AN OