Box City

This past Thursday evening, October 25, Chain of Lakes Church and Blaine High School partnered to share Box City.  Box City is an event where students and adults from Blaine High School and Chain of Lakes sleep in boxes on the Blaine Tennis courts.  The purpose of the event is to simulate for participants what it must be like to be homeless.  Participants sleep in a box on Thursday night and then go to school or work on Friday—just as a youth who is homeless would have to do.

Helping and preventing youth homelessness is the heart-burst issue at Chain of Lakes. Box City is one of the many ways that the people at Chain of Lakes help.  Ultimately our congregation wants to be part of a movement to end youth homelessness.  

We work to end youth homeless through partnerships.  Chain of Lakes has a partnership with three high schools, Blaine High School, Anoka Regional High School, and Anoka Technical High.  We were just recently approached to have a partnership with another school whose mission is to educate homeless youth.  These partnerships start by developing a relationship with the Social Worker(s) or other staff at the school.  We ask one basic question—“How can we help?” The roles in the partnership are simple. People from the school identify the needs; the people from Chain of Lakes response to the needs. In these partnership meetings I have said multiple times that the role of the people of Chain of Lakes is not to guess at what the needs are. The schools can tell us the needs. The role of the people at Chain of Lakes is to respond with effectively to the needs.

Chain of Lakes has also partnered with HOPE 4 Youth in multiple ways, ever since HOPE 4 Youth was started. That partnership goes beyond what I can share in a short blog posting.  Chain of Lakes was presented with the Faith partner of the year by HOPE 4 Youth in 2017.

This is the fifth year that Box City has taken place. The people from Chain of Lakes partner with leaders from the Outdoor Adventure Club of Blaine High School.  We’ve worked together for so long that we only need two or three meetings to organize the event. This year I didn’t even attend the planning meetings.

But I wouldn’t miss participating in Box City. I need to be reminded what it’s like to be homeless.

It was inspiring to have a group of ten people from Chain of Lakes participate in Box City and to have my daughter, Hannah, participate.

Box City started with a program in the media center of the high school. Two youth who live at HOPE place spoke. HOPE place is the only residential facility for homeless youth in Anoka County. It’s run by HOPE 4 Youth. Beau Fields was one of the speakers. Beau participates in Chain of Lakes. He was baptized at Chain of Lakes in June 2017 and comes to worship almost every Sunday.

One highlight this year was a presentation by Richard Bahr. He cofounded Threshold to New Life https://threshold2newlife.org/ and also recently authored a book, “Those People.”  https://www.amazon.com/Those-People-True-Character-Homeless/dp/0990807398

In this presentation he talked about the views that many people have about the homeless. He shared a story of how one person is homeless because he shares all his money with his daughter.  Wow!  His presentation really was a call to look at a homeless person with compassion and not judgment. He challenged everyone to work through the inevitable stereotypes about a homeless person and to try to learn with compassion the story of a homeless person.

After the program it was time to go to the tennis courts. When we got to the tennis courts most people built their “home” for the night by setting up their boxes. Some of the students were very creative in putting their boxes together. They created a village of boxes. I put two boxes together and placed them by a fence. It took me a while to put my “stuff” into the box. The slight rain didn’t help.  Fortunately this year it wasn’t cold this year.

As part of Box City people from Chain of Lakes came around with peanut butter sandwiches. Nothing flashy, but helpful. Many of us spent much of the evening standing around burn barrels that were set up and talking.  

At 10:00 I went into my box. Fortunately I had a pad that another person from Chain of Lakes loaned to me. I covered myself in blankets and tried to sleep. Not easy to do. Even with my mat the ground was very hard. I woke up freezing at 1:30.  Eventually I was able to move some of my “stuff” so that I could stay warm for the night. I woke up at 5:30.  Most of the youth awoke at 6, and we cleaned up the tennis courts.

The youth participating in Box City are fabulous. In five years I can’t remember ever hearing a complaint about sleeping in a box. The way that the youth help each other and want to help is inspiring.

