I had not been Bishop of Lexington very long when the need arose to relocate the diocesan offices due to the Cathedral’s needs for more space due to a nicely expanding ministry. We went looking for space.
We looked at an old furniture store. It’s attraction to me is that it was located in Lexington’s primary Hispanic neighborhood and it had enough room to house a diocesan hospitality ministry for cancer patients and their families from Appalachia. It was more money than we wanted to pay.
We looked at office parks. Too depressing.
There was one vacated bank branch in the most hideous 1960s architectural style with a façade, appropriately enough, of turquoise mosaic. Too tacky.
We kept coming back to an old house at the corner of Martin Luther King and Fourth Street. It had a number of advantages. It was cheap. That’s always an important church consideration. Though old, it was solid as a rock structurally. It had both character and historic significance. It was more than enough space for us and had the potential to house a number of growing diocesan ministries. It placed us in a great location for mission. Our presence there would be a stabilizing force in the neighborhood. The neighborhood was definitely under- served. The city’s second largest Hispanic neighborhood was nearby. Its address was a plus. Locating the diocesan headquarters on Martin Luther King Boulevard was itself taking an important stand. It was conveniently located to the Cathedral where many diocesan events took place.
It also had some disadvantages. It may have been sound structurally, but needed no small amount of work. The character of the neighborhood made us wonder if everyone would feel comfortable coming there at night. There was parking lot paving that would need to be done, and the city had some challenging rules regarding drainage.
But none of those was the biggest problem. It wasn’t just an old house. It was, in truth, a classic Southern ante-bellum mansion from the 1840s. It had once been part of the Henry Clay family. Given its history, it occurred to us that it may well have been built using slave labor. This caused a great deal of concern.
So I decided I need to go and have a conversation with our historically African American congregation, St. Andrew’s, which was located just a block away. I went with some concern about their reaction to what their new bishop was suggesting.
I explained the situation. They listened patiently. There was a brief silence. “Bishop, if you take that house and use it for mission, it will redeem it.”
We proceeded. Mission House, as it is now known, houses much more than the diocesan offices. It also houses the offices of Reading Camp. In fact, it is the site of an urban reading camp itself, during which the large downstairs parlors are transformed into themed classrooms where children left behind get caught up to grade level in reading. It is the location for Church under the Bridge, a spiritual home for the homeless every Sunday afternoon. English as a second language classes take place there. Many community groups use it for meetings. The neighborhood arts center uses it for classroom space on occasion. It has earned its name I would say.
Quoting from the Prophet Isaiah, Jesus described his own mission this way:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has
anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has
sent me to proclaim release to the captives and
recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go
free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
(Lk. 4:18-19)
Mission House was not about doing good works. It was about participating in God’s saving mission to bring good news to the poor, to release those who are captives, to restore sight to the blind, to free those who are oppressed, and to announce God’s favor to God’s people. As we followed along the path Jesus saw as his own, we in turn were allowed to participate in God’s own salvation. To participate in God’s mission is to share in God’s own redemption.
Jesus did not only describe his own mission in terms of the words of Isaiah. He taught that to share in that mission was itself a redemptive activity. “And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Lk. 4:20) Every mission opportunity before us is to fulfill this very Scripture. As did Jesus.
I know this Scripture was fulfilled in Mission House. A few years after the dream of Mission House, its presumed history notwithstanding, came to be, I got a call. It was from two prominent members of St. Andrew’s, both important lay leaders in their parish and diocese, and one of them a very high-ranking official of state government. Might it be possible for them to host a reception at Mission House, they wondered, for their 50th Anniversary, they wondered. Of course it was. I was honored to attend. It was an event that neither they eyes of those whose hands had most likely built the house, nor the eyes of those dressed in hoop skirts going up and down the grand staircase, could certainly never have imagined. “If you take that house and use it for mission, it will redeem it.” On that day, the Scripture was fulfilled in my hearing.
Peace,
We looked at an old furniture store. It’s attraction to me is that it was located in Lexington’s primary Hispanic neighborhood and it had enough room to house a diocesan hospitality ministry for cancer patients and their families from Appalachia. It was more money than we wanted to pay.
We looked at office parks. Too depressing.
There was one vacated bank branch in the most hideous 1960s architectural style with a façade, appropriately enough, of turquoise mosaic. Too tacky.
We kept coming back to an old house at the corner of Martin Luther King and Fourth Street. It had a number of advantages. It was cheap. That’s always an important church consideration. Though old, it was solid as a rock structurally. It had both character and historic significance. It was more than enough space for us and had the potential to house a number of growing diocesan ministries. It placed us in a great location for mission. Our presence there would be a stabilizing force in the neighborhood. The neighborhood was definitely under- served. The city’s second largest Hispanic neighborhood was nearby. Its address was a plus. Locating the diocesan headquarters on Martin Luther King Boulevard was itself taking an important stand. It was conveniently located to the Cathedral where many diocesan events took place.
It also had some disadvantages. It may have been sound structurally, but needed no small amount of work. The character of the neighborhood made us wonder if everyone would feel comfortable coming there at night. There was parking lot paving that would need to be done, and the city had some challenging rules regarding drainage.
But none of those was the biggest problem. It wasn’t just an old house. It was, in truth, a classic Southern ante-bellum mansion from the 1840s. It had once been part of the Henry Clay family. Given its history, it occurred to us that it may well have been built using slave labor. This caused a great deal of concern.
So I decided I need to go and have a conversation with our historically African American congregation, St. Andrew’s, which was located just a block away. I went with some concern about their reaction to what their new bishop was suggesting.
I explained the situation. They listened patiently. There was a brief silence. “Bishop, if you take that house and use it for mission, it will redeem it.”
We proceeded. Mission House, as it is now known, houses much more than the diocesan offices. It also houses the offices of Reading Camp. In fact, it is the site of an urban reading camp itself, during which the large downstairs parlors are transformed into themed classrooms where children left behind get caught up to grade level in reading. It is the location for Church under the Bridge, a spiritual home for the homeless every Sunday afternoon. English as a second language classes take place there. Many community groups use it for meetings. The neighborhood arts center uses it for classroom space on occasion. It has earned its name I would say.
Quoting from the Prophet Isaiah, Jesus described his own mission this way:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has
anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has
sent me to proclaim release to the captives and
recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go
free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
(Lk. 4:18-19)
Mission House was not about doing good works. It was about participating in God’s saving mission to bring good news to the poor, to release those who are captives, to restore sight to the blind, to free those who are oppressed, and to announce God’s favor to God’s people. As we followed along the path Jesus saw as his own, we in turn were allowed to participate in God’s own salvation. To participate in God’s mission is to share in God’s own redemption.
Jesus did not only describe his own mission in terms of the words of Isaiah. He taught that to share in that mission was itself a redemptive activity. “And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Lk. 4:20) Every mission opportunity before us is to fulfill this very Scripture. As did Jesus.
I know this Scripture was fulfilled in Mission House. A few years after the dream of Mission House, its presumed history notwithstanding, came to be, I got a call. It was from two prominent members of St. Andrew’s, both important lay leaders in their parish and diocese, and one of them a very high-ranking official of state government. Might it be possible for them to host a reception at Mission House, they wondered, for their 50th Anniversary, they wondered. Of course it was. I was honored to attend. It was an event that neither they eyes of those whose hands had most likely built the house, nor the eyes of those dressed in hoop skirts going up and down the grand staircase, could certainly never have imagined. “If you take that house and use it for mission, it will redeem it.” On that day, the Scripture was fulfilled in my hearing.
Peace,
+Stacy
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