Where the Edge Gathers:. Yvette A. Flunder

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      WHERE

      THE

      EDGE

      GATHERS

      WHERE THE

      EDGE GATHERS

       Building a Community of Radical Inclusion

      Yvette A. Flunder

      The Pilgrim Press, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115-1100 thepilgrimpress.com

      © 2005 by Yvette A. Flunder

      Biblical quotations are primarily from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.

      All rights reserved. Published 2005

      Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

      This book has been reproduced as a digital reprint.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Flunder, Yvette A.

      Where the edge gathers: building a community of radical inclusion / Yvette A. Flunder.

      p. cm.

      Includes bibliographical references

      ISBN 978-0-8298-1638-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)

      1. Community—Religious aspects—Christianity. 2. Fellowship—Religious aspects—Christianity. 3. Reconciliation—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title.

      BV625.F68 2005

      253—dc22

      2005047259

      CONTENTS

       Acknowledgments

       Introduction

       part one

community

       1Creating Community

       2Sustaining Community

       3Celebrating Community

       4Preaching to Community

       part two

sermons

       5Managing the Thorn

       6Someone Has Stolen Jesus

       7Stir Up the Gift

       8The Fight to Fit In

       9Juneteenth

       10The Upper Room

       11The Altar and the Tent

       12Lazarus Lives (This Death Will Not Kill You)

       13The Conversion of a Pharisee

       14The Common Christ

       15The Most Unlikely Place for a Church

       16Can We Eat Together?

       17Does Anybody Want to Dance with Me?

       18Forecast of Pentecost (Who Let the Dogs In?)

       19Overcoming Fear-Based Religion

       20The Body of Christ

       21The New War

       22Broken Cisterns

       23Mother Mary

       Conclusion

       Appendix Twelve Steps: The Refuge Radical Inclusivity Model

       Notes

       Glossary

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      MANY HEARTFELT THANKS are due to the folks who made up my editing team: Dr. Doris Allen, Rev. Kendal Brown, Rev. Stella “Toni” Dunbar, Ms. Emerald O’Leary, and Dr. Louis C. Knox. All of you burned the midnight oil with me and gave so much to make me look good. Thank you for helping me tell our story. I owe you chicken, the holy bird.

      I also want to thank my forever family, City of Refuge United Church of Christ, for giving me time to finish this book. I missed you “muchly” when I was absent from you, and your prayers have supported me. I appreciate the stabilizing presence of all of the associate pastors. A special word of appreciation to my administrative assistants, Barbara Webb and Noni Gordon, for trying diligently to make sense of my schedule, and to Fran Houston for picking up the things I could not do and doing them without a complaint.

      To my wonderful family—Shirley, my life partner, Nubian and Latrice, my girls, and Leonard, my big brother—thank you for your words of encouragement and practical advice. Shirley, I hope this is the end of the all-nighters, and I promise I will get some rest now that this drama is over. I am also blessed with the most wonderful parents in the world: Bishop James and Rt. Rev. Mother Ruth Langston. I know I scare you both sometimes, but your support of me during my many transitions is such a tangible demonstration of the love you have for me. I am your girl and I am fiercely indebted to you.

      Finally, I dedicate this book to my grandparents, the late Bishop