learning, networking and encouragement for Episcopalians with a heart for the poor.

St. Matthias in Cave Junction is a tiny congregation in the Illinois Valley of Josephine County. Every member is involved in service and advocacy in the name of Christ. The congregation provided a home for the local food pantry. It currently runs a soup kitchen for the community. Many of the poorest and most troubled in the Illinois Valley find their way there. A Jubilee Center in New York City gave St. Matthias a much needed computer, and the National Jubilee Ministry Office sent their director for a week of training at a similar but more established ministry in Connecticut.

St. Michael and All Angels in Portland offers a different kind of ministry. St. Michael’s is a city parish in a changing neighborhood. They have developed a varied ministry to immigrants living in Portland, including English as a Second Language, Citizenship Test classes, and Hispanic worship and ministry. They have been very successful in discovering the felt needs of those in their community and designing programs to help meet those needs. They may be asked to host visitors from other parts of the country who want to learn from their experience.

William Temple House in Portland is being asked to share its experience with several other very large programs scattered about the country.

I became involved with Jubilee Ministry quite by accident. My husband, Fr. Jim Boston, was designated by Bishop Ladehoff as the Diocesan Jubilee Officer ("DJO") for Oregon. Jim was invited to a training for new DJOs in Washington, D.C. I traveled with him, with the intention of visiting relatives in the area. However, after attending one session of the training (merely out of a desire to be polite!), I was hooked. I saw how Jubilee Ministry could make a difference in the lives of people, of families, and of the children who are our future. The possibilities seemed almost endless. I had a chance to be part of something that could bring about justice and change, in the name of Jesus. I became deeply involved, and am now co-DJO with Jim.

If you or your parish is interested in finding our more about whether your parish or particular ministry center could become a designated Jubilee Ministry Center, please contact me or Fr. Jim Boston.

The national Jubilee Ministry Office is eager to recognize, encourage, and equip local parishes in their efforts to serve the poor and the oppressed. It can help obtain grants. It can provide training for leaders. It can help parishes or ministry groups discover similar ministries around the country, ministries that could help us in Oregon do our job better. It can enable us to better be Jesus’ hands and feet in a world that is hurting and in need of his touch and his love.

Pam Boston has a number of different ministries. You can contact her or Jim, her partner Diocesan Jubilee Officer, at home: (541/479-0452), St Luke, Grants Pass (541/476-2493) or via e-mail at jtbostson@cdsnet.net.