Day 4

The first place we visited Friday was the church known as MOSAIC. Historically known as “The Church on Brady,” MOSAIC has evolved from its original form. They recognize their geographic context within the city to be important. When they moved from south of the Pamona Freeway (CA 60) to the north, they encountered different demographics. From East LA Latino neighbors to Monterey Park “Asian” neighbors, MOSAIC today understands itself to be from multiple backgrounds. Their logic is to be the church that meets the needs of the world—not a church to meet the needs of its own congregants. Thus, MOSAIC is friendly to people from unchurched and/or non-Christian backgrounds. Their path of inclusion is reversed compared to the dominant North American congregation. Rather than Become—Believe—Belong, congregants of MOSAIC confer to Belong—Believe—Become.

The MOSAIC is called to live differently from the city around them. Yet, they are not necessarily called to live away from the city. In fact, they are aware of the evengelical roots that suburban settlements have in them. Suburbia was created to get away from the city. As such, they ‘advance’ their congregants through the structure of a traditional retreat in an effort to emphasize their call to live in the city as an object of redemption for the city. Further, everyone who follows Jesus is a missionary. In their case, each member is a missionary to the city.

The second place we visited was Victory Outreach. I left there with a different attitude toward them than I had went I arrived. We Nazarenes don’t give such Pentecostals a very good reputation most of the time. We charge that they are too charismatic, or that they blindly follow the Holy Spirit to the extent to which all reason is lost. Yet, their use of men’s and women’s homes is evidence that they realize the impact that the surrounding environment has upon individuals. Yes, the Holy Spirit empowers. But, the Spirit does not render us exempt from our historical context.
Our attitude Pentecostals represents a common state amongst us Christians. It seems that doctrine gets in the way of seeing that there is some Godward discipleship that is not happening in the same way through many of our churches. People come to Victory Outreach’s doorstep with drug addiction and gang ties that swallow them up, leaving them victim to the chaos of the dirty economy.

Redepmtion from these oppressing forces is not found simply through prayer and bible study. They are removed (temporarily) from these forces, and moved into houses—30 men/30 women, 2 houses. They are given a new environment that empowers them to remove themselves from the up and down of the collosis. They are immersed in a system (a much smaller one than the city that surrounds them, of course).

Hence, the insight that they seem to get more accurately that others do id that while we depend upon the Holy Spirit for transformation, we must recognize that there are systems around us that either restrict us or empower us.
I became aware of this lacking on the part of the Church of the Nazarene in college. I over-corrected by shifting to the other side of the contunium. The Spirit was nearly entirely transcendent—the only empowerment that the poor would find were to be my own hands. Compassionate ministries were a large part of Nazarene beginnings, were trumped out by Pentecostal influence, yet resulted in the Nazarene Church’s idleness amongst the poor within the United States by the 1940’s.
Victory Outreach has some insight that has been ignored by the Nazarenes due in large part to decades of misunderstanding. They do not assume that the Spirit is the only form of empowerment, nor that the hands of their congregation is the only form of empowerment. Yet, for Victory Outreach, the Spirit should be understood as our primary source of power. The Spirit is what sets us apart from the non-Christian “mission” organizations.

Our third visit on Friday was to the Dream Center. We ate dinner at the cafeteria of the Dream Center. Yummy. Cheesecake. (I only ate desert because I ate too many tamales at Mama’s.) We ate in their cafeteria. I was enthralled at the use of 1950’s diner theme—this was a creative way to bringing beauty to those who have lived in ugliness. I saw a T-shirt that made me roll on the floor with laughter→ comedy brought joy to those who have lost hope. An institution as large as Dream Center seems scary to me, though. A former hospital, the series of buildings seems to reak with the feeling of unpersonal institution. If I were mentally ill, I would likely end up in a place like this. Cold and anything other than ‘home,’ I would be ready to leave at moment’s notice.

One last comment one the neighborhood of Dream Center: they remarked that the crime rate had gone down by 70 percent after their arrival in the community. My worry is that they merely moved the crime rate. Worse yet, Dream Center might be close to bearing the character of the all-American prison: all the people who have the nature to commit crimes are locked up between walls under the roof of a gigantic institution so as to keep them away from the ‘good’ people.

Our last stop on Friday was at Angeleus Temple—the foundaing church of the Pentecostal movement. This was quite the experience, with the concertlike atmosphere, prosperity gospel in the sermon. Even a theology of instant transformation was obvious here. What I don’t understand is how Nazarenes opposed such theology while at the same time claiming to a “second blessing” theology that turned into a perception of entire sanctification as a sudden, one-time occurrence. No one seemed to speak in tougues (the big no-no for Nazarenes of my grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ generations). Even testimonies were given by people who were cleaned up from drugs after the Spirit has empowered them to break free from addiction and gang bonds. Our class was told of the factor of instant bodily healing that used to take place in this building decades previously. Does this still happen? No evidence was shown of this. Yet, what I do see evidence of is that the Spirit is getting credit for instant redemption of individuals amidst the temporal factors that tend to claim their lives.
Here are some observations of this service:

Band Plays: 15 members total
9 guitars
1 drummer
5 vocals, etc.
Give-Aways: CD’s and T-Shirts, Books




Theme of the day: “Get Your Hopes Up!”