Monday, June 25, 2012

ENGAGE!!

I went to visit my sister in Los Angeles last week, and on Saturday morning we got up to go do her regular Saturday morning thing. She is a clinic escort with L.A. for Choice, a pro-choice group that stands outside a women's health clinic and helps women get safely from the curb to the door.  This group, and others like it, is necessary because there is also an anti-choice contingent on the sidewalk handing out fliers, cards and other propaganda.  The anti-choice people try to intimidate women and berate them with their brand of Christianity, the kind I do not subscribe to.  I'm also not a fan of beating someone over the head with my faith, but that's a post for another day.

So we're out there in the blazing sun, wearing our awesome orange tank tops emblazoned with PRO-CHOICE CLINIC ESCORT, firmly holding our ground between the protesters and the clinic.  We do not engage with them.  It is our job simply to escort women if they need it, and to offer to take the propaganda off their hands.  That is all.  An older woman protester brought her grandchildren, who looked to be about 3 and 5, and sat them on the curb next to the street to play while she sang Ave Maria and recited the Hail Mary for two hours.  This made me extremely nervous, and when the kids started crawling around under my feet I mentioned that she might want to take them home.  A man walked in between us and said, "You can go home, baby killer." 

Baby killer.  

I wanted to punch him in the mouth.  It was the most egregious insult ever hurled at me, and it rolled off his tongue so effortlessly.  

As the morning wore on without further incident, I wanted so badly to go have a conversation with him.  I wanted to stick out my hand, say, "My name is Bethany.  Let's talk about that name you just called me and how it isn't actually true.  Also, not a very nice thing to say.  Oh, and by the way, I'm a seminary student with deeply held convictions on things like abortion.  Let's talk about these things, so you can get to know me a little before calling me such an ugly name."  I didn't, because we weren't there to engage, but oh how I wanted to.

Later, as I took time to process the events of the morning, I decided I absolutely should have engaged him in that conversation.  If for no other reason than to see that no matter how hard I tried, no matter how loving and gracious I was, he wouldn't ever love me back.

Or would he?

I found him on the Twitter, and started following him...and he followed me back.  I'm mostly just observing for right now, but I'm hoping this will create a safe space for us to engage in some real dialogue.  Via Twitter of all things.  Now isn't that interesting?

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Twitter Evangelism

My associate pastor recently started following me on Twitter.  This chick is cool.  I've always thought so.  I remember when she was called to our church as a new seminary graduate about twelve years ago.  I looked at her that first day and thought, "We're going to be friends."  We weren't, but I still thought she was awesome.

We have spent a little more time together since I've started seminary, and she treats me more like a colleague now than a congregant.  I like it because, once again, I always thought she was cool.  Only now she has more than a decade of experience at an inner city, social justice church, which makes her that much cooler, and really wise.  So I lean on her and she has yet to lead me astray.  Which is why, when she leaned on me, I felt honored.  Actually, I felt a lot of things.  I'm almost ashamed to admit that the thing I felt the most...don't laugh...was cool.  Yes, she's fifteen years older than me and the fact that she leaned on me made me feel cool.  This is how awesome this woman is.

So I got a notification the other day that she started following me on Twitter.  "Uh oh, I have to tone it down now."  But I realized I've never been too outrageous, and therefore am probably safe.  Plus, she's cool.  Are you sensing a theme?  So, naturally, I followed her back.  Then I got an email from her.  "I don't know how to tweet.  If you were a pastor at Central, how would you use Twitter?"

OMG!!!!!!  MY.  PASTOR.  JUST.  ASKED.  ME.  FOR.  ADVICE.

Stuff like that never gets old.  It's actually really freaking awesome.  And she didn't just admit to not knowing what she's doing, she actually asked me to imagine myself as the pastor at our church and think of what I might do in her shoes.  BIG SHOES.  My extroverted self had such a fit when I told her we weren't answering right away. It would be so easy to just spout off a million different ways to use the Twitter (yup, I said it), but I wanted to give quality advice.  So I took a few days and finally responded this morning with a (fairly) succinct email on the way I use it, the way I know other pastors use it, and how my sister uses it (which I think is actually a great model for pastors).

So follow me @bethanyebenz, follow her @ckelly_kelly, and follow my sister @thejulieeffect (you won't regret it).  We're going to evangelize the interwebs (well, my sister won't, but she's funny).