{"id":2620,"date":"2008-10-31T19:47:29","date_gmt":"2008-10-31T19:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=2620"},"modified":"2010-12-22T11:56:57","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T16:56:57","slug":"6673","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/31\/6673\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastor Calls for Reconciliation, Not Marginalization"},"content":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (October 31, 2008) \u2013 If Christians are to be instruments of God\u2019s peace, they need to reject media that profit from promoting division, says Efrem Smith, pastor of Sanctuary Covenant Church<\/a>.
\n
\nSmith advocates not listening to certain radio and television talk show hosts he describes as \u201cshock jocks\u201d who he says \u201care getting paid millions of dollars to draw great chasms in the sand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EfremPrograms of that ilk are contrary to the call of the gospel, Smith says with impassioned emphasis. \u201cThe church needs to be a prophetic voice of reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith helped organize a conference held last week in Minneapolis to promote reconciliation, and he has spoken nationally on the issue.<\/p>\n

Too much of the media has categorized, marginalized, and demonized people of all races and economic status, he says. He cites the current financial crisis is an example.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in the banking industry are being painted as criminals,\u201d Smith says. Meanwhile bankers who attend Sanctuary – as well as others who are friends and did not engage in unethical practices – are painted with the same brush. \u201cFor sure, they\u2019re struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n

People who are suffering financial difficulties and especially foreclosures also have been marginalized through stereotyping, Smith adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn June and July we had more benevolence requests than in the first five months combined,\u201d Smith says. \u201cThe majority of these people were college-educated individuals and families.\u201d<\/p>\n

The financial difficulties generally were not caused by their greed or foolishness, he says. Instead, they lost their jobs when workplaces closed or businesses trimmed their number of employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have to be careful not to stereotype people who come to them,\u201d Smith says.<\/p>\n

The financial pain felt by people in his congregation has led to changes at Sanctuary.
\n\u201cIt caused us to think more seriously about how we care for people in our church,\u201d Smith says.<\/p>\n

That process led them to alter the way they celebrate communion. Emphasizing the sacrifice of Christ, the church now asks members to bring an offering for the benevolence fund when they come to the table.<\/p>\n

Since then, giving to the fund has increased, Smith says. \u201cIt\u2019s expanded the number of people we can help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith says that may not be the best response for every church, but adds, \u201cAll churches are going to have to figure out new ways of caring for people who are hurting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christians can consider those changes when they\u2019re not listening to politically motivated rhetoric, Smith says.<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (October 31, 2008) \u2013 If Christians are to be instruments of God\u2019s peace, they need to reject media that profit from promoting division, says Efrem Smith, pastor of Sanctuary Covenant Church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPastor Calls for Reconciliation, Not Marginalization - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/31\/6673\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pastor Calls for Reconciliation, Not Marginalization - 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