In terms of the birth of the Christ-child this season, at its root ecumenical advocacy must turn to children. The barometer for the health of a society is measured in its treatment of the most vulnerable, and the vulnerable are often counted in the youngest in our midst. To this end, the Campaign to End Child Homelessness issued numbers this week for homeless children in the United States, also specific to Washington State. If child homelessness were a disease we would have entered an epidemic. The national numbers of homeless children have spiked upward 38% since 2007. That means that one in 45 children in this country is homeless, which doesn’t factor in the number of women who accompany their children into this destitution. Washington State stands at number 19 in the ranking, with 37,631 homeless children within our borders.
We don’t have to look at quantifiable data to tell us where the trends are heading in the short term. Child homelessness and other serious fissures in the fabric of our societal well-being are going to increase. From national partnerships to local vectors in Tacoma, agencies that advocate for the well-being of us all are giants in our midst. In this economic climate, even these giants must be keenly attentive to the balance between addressing serious social ills while simultaneously raising the funds to do so. These agencies also know that where need outstrips capacity – from local churches to advocacy in the national beltway – we must band together in creative effort. In today’s world, ecumenical advocacy will be successful if it builds flexible structures, is creative in response, and is über-collaborative.
In this spirit, the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University is administrating a program titled Faith and Family Homelessness (FFH). Seminaries or Schools of Theology only teach, so they wouldn’t administrate projects like this, right? Wrong. Think flexible, creative, collaboration. Places of theological training must be focused on applied theology, so that the urgent issues that face us all today are never theoretical for leadership tomorrow. Theological education in an intentionally ecumenical context is precisely where these kinds of programs can be managed by seasoned advocates. At STM, the Faith and Family Homelessness program is focused on ecumenical collaboration between twelve project sites in Pierce, King and Snohomish counties. From enhancing the first blush of congregational awareness for communal-empowerment, to how Christians approach the State Legislature, this program is unabashedly committed to sustainable change. Like this program, the strongest examples of ecumenical advocacy are creatively collaborative.
I have been thinking about Advent more this year than many years in the past. The poignancy of finding no room at the inn, of swaddling clothing and a barn, has taken up residence in my thoughts. My hope in the coming year will reside in how we respond as Christians to the in-breaking promise of divine love. My prayer is that the Christian ambition of an advocate’s heart will remember Bethlehem this year.
