From Charity to Justice: Building Power in the Southwest Metro
Congregational Spotlight. Written by Dylan Novacek, Content Specialist.
“Our congregation’s vision is to share the love of Jesus Christ with all people,” asserted Pastor Charlie McDonald from Chaska Moravian Church. “Housing relates to this because the message of Jesus is founded in justice and in declaring that there are certain unalienable human rights. Unfortunately, our country does not recognize housing as one of those rights.”
At Beacon, we believe housing justice means that all people have access to high-quality, safe, deeply affordable housing. We’re creating a path for congregations to learn why our current housing system is failing people, and then join us in making our communities better places to live in. In the southwest Twin Cities metro, we’re working towards this form of justice through the creation of Prairie Pointe, which will be about 45 deeply affordable homes for families in Shakopee.
On his first call as an ordained minister, Pastor Charlie (pictured) has spent the last few months getting to know his congregation and the surrounding community. In this short time, he has already seen how urgent and dire our housing crisis is.
“Chaska Moravian values sharing space. The nonprofit organization His House – which serves people experiencing and transitioning through a housing crisis – operates out of our basement,” Pastor Charlie shared. “I’ve seen more people going through a housing crisis in the last seven months than I have in my entire life!”
Beacon congregations know the importance of supporting low-income families. Currently, congregations in the southwest Twin Cities metro are collaborating on a diaper drive so these families don’t have to choose between paying their rent or buying the essentials they need.
“The people we serve are experiencing and transitioning through a housing crisis. We get the request for diapers every day because people are so limited on their budgets,” exclaimed Martha Brannon of His House and Beacon congregation Mount Calvary Lutheran Church. “I believe in the philosophy of abundance.”
(Pictured: Pastor Charlie and Martha next to donated diapers.)
“It’s important that every family is supported. Everyone has the dignity and freedom to pursue life,” Pastor Charlie added. “When we engage with causes like this, our volunteers gain awareness of the problems in the community. The diaper drive is an onramp for people to join us in justice work.”
While charity is directed at the effects of injustice – the symptoms of the problem, so to speak – justice work addresses the root causes. In our case, it means asking questions like, ‘why do so many people experience homelessness’ and ’what about the current approaches and policies in our society keep so many people locked out of home?’
Thinking from a justice-oriented perspective means looking to long-term solutions that might need to start with a Band-Aid, but then go much deeper to bring real healing and wholeness to broken systems and the people impacted by them. Justice work is deeply relational, ongoing, and very public.
“If we’re making a roadmap for moving towards a justice-based mindset, you can begin at charitable giving,” Pastor Charlie explained. “Second, you might become a volunteer. Third, you start to change your heart and mind. Finally, you take action. We’ve got the opportunity to bring folks in on this ladder!”
“Beacon are experts at bringing congregations in on this journey,” Martha smiled, remembering the impactful moments she experienced while working with Beacon’s Families Moving Forward shelter program. “When you step into this model, everything becomes tangible. You’ll begin to see yourself in this and you’ll begin to understand what your role is.”
As congregations begin to transform their mindset from charity to justice, they begin to see how urgent it is to support these families. Although we know the answer to supporting families is creating more deeply affordable homes, it’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed by all of this.
“Transformation is terrifying,” remarked Pastor Korla Masters of Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church in Prior Lake, an active Beacon congregation (pictured). “For congregations taking their first steps into this journey, I would reassure them that it’s okay to get things wrong. No congregation or leader is doing this on their own. We have the chance to be unbound by the goal of perfection.”
This is the collaborative in action. Whether it’s meeting with your elected officials or joining us at a monthly Rent is Due call, there are many ways to connect with our shared Beacon mission. The joyful part of it all is that we’re doing this together as 100+ congregations united in the vision that all people have a home.
“We’re in a powerful moment in Scott and Carver counties right now,” Pastor Korla continued. “We’ve got some incredible wins around Prairie Pointe that we deserve to celebrate. At the same time, we’ve hit speed bumps along the way that have been really tough. There are a lot of steps needed to create home, and luckily there are a lot of ways to get involved.”
Housing justice connects at the policy level. We believe that our local, state, and federal housing budgets should reflect the size and scope of the housing crisis. Through our multi-pronged approach, congregations can volunteer with our shelter program, call on elected officials to advance change, show up at monthly events, and more. It takes leaders like Martha, Pastor Charlie, and Pastor Korla to challenge themselves and their congregations to step out of their comfort zone and work towards housing justice.
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” Pastor Charlie reflected. “Charity in today’s culture has a different connotation from where the word comes from in the biblical sense. It’s one of the three forms of love expressed throughout scripture. To me, charity is love in action. I believe charity, advocacy, and justice can go hand in hand.”
“As congregations wrestle with these questions surrounding charity and justice, we get closer to building Prairie Pointe,” exclaimed Beacon Senior Congregational Organizer Justin Lewandowski. “Diapers are tangible and something everyone can relate to. But not everyone knows it costs $150 a month for a parent to buy diapers for a single child. Yet, we’ve got 11,000 households in Scott and Caver county paying more than 30% of their income on rent. Having congregations make this connection is key.”
“We’re in a community that’s changing a bunch,” Pastor Korla added. “I look out my window and see new subdivisions being framed out. There are members of our community whose kids grew up here and can no longer afford to live here. The availability of home and affordable housing deeply impacts all of us!”
Homelessness and housing insecurity exists in all communities. Through congregations engaging in charitable giving, they begin to see the need for more permanent solutions for home. Working together, leaders and volunteers alike are reminded of the heart of this work.
“There is joyful urgency in working as a collaborative,” Pastor Korla cheered.
“Seeing our congregations engage with the diaper drive and with advocacy work is a beautiful thing,” Justin smiled, reflecting on his passion for this work. “This wrestling with how we move from charity to justice reminds me of an important prayer we refer to a lot in organizing…”
Prayer for Living in Tension:
If we have any hope of transforming the world and changing ourselves,
We must be
Bold enough to step into our discomfort,
Brave enough to be clumsy there,
Loving enough to forgive ourselves and others.
May we, as people of faith, be granted the strength to be
So bold,
So brave,
And so loving.
At Beacon, we affirm that we are powerful people. Click here to read more about the strength of people power and learn the ways you can help see that all people have a home.