In his presentation Richard Bahr shared how physically demanding it is for a person to be homeless. I could relate to this in sleeping in a box for one night. The experience gave me once again a lens to view the world from a homeless person’s perspective. I take so much for granted by sleeping in a comfortable bed every night.  It is a privilege to sleep in a box and be reminded for a short time what life is like for a homeless person.

Enjoy a short video that Channel 5 News did on Box City
https://kstp.com/news/minnesota-moment-sleepout-in-blaine-raises-money-for-homeless-youth/5122856/?fbclid=IwAR1D_ELaGKfKYc0LYo11KFH1GA20NztYmPuK6dWb2cTLBc6KsgS4onN-rLY#.W9MryrnDmCs.facebook

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Visiting Chicago and Willow Creek

Yesterday at the end of our MEA trip to Chicago, Amy, Hannah and I attended worship at Willow Creek. Their main campus in South Barrington is right off of I-94, and on the way back to the Twin Cities.  I’ve never been to Willow Creek, so away we went. I’ve read some of the books of their founding pastor, Bill Hybels, and have attended their Global Summit.

The three of us spent four days enjoying Chicago. We did what out-of-town tourists do in the Windy City. We ate deep dish pizza, went to the Art Institute of Chicago, walked around Millennium Park, and saw a show at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. A family friend of Amy’s was in the show. The theatre was delightful and the quality of the show was high. I went for a run with Hannah in the neighborhood near where we stayed. The three of us walked around Navy Pier, drove around the neighborhood on the South Side where I used to organize for ACORN, went to the top of what’s now called the Willis Tower, and ended our trip by going to Willow Creek.

Allow me one rant about visiting Chicago. Tolls! Eliminate them! I’m guessing that we stopped at least twenty times over four days paying tools. What good is that? Tolls tie up traffic and are not user-friendly. I believe that highways are a public good and communities benefit by high quality highways.

As we were leaving Aurora about 11 pm Friday night we ran into a toll. We needed to pay $1.10 to get on the freeway. The only way to do it was to find that amount in change and throw it in the toll receptor. Being from out-of-town we didn’t know the toll was coming and we didn’t know that the tollbooth only took change. I’m guessing we could have driven through and paid later on I-PASS, but we didn’t know that.  My suggestion is to increase the gas tax and eliminate the tolls. The highways would be much more user-friendly—especially for out-of-towners

We ended our trip by attending Willow Creek.

Willow Creek has experienced turmoil in the past year as their founding pastor, Bill Hybels, resigned amidst accusations of sexual misconduct. Heather Larson and Steve Carter were appointed as successors to Hybels. They both resigned along with the board of the church.

A link about the resignations is here: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/august/willow-creek-bill-hybels-heather-larson-elders-resign-inves.html

A link to the independent investigation that is now happening is here: 

https://religionnews.com/2018/09/18/national-association-of-evangelicals-president-others-to-oversee-new-investigation-of-hybels-willow-creek/

The story is a tragedy.

Willow Creek is located on a gigantic complex of land with many buildings. Their worship space seats 7,000 and has three levels. The three of us got to the main building about a half hour before the service started. Hannah found out about a high school worship service that took place at the same time and attended that.

Amy & I sat about six rows from the front. We received no information when we walked in the worship space. There weren’t many people there at the start of the service, but right at 11:15 the worship band started.  The worship order was praise. Three songs, a prayer, announcement, offering, sermon of about thirty minutes, Communion and closing. I’m not sure how often the church celebrates Communion.

A crowd did eventually arrive. Amy & I estimated that about 800 people attended the service.  The band was marvelous, the people who attended worship were engaged, and the sermon by Matt Wright on forgiveness was okay. I appreciated that his teaching on forgiveness was based on the work of Lewis Smedes, whose books I have enthusiastically endorsed. That was solid. But Matt Wright started the sermon with a story about how he fainted when his wife was delivering their third child. He saw the epidural needle and went down. The story related to forgiveness as a pastoral colleague shared the story with the church without Matt Wright’s permission. Of course, that shouldn’t have happened. But the optics of a guy talking about his pain amidst his wife delivering a baby didn’t seem right.

