New Jerusalem Now

It’s been a few months and, with the latest issue of CONSP!RE magazine hot off the presses, a broad network of friends and communities in the Philadelphia area are meeting up for a night of celebration.

The latest issue of CONSP!RE gathers together collective wisdom from faith communities across the globe concerning the topic of prayer. These release parties are always a source of deep encouragement, so RSVP over at the Simple Way’s website and join us this Friday night, 6pm, at Wyoming Avenue Baptist Church (123 E Wyoming Ave).

Join us in a funeral procession lamenting the cruelty of yesterday’s massive SSI cuts  inflicted upon 340,000 of Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable.

The elderly poor and disabled were dealt a devastating blow on February 1st after the state legislature  implemented a $22 million cut to PA Supplemental Security Income.  These budget cuts will drastically reduce food and housing security within an already-fragile sector of society living on a fixed income 20% below the poverty line.

The poorest among us deserve better.

Carry hope for a different tomorrow by joining New Jerusalem Now, our friends at Broad Street Ministry, and other affected Philadelphians in  a procession and vigil around City Hall this Wednesday at 5pm.

Click on the image above for details of the event and read more about the cuts affecting a number of us at New Jerusalem and in our neighborhood HERE.

New Jerusalem’s longtime friends at KWRU are staging an important event for those of us in the Philadelphia area:

Join the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC), Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU), and our allies for an unpermitted rally and demonstration to demand a national moratorium on foreclosures and evictions! PPEHRC’s member organizations are having similar actions at federal buildings across the country.

Poverty, homelessness, debt, and unemployment are rising while trillions are spent on wars and bailouts for the rich. Join poor and homeless people who are leading the fight for affordable housing and healthcare. Take action. Join the movement to end poverty!

Hello dear friend,

Thank you for visiting our site. In the past, you may have received some form of appeal in your mailbox during these holiday seasons, asking you to consider giving us financial support. This year we’re going digital.

One reason is because we believe this to be an area of “recovery potential”, as we are aware of the avalanche of paper waste that is harming our planet and cluttering our lives. Another reason is that we simply do not have the resources to send out a written appeal. (hint, hint!)

Some data suggests that attention spans are dwindling. If you’ve made it this far, you have already outlasted many others. Keep it up, you’re doing great! We promise this won’t take much longer.

We need your help. This has been an especially difficult year for us as the economy, circumstances and the cunning have conspired to bring us closer to zero than since the days of our beginnings. But, as our friend Hafiz tells us, “zero is where the real fun starts!”

Many of the beautiful broken people who walk through our doors are also closer to zero than ever. This is where recovery begins. We believe that God is more interested in tender beginnings than efficient ends. Now here is your opportunity to join with us in the tender beginnings of a new year.

Please help us— and our world— recover. Your financial support makes our work possible; without it we cannot keep our doors open to the least of these. If you are inspired to contribute, simply click here for instructions.

Thank you, God bless, and happy holidays!

Much love,

Your friends at New Jerusalem Now

For those of you who don’t know,  New Jerusalem was recently the subject and cover story of the Philadelphia City Paper. You can read the story here.

For those of you who have come to visit our site as a result of reading the article: welcome! We are glad to have you. We hope you will feel at home and look around, and if there are any questions we can answer, please feel free to leave a note and we will get back to you.

The summer has been a whirlwind, leaving updates on life around here few and far between.  Maybe a few of you, though, stumbled across an article about New Jerusalem in the May/June 2009 issue of PRISM magazine.

Published by a group of justice-minded evangelical Christians, the people behind the magazine were generous enough to donate fifty copies of the issue to our community in hopes that there might be a few of you interested in buying it directly from us.  If you didn’t see it back in May, click here to view “The Therapeutic Power of Community: How a Recovery Community Flourishes in a Neighborhood Renowned for Addiction” and let us know if you’d like a hard copy of the full issue.

Our friends at the simple way and The Alternative Seminary have organized yet another excuse to get together.  The new issue of Consp!re magazine is fresh off the presses and a whole bunch of us will be gathering to celebrate its release and the theme of “Sacred Subversions” this Wednesday, 6pm, at 18th and Diamond (just three blocks from the central New Jerusalem house).

Hosted by the Church of the Advocate, an embodiment of “sacred subversion” and central component in the struggle for civil rights and justice here in North Philly, the evening will begin with a potluck dinner and pick up steam during a time of communion, song, prayer, and a few readings from the latest issue.

While you might have missed New Jerusalem’s own Bruce Dawson’s and Nate Buchanan’s reflections during the last release party on the signs of hope and rebirth that appeared in their pieces from the spring’s Resurrection issue… you can’t say you weren’t aware that something wonderful was in the air this time around!

See you there…

The forecast was gloomy.  No matter how many times we checked again as the day approached, and no matter how many different sources we looked to for a better-sounding prediction, they all joined their voices to promise an overcast day of rain and showers and thunder and lightning. Ugh.

God, grant us 

            the serenity to accept the things we cannot change…

This event was intended to be a fundraiser for our community, New Jerusalem Now, which Sister Margaret has aptly described as “mostly fragile potential.” By mid-morning on Saturday, the paper streamers in our yard were melting in the rain, revealing the mostly fragile potential of most of our best-laid plans.

We find ourselves, along with so many others, confronted with an economic situation which threatens each of us and our community with the possibility of closing our doors completely. The financial position of New Jerusalem Now is dire. Grants are harder to come by, donations are down. The forecast is gloomy. And yet, we felt like throwing a party anyways.

…the courage to change the things we can…

In the weeks leading up to the event, we sensed God nudging us towards a deeper understanding of the potential hidden within the occasion. This was more than just a fundraiser, or at least it could be, if we let it. Not only was it an opportunity for us to be and become community in a more meaningful way, but at a deeper level it represented the decision to embrace celebration and abundance and Jubilee in a season increasingly plagued by penny-pinching survivalism.

We find in God an absurd kind of abundance, a ridiculous overflow, like water gushing out of a rock in the middle of the desert. There is an extravagance which defies all sound financial advice. It’s like a full-blown Ponzi scheme, in reverse. God is throwing a preposterous party, and we keep getting lavish invitations. But for us, the party —and the battle—begin within. We cannot change the weather, but we can change our attitude towards it.

…and the wisdom to know the difference.

Two days before the event the forecast was fairly certain, and so were we. We chose to open the (flood)gates, rain or shine, and have a party anyways. We chose that particular brand of madness that dances in the face of disaster and looks to embrace God in reality, even when doing so means muddy shoes and soggy trousers.

We knew that those who came to see us in the rain would be heavenly angels sent just for us, and that we would have plenty of food to offer them. At one point in the planning, we had actually worried about being able to feed everyone who might show up. But God conspired to provide an overabundance for each person there, and the Spirit was abundant, too.

God’s will—not ours—be done.

What followed was one of the more memorable days in the recent life of New Jerusalem. It was wet and wild. We had mudslides and mochas; a DJ and a deluge; a farmer’s market and a silent auction; a beautiful, ragtag choir transforming the familiar into the extraordinary; an impromptu aria sung by two lovely young ladies; lots of smiles, lots of hugs, lots of laughs; and some of the best food ever offered on God’s green earth.

As we let go of our expectations and the way we thought it should look, we were able to move into the wondrous designs of a good God who really knows how to party, and how to provide. The event didn’t resolve our financial crisis, but it helped in the healing of that impoverished spiritual condition which is life detached from the Truest Source. And we are grateful.

Bouncing off each other under the shelter of our tents, the sun was rising, and the moon and the stars, God and all Her angels, too. We were all packed in there together, eating, moving with the music and laughing—at the weather, at the economy, at ourselves, and at every other thing that seems, for a moment, to foil God’s intention to get down.

And we got down.

Amen.

Postscript ~ It’s not too late for you to share in the abundance. For those of you who wanted to come but couldn’t, we are still happily accepting donations for our community and for our mission to serve the sick and suffering addicts of our society. We invite you to partner with us in our holy tomfoolery, and support us in our work for the recovery of our world. Checks can be sent to our mailing address, or you can check out our so-so-easy online contribution method by clicking on the “support” button at the top of this page.

Much love and many blessings, your friends at NJN.

For more photos, visit this LINK.

The New Jerusalem Now community would like to thank all those who made our first Summer Soulstice Block Party such a success and a wonderful time to be together:

Erika Funk, from Broad Street Ministry, who gave many hours in planning, much good advice, made many calls, arranged for and brought gallons of coffee, lent us tables from BSM, helped us run the farmers market on the day of the event, and brought sunshine into the rain.

Joe Morrison, who gave much good counsel and direction throughout the planning of the event, kept us from getting discouraged or off-point in our efforts, without whose help this event wouldn’t have happened.

Wendy Gaynor and the Broad Street Ministry “Motley Order Choir,” who sang, danced, and brought the Spirit and the soul into our little corner of Philadelphia.  They gave of themselves freely and they made that day unforgettable for all of us.

Bill Golderer of Broad Street Ministry, Will O’Brien of Project H.O.M.E., Dick and Phyllis Taylor, Vic and Charlene Compher, Patricia Pearce and Kip Leitner, without whose financial support and abundant generosity this event would not have happened.

The Circle of Hope community, who have proven themselves such good friends and supporters of NJN, for promoting our event, and lending us the sound equipment needed to make ourselves  heard and to bring some volume to our celebration.

Nick Schummer, who arranged for the sound equipment from Circle of Hope, packed it into his truck, transported it, set it up, operated it, broke it down, and took it back, and Nathan Leonard who assisted.

Broad Street Ministry (Erika Funk), Old First Reformed (Alice Reyes), and Incarnation of Our Lord School (Sr. Katherine Baltazar), who lent us the many tables and chairs needed in order to serve our guests.

Brittney “blew” Lewis, our visiting barista, who crafted many fine caffeinated concoctions to fuel the fun.

Aram Dadian, whose generosity and assistance kept our stage performers dry.

Jamie Moffett, who helped document the event with photographs.

Suzanne McHenry, our pancake princess, who supplied us with more batter and condiments than we could have asked for.

The Simple Way, who have supported us continually over the years, and who helped in the promotion of the event.

Our friends at the Camden House(s), who lent us extra tents which came in very handy when the rain came down.

Raymond Walters and Sheila Wortham, who were in our kitchen for days leading up to the event, and for most of that day too, preparing the food we all enjoyed so much.

Jerome Dupont, for designing very creative signs for our event.

The NJN Board of Directors, for their support and advice.

Everyone who donated goods and items for our silent auction.

Everyone else who contributed in many different ways, great and small, to help us pull this off, including everyone who showed up, in the rain, to have a great time anyways…

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  And many blessings!

Sincerely,

Your friends at
New Jerusalem Now

Spring has sprung and, now that summer is just around the corner, it’s time we start getting people involved in our first-ever Summer Soulstice.

On June 20th New Jerusalem is hosting a huge block party intended as both a celebration of recovery and as an effort to raise funds during an especially fragile season for us.  There’ll be music and a dance-off, pancakes and BBQ, a farmers’ market, a silent auction, and a lot of laughter. 

In order to pull off such an ambitious event, we’re relying on support from a ton of friends.  While there are many ways to help out, one of the simplest needs we have can be met through the donation of items for the silent auction. Whether it’s something artsy and crafty, a bike helmet, books, furniture, or theatre tickets, give Justin a call (215.763.8806) if you think you might have something that would be a good fit.

The life of New Jerusalem isn’t sustainable apart from God and God has blessed us greatly with many friends like you, so your interest and involvement in this event is something for which we’re extremely grateful.

Check out the EVENTS page for more info.