“Every pastor has a limited set of skills,” Lang says, “What I do best is to help congregations refocus their mission (reason to exist). Eleven years ago Trinity was an aging, declining congregation that had lost its direction and focus. Today, the church is growing, the morale is exciting with young singles and young families as our growing edge. I think God has called me into a ‘raising the dead’ type ministry. Trinity is no longer dead. It has come fully alive!”

Over the years, Rev. Lang has been very outspoken about homeless rights and was even arrested during a protest in 2008. But as Lang says, the activism doesn’t start or stop with him. “The values of social justice run far deeper than just the pastor, and those values were there before I got here: I just reminded folks of what they already knew,” he tells us. “It was Tent City and the neighborhood’s angry response to Tent City that awoke the church to its need to be Christ even in the midst of conflict. When all was said and done what became clear was that the vast majority of our neighborhood live lives of mercy and compassion, the tiny minority of bullies could not carry the day. I’m very proud to have been privileged to be their pastor. Realistically, pastors come and go, but Christian faith is a commitment to social justice, or it is not faith at all.”

Rev. Lang’s last sermon in Ballard will be on June 12th before saying goodbye to the congregation the following week. “It will be a very difficult emotional day. One cannot say goodbye without some measure of a broken heart but that is always the risk of daring to love another. I’ll take that risk every time because the joy always trumps the pain.” He will start the next phase of his life at University Temple United Methodist Church on July 1st. As of right now his replacement hasn’t been chosen, but the successor will hopefully be named in April, Lang says.

To our Neighbors,

As you know a major incident happened last night at the shelter between the hours of 8:30-9pm. Two residents of the Vets Hall Shelter broke into a fight, which escalated into a stabbing.

The “victim” was taken to the hospital and will not return as a resident to the shelter. The man who did the stabbing is known and being sought and will be charged with felony assault.

We’d like to thank the police and fire departments for their prompt and professional excellence in this emergency. We’d also like to thank watchful neighbors, the Shelter itself, and our live-in security person, Randy Thompson, for their immediate calling of the police as the incident began to flare.

This is the first incident of violence with a weapon in the ten years of our active ministry with the homeless. Although our systems of security responded quickly and effectively, we nevertheless deeply regret the disruption of our neighborhood security. We affirm that, as neighbors, you have every right to a secure street. As you know we have recently added a paid Security Officer that monitors our Saturday Soup kitchen. Thankfully in the three years of our open house hospitality we have had no major incident during that ministry. The Security officer was hired because we are seeing, as you are seeing, that with this economic downturn, the streets are becoming more desperate and despairing. This is a political matter of great concern. It is also a matter of moral concern: we acknowledge that feeding folks and housing folks is not enough. What is needed is transformation of character, and reorientation of desire, along with a restructuring of our economy.

At Trinity we desire to move beyond charity into relational ministries of transformation. It is a long road, and difficult work. We acknowledge our dependence on your good will, and we take very seriously our responsibility to provide neighborhood tranquility. In the course of our work, and our life together, incidents happen. We want to re-affirm that although this incident was an anomaly, we will nevertheless increase our diligence in providing safe, sane, and sober neighborly relations.

On behalf of Trinity United Methodist Church,

Rev. Rich Lang
www.tumseattle.org

Not everyone knows what the non-profit newspaper is or how it has changed the lives of its vendors. Tonight is the premiere screening of the Real Change documentary called “Turning Points,” which introduces viewers to eight homeless and previously homeless people.

“Whether its the strength of a relationship, the experience of war, or the salvation in finding community, each story illuminates the intense human ability to persevere against all odds,” Tamara emailed us. The screening is tonight at Trinity United Methodist Church at 7 p.m. Organizers are asking people to bring winter gear donations. Real Change vendors will also be selling the 40 minute DVD during the month of December. Here is a map of where Real Change vendors are located.