It was obvious that Willow Creek is in transition. Steve Gillen, acting senior pastor of Willow Creek, shared during a “stewardship” announcement that the church is expecting to receive $550,000 a week in revenues in 2019, down from $685,000 a week in 2018. Multiply that decrease by 52 and the challenges are obvious.

I’m glad I went to Willow Creek; I don’t need to go back. I pray that the truth of what happened will come out. And my prayers are with everyone as Willow Creek discerns how to move forward.

A Tribute to John Gagliardi

Over the weekend John Gagliardi passed away.  He might be the greatest football coach who has ever prowled a sideline in Minnesota—comparable to Bud Grant and Bernie Bierman. I’ve already been reading the tributes to Gagliardi from his players.  They loved him deeply. I wrote the following tribute to him when he retired in 2012.

Congratulations to John Gagliardi on an amazing football career at St. John’s University.  Sixty years of coaching football at the same school, 489 wins?  Wow.

I played football for Carleton from 1982-1985.  Our team played St. John’s three times in my career and like the other twenty-six times Carleton played St. John’s we lost. Since my playing career was over I have followed MIAC football and especially Carleton football very closely.  John Gagliardi deserves every kudo that is given to him.  However with the utmost respect I can’t help but say I’ve never seen a coach able to win games that seemed out of reach.  I wouldn’t at all call him lucky as he was a brilliant coach who ran a brilliant program.  But I wouldn’t hesitate to call him charmed.

When I heard the news yesterday that he had retired two stories came to my mind.

The first happened on September 21, 1985, my senior year.  This was the third year that Carleton played in the MIAC.  We had taken our lumps the first two years, but we felt ready to contend for a championship.  We had routed the first two teams and now we had St. John's where we wanted them.  We were at home, and playing with confidence.  The week before St. John’s had barely beaten Bethel, who at the time finished at the bottom of the conference.  

This was going to be our statement game.

The game was rugged.  We scored at the end of the first half to take our first lead (10-6) ever against St. John’s.  Gagliardi was pacing the sidelines.  We were down by three early in the fourth quarter when our offense went on a signature drive.  We went deep into their territory.  A pass put the ball inside the five yard line.  We were going to score and win the game!  But then—.  A penalty was called on us.  Our quarterback was sacked.  We tried a field goal to tie the score—no good.  They took over, and we suddenly couldn’t stop them.  A touchdown for St. John’s and then a field goal.  St John's 23; Carleton 10.

In about 20 minutes the direction of each of our seasons changed. Something had dramatically happened in the game—could it be the charm?  St. John’s went on to win the conference—aided by another charmed win the following week against St. Thomas.  We finished the season at .500—which did start a run of almost a decade of upper division finishes in the MIAC for Carleton.  But we had come to win the game—and somehow we lost.

The second story is one I will never forget.  In the fall of 2008 Carleton went on an improbable run of victories.  We were one victory away from our second conference championship.  The only team that was left to beat was St. John’s.  Again we had them right where we wanted them—at home, we were playing with confidence, St. John’s was not as good as in the past. 

By this time I knew about the Gagliardi charm.  I went to the game telling myself not to believe Carleton would win the game.  I had been disappointed too many times in the past.  I wouldn't give in to believing.

The game again was close and rugged.  I had the privilege of sitting next to two Carleton teammates and my revered coach, Bob Sullivan (Sully).  With little time left in the game Carleton was down by four and had fourth and goal.  We held our breath to see if the Knights would finally break through.  The Carleton quarterback dropped back, threw a fade in the end zone and it was ………….caught—touchdown Carleton!!! 

We were finally going to beat St. John’s and win the conference.  The charm had been broken, and we were already celebrating.  My teammates, Sully, and I jumped up and down like giggly kids who had received the greatest gift possible from Santa Claus. 

Carleton kicked off.  We were still celebrating as St. John’s returned the ball to the 40. They completed a pass, then a long pass, and then the pass we won’t forget.  A long arching spiral down the St. John’s sideline that went for a touchdown.  You—have—got—to—be—kidding—me.  St John's 14; Carleton 10.  I immediately knew the mistake I had made.  I had disrespected the charm.   
 

Congratulations, John Gagliardi.  You were brilliant.  Your teams broke my heart, but they always earned my respect. 

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Minnesota Man, Joe Mauer

I didn’t go to the Twins game yesterday to watch the sensational celebration of Joe Mauer, but I’ve spent enough time as a season-ticket holder since Target Field opened to appreciate him.  He is the quintessential “Minnesota man.”  

Joe elevated the archetype of a Minnesota man.  Humble, low-key, consistent, polite, committed, good, religious, reserved.  He’s the guy you’d want your daughter to bring home on a date.  You can trust him.  Joe Mauer.

And by the way Joe—and he’s the type of guy who would seem to want to be called by his first name—was a terrific baseball player.  He was easily a top five player in the history of the Minnesota Twins. Off the top of my head, my order of excellence would be 1) Kirby Puckett; 2) Harmon Killebrew; 3) Rod Carew; 4) Joe; 5) Bert Blyleven. Honorable mention go to Torii Hunter, Kent Hrbek, Frank Viola, Jim Kaat, Tony Olivia, and Johann Santana. There might be another player on the 1965 World Series team that would make this list.

I would think Joe’s statistics will land him on a Cooperstown plaque.    Three-time American League batting champion as a catcher; MVP winner, and six All-Star selections.

And like almost all ball players he had holes in his career. He deserved to receive 23 million a year for eight years when the Twins gave him that contract, but in the last eight years he didn’t perform to the standards of that contract. Joe never played in a playoff game that the Twins won. And right now the Twins need more than six home runs from their first baseman. So from a baseball perspective to have Joe retire right now seems right.  (And even if Joe hasn’t said he will retire, it seems highly improbable that he’ll don a #7 jersey again.)  

The problem for the Twins right now is they don’t have enough quality players around him.  And the Twins have a lot of problems right now. Derek Falvey and Thad Levine went all-in (for the Twins) at the start of the season. But I guess they can’t be held responsible for the injuries, the lost years for Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano, the suspension to Jorge Polanco, and the under performance of the team.  Giving up on the year at the trading deadline was the right decision, but the Twins performance made it hard to go to Target Field for the last two months. The season was a disappointment. The standard for the Twins should be the playoffs—and we haven’t been there since 2010. The honeymoon for Falvey and Levine is over.

Hollywood could have hardly scripted a better baseball career for a guy from Minnesota as a Minnesota Twin. Gatorade national baseball and football player of the year in high school; first overall choice in the draft in 2001; Joe turned down a scholarship to play football at Florida State to sign with the Twins. I remember people wondering if the Twins should have drafted Mark Prior instead of Joe. And then he is the father of twins too!

I wish I could have been at Target Field to watch the final game of the season yesterday. Late in the afternoon my Dad sent me a text asking if I was watching the game. The game was over by then, so I watched video on-line. It was almost perfect. To open the game Joe was greeted at first-base by his twin daughters; for his last at-bat he hit an opposite field double. (Joe has the most doubles of any player in Twins history and probably has more opposite field hits than any other Twin). Then to finish his career he put on his catching gear and caught one pitch.  He received a five minute ovation which would have gone longer if Joe had wanted it to go longer.  Goosebumps, heart in the throat, tears forming.  For me watching a video!  But like a true Minnesotan I contained my tears.

And Joe did too. He is a Minnesota man. And as a man committed to all-things Minnesota I’m grateful to have watched him perform on and off the field. Thanks, Joe!

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