Planted Together, from Mike
Dear Woodlanders,
Some of my most transformative experiences have taken place at Haley Farm, a retreat center just outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. The Farm is a beautiful piece of property that Alex Haley purchased with the royalties he received from his book and television series, Roots. When Haley passed away, he deeded the 157-acre property to the Children’s Defense Fund. Since the end of the last century the CDF has hosted numerous events at the Farm – Freedom Schools for inner-city children that have taught the spiritual discipline involved in civil rights work; conferences on faith-based advocacy; gatherings of scholars, authors, artists, and worshippers of all ages, races, and nationalities.
The event that attracted Lisa’s and my attention and presence for a number of years was the summer Proctor Institute where young African-American students from the inner city come to Haley for a week along with gifted African-American pastors, writers, and musicians, as well as some Anglos thrown in for good measure. It was at Proctor where I was introduced to the brilliant activist/theologian Marian Wright Edelman, preachers like Otis Moss, Jr. Otis Moss III, James Forbes and others. It was the setting for inspiring teaching, preaching, music and the arts.
One of the features of the week was the Bible study taught by Dr. Fred Craddock. Over the years I invested a lot of time and energy studying under Dr. Craddock who taught preaching at Candler School of Theology but conducted preaching conferences all over the country. Dr. Craddock was a small, soft-spoken man who in a matter of just a few minutes mesmerized congregations from every denomination and background. He was one of the finest communicators I have ever heard. Fred did that at Proctor, charming and educating young and old alike.
What I remember most about him at Proctor was his habit of eating lunch with the young black students who flocked to be near him. I would look over at his table, and he would have captivated their attention and created a sense of community that I think those young people as well as those of us who observed are still enchanted by. One morning at Bible study he announced that he had received one of the highest accolades he had ever been awarded: The young black community had asked him to be their adopted grandfather. He reveled in that honor.
I thought about that a couple of weeks ago when we combined a children’s Family Night with an adult Serendipity experience. We all ate together, and one group in particular caught my attention. It was a table where Nilda and Conrad sat, surrounded by several kids of varied ages. It reminded me of Haley and Dr. Craddock’s hosting those young people as their adopted granddad. There was an unmistakable spirit of joy emanating from the Navarros’ table, so much so, that Katie, Hannah and I are dreaming about more intergenerational opportunities.
In reminiscing about that evening and that picture of koinonia, I can’t help but think that it represents what we hope and pray is happening with our capital campaign, “Planted Together.” Sure enough, we are renovating some sacred space, but more importantly we are making a statement about how the church grows forward. As we consider our “planting” venture, perhaps remembering a couple of the lines from Ernest Campbell’s prayer -- “To be young is to sit under trees which we did not plant; to be mature is to plant trees under which we will not sit” will guide us in our giving and our growing.
This Sunday, in the midst of our campaign, we will gather around the Lord’s table, and I pray that we will experience a table much like the Navarros' of a few weeks back, where the propagation of the Spirit’s work gifts us with an experience that we can live out of forever.
Grateful to be planted with you,
Mike Massar