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BRENT House * The Episcopal Center at The University of Chicago
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BABY NEEDS NEW SHOES
The Annual Report of the Chaplain at Brent House at the University of Chicago to the Diocese of Chicago--2002
There are many analogs to ministry. One of the most apt is domestic; maintaining a ministry is like managing a household. The image of the baptized community as the "household of God" is inherited from a Creation narrative that ascribes our genesis to God, from the Hebrew perception that even when we rebel God actively chooses to love us as a parent loves a child, and from the Christian reiteration of that notion in a God of such prodigal parental affection even murder will not cut us off.
Concern and embarrassment arising from the feminine associations of domesticity have spurred efforts to supplant this image. The structures of empire are still evident in our hierarchical patterns of leadership and in worship spaces designed to instill the awe of the cosmic throne room (hence the soaring height of cathedrals, the triple tiara of the papacy, and the distinctive design and prominent location of the episcopal chair). In modern times, power is manifest in well--tailored rectors, vestries gathered around conference tables and congregational facilities barely discernible from the corporate office and research parks with which they share the landscape. Despite the adoption and accretion of such models, even the potency of imperial majesty or corporate efficiency have never completely eclipsed the more humble image of domestic household.
I am often asked by colleagues in campus ministry just how we have maintained support of Brent House over the twenty years of my chaplaincy. Their questions provoke my continual reflection and prevent my ever taking for granted the purposes of our mission or the tremendous obligation to our supporters. My colleagues want to know, and our supporters need to know, the basis for our appeal. My response to their questions always brings me back to the domestic images and analogies, and the expression, "Baby needs new shoes." Every parent knows the reality: children grow. The one consistent reality over twenty years of ministry at Brent House has been the challenge to provide for its continual growth.
When I came to Chicago for my initial interviews at Brent House in 1982, I found a house in disrepair, a ministry in disarray, and a general atmosphere of depression. Luckily, I was found by a student--the only one I met on my first visit--who encouraged me to consider the post. It was his encouragement that persuaded me in the end. When I arrived later that year, I was unprepared for all that faced me. Rather like a new parent gazing into a crib, I was simultaneously thrilled and scared to death. This "baby" had overwhelming needs, apparent in the numbers of students who showed up--so many, we were forced to address the need for more and better space almost immediately.
Like any good householder, we made do with what we had, managed within a very tight budget, but never stinted where health might be compromised. We worked hard, and put the "baby" first. Money was always an issue, but never dictated mission; if responding to growth, energy and vitality demanded something of us, we took the risk and watched in amazement, and gratitude, as the child grew. We trusted, as most parents do, that somehow it would all work out, and it did.
As we come to the end of the year 2002, our facilities continue to need attention and care--living things always do, and this house is teeming with life. Our "child" has in many respects grown up, matured into a capable young adult. The community no longer needs the kind of solicitous attention its fiscal and programmatic needs demanded twenty years ago, when it was still vulnerable and heavily dependent.
In two decades our financial support has broadened from near sole dependency upon the diocese--in 1982 approximately 98% of the budget income came from direct support of the diocesan program budget--to a more balanced partnership. Today, we derive approximately 37% of our income from rents on seven student rooms in the main building and from leasing the Coach House; 22% from the diocesan program budget and 9% from congregational mission and outreach funds; and 32% from individual and endowed donor gifts.
In 1982, the program depended largely upon the chaplain¹s direction. Today, a team of seven students leaders generates and shares responsibility for much of the program. Participating in our Mentoring program, these seven have broadened the weekly worship with the addition of evening prayer four days a week. One of these students has overseen an increased social outreach, one has developed a growing music program within the Sunday worship community, another initiated a shared event with the Jewish students of Hillel and the Muslim Student Organization, and another leads a weekly Bible study. Each of them preaches on a regular basis, and all encourage and enlist the growing numbers of new students entering the community.
Twenty years ago, Brent House lay on the northeastern perimeter of the University of Chicago campus. With the completion of the new Palevsky dormitory complex, and the reorientation of the residential campus core to the area contiguous to Regenstein Library, Brent House is now located in the hub of student life and activity. This year we hosted 30 Sunday eucharists, 30 midweek eucharists, 120 daily prayer services; 30 Bible study sessions; 30 evening dinner conversations; and myriad occasional events‹approximately 300 events, serving a core community of about 175 students, faculty and staff, and about 1200-1500 guests/newcomers annually. So this "baby" is always growing, stretching, challenging‹like any healthy being. While the committal anthem of the burial office reminds us that "In the midst of life we are in death," it¹s one of the tangible blessings and testimonies of this ministry that in the midst of death we are in life: In the midst of laments over the "dying" church, "dying" values, we hear and see the joyful, hopeful evidences of new life in a constant stream of delightful, dedicated young adults filling our house with their excitement and energy. Baby still needs new shoes.
