Son of a Preacher Man

Interesting NYTimes Mag article on Jay Bakker, son of Jim and Tammy Faye, and his Atlanta ministry

Bethra Szumski, 33, a tattoo artist, said she came to Revolution in 2002 with a low opinion of Christians, whom she found judgmental. She told me she believed in God, not in church or religion. But she was drawn to Bakker because he was wrestling with his own problems and because he did not judge her. ''Under my own resources, I'm incredibly ineffective to do anything except self-destruct,'' she said. ''He said salvation wasn't anything I could find on my own. Jesus had atoned for me.'' At Revolution, she said, the teaching never strayed far from this core idea of grace. ''We hear that a lot, it's really repetitive, but I need to hear that every single week.''

Revolution is one of several thousand alternative ministries that have emerged in the last decade, meeting in warehouses, bars, skate parks, punk clubs, private homes or other spaces, in a generational rumble to rebrand the faith outside of what we think of as church. To travel among them is to feel returned to the alternative-rock scene of 15 years ago, just before Nirvana and Lollapalooza put it on the map. Instead of criticizing major record labels, these ministries criticize megachurches; instead of flattening the status of the rock star, they flatten the status of the pastor. They cluster in cells rather than in denominations or arenas, and connect through D.I.Y. zines online. They are a counterculture on two fronts: at odds with both their secular peers and conventional churches.

"...it's really repetitive, but I need to hear that every single week.''

This has nothing to do with the article specifically, but I must say I was so struck by that statement, I had to stop and ponder it for a couple of minutes. What truth is contained there. Often people complain about worship - especially the worship in liturgical churches - as being repetitive - the same prayers (although they're really not), the same old Scripture readings every three years...give us something new and fresh!

But...I need to hear that every single week. Need to go in and be confronted by Jesus on the Cross. Need to confess, to sing praise, to hear Jesus say what I've heard so many times, what I've read so many times, need to hear "given up for you..." Need to say peace. Need to say Amen.

Every single week.

Comments

[Gerard E.]

One of the most vivid memories of my football pilgrimage to Atlanta was on the day after the Peach Bowl. On a 70-degree afternoon, a street preacher was giving an impromptu Bible class. To approximately a dozen people, most of whom clearly showed the wear and tear of living on the street. His message was subtle, deep, and quite orthodox- possibly beyond the grasp of these poor souls. But they listened attentively. Mostly because someone took the time to care for them. Seems like the young Rev. Bakker is doing likewise.

[Ellyn]

That's the line that caught my attention, too.

I feel especially blessed as a Catholic because I can go to church and hear it every single day! And I need it...

[Tom Kelty]

Amen, Amen until the day I die and can pray no longer.

[caroline]

Grace is there in the liturgy but I think it could be more talked about and the teaching explained in the homily. I recently attended a Baptism in which the priest gave no attention to being cleansed from the stain of original sin which is what we usually hear; instead, his homily concentrated entirely on the child's now becoming "full of grace." It wasn't new teaching, of course, but it was a whole new emphasis to my ears.

[E Pratt]

"Every single week."

Maybe even every single day!

[Jason]

I saw an interview with actor Billy Baldwin recently. Apparantly, he had a powerful conversion to Christianity (Protestant), and is now doing evangelistic work with the skateboarding sector of the world.

[gsj]

When are Catholics going to learn to radiate outward like some of these "alternate ministers" out on the street? Not that we should necessarily do things in precisely that way, but these impromtu evangelists have a sense of mission we could well emulate.

[Jason]

gsj,

My favorite quote is from the Holy Father is from World Youth Day 1993:

"Do not be afraid to go out on the streets and into public places, like the first Apostles who preached Christ and the Good News of salvation in the squares of cities, towns and villages. This is no time to be ashamed of the Gospel. It is the time to preach it from the rooftops. Do not be afraid to break out of comfortable and routine modes of living, in order to take up the challenge of making Christ known in the modern 'metropolis.' It is you who must 'go out into the by-roads' and invite everyone you meet to the banquet which God has prepared for his people. The Gospel must not be kept hidden because of fear or indifference. It was never meant to be hidden away in private. It has to be put on a stand so that people may see its light and give praise to our heavenly Father.” (Pope John Paul II, World Youth Day '93)

Personally, I believe this generation will take the Holy Father's call to heart, and truly transform the culture from within.

[BA]

Amy:

Your thoughts resonate with me. At the risk of hijacking the thread, they are what have led me to prefer the Tridentine Mass. The Novus Ordo is fine as it is, but where I am, it's turned into the, we're-ok-and-so-Jesus-wants-to-share-a-meal-with-us Mass. We don't often hear that we need grace, only that we have it, thanks be to God. I often think of a homily I heard in which the man who wrote I'm Ok, You're Ok heard, while praying before a crucifix with John and Mary on either side, "If you're ok, why am I up here?"

[Lynn]

"... man who wrote I'm Ok, You're Ok heard, while praying before a crucifix with John and Mary on either side, "If you're ok, why am I up here?"

That's a very good point. Thanks, BA.

[amy]

Well, BA, thanks much for your thoughts, but I'll freely admit that I worship at Novus Ordo Masses, and I hear what I need to hear just fine, from the first Sign of the Cross to the last one..if I choose to hear it, that is.

But jumping back to the topic...is outreach like Bakker's even possible for Catholics?

[Rod Dreher]

...is outreach like Bakker's even possible for Catholics?

Funny, but as we were driving home from mass yesterday, I told my wife about the Bakker story (which I'd read over breakfast). She knows I'm extremely cynical about anything to do with televangelism, and I had to admit to her that I read the story in an unkindly spirit, expecting to chuckle over whatever crazy thing the Bakker clan has gotten mixed up in now.

But you know (I told my wife), despite some screwball stuff, there was such raw and real need, and suffering, in that story, because it is present in the life of that poor Bakker guy, and the people he reaches. You can't laugh at that, and if you do, you're a fool. I was most touched by the middle-aged button-down Baptist guy who said his son had gotten him into going to that church, and that he'd found that they taught him how to love, really love, people for the first time. He'd been going through the motions at his Southern Baptist church.

I said to my wife that it's hard even to think about anything like this in the Catholic Church. I often wonder what would happen if a hard-luck case walked into mass one day, what he might hear to bring him back. It's hard for me to imagine. I don't mean this just as a crack on priests who don't preach well; the way we do things seems so structurally inimical to the kind of ministry Jay Bakker represents. We're such an unwieldy organization, with an organization mentality, that we can't easily adapt to the needs of the people. Maybe this is one of the sad fruits of the vocations crisis. I have to admit that if a parish empowered laymen to do this kind of ministry, people like me would bitch and moan if there were the least doctrinal variation. And you know, I don't think that's wrong (to complain, I mean) if they're teaching something that's not authentically Catholic. Still, it puts tremendous pressure on the minister, something that these freelance evangelical types don't have to deal with, because they don't come from a strongly hierarchical, dogmatic religion. It's just them and Jesus. If that's what you have to work with, and your appeal is essentially emotional, it's pretty easy to be flexible in your approach.

[BA]

Well, Amy, I'm glad it works for you. Would that it worked for everybody.

Forigve me if I wasn't clear: My comments weren't against the Novus Ordo: They were against turning it into the "We're OK" Mass, which they do in my area. I rejoice when I travel and can worship at a Novus Ordo Mass that hasn't been co-opted. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen very often.

Getting back to the topic. Rod comments: "Still, it puts tremendous pressure on the minister, something that these freelance evangelical types don't have to deal with, because they don't come from a strongly hierarchical, dogmatic religion. It's just them and Jesus. If that's what you have to work with, and your appeal is essentially emotional, it's pretty easy to be flexible in your approach."

I dunno. I'd say if we were as connected to Jesus through the Sacraments and the Scriptures together, we'd find it in ourselves to be just as flexible, if not more so. One can be personally flexible while remaining dogmatically firm. Problem is, we let the world form us rather than letting God's grace form us. I know I'm guilty as heck of this, and I'm trying to change it. Anyways, that's my $.02.

[Daniel H. Conway]

"...is outreach like Bakker's even possible for Catholics?"

Absolutely. The Catholic Worker has been doing it for decades. The ministry is the acts of the Works of Mercy, and few who enter a Catholic Worker doubt that faith motivates these folks. Many who come for hospitality are influenced by the fact that individuals who could live otherwise in many circumstances are sharing rooms with the formerly homeless, mentally ill. In the Houses I know, the icons of saints and crucifixes are prominently displayed, if not painted on the exterior walls. Catholic Workers can walk and live in places that many fear, not without some cost to their own personal safety, and the guests of these houses, as well as the neighbors of these houses note this as well, and remark about this.

oh yeah, one more point:
And since these folks occasionally inhabit prisons as a consequence of their civil disobedience, they frequently start Bible studies while incarcerated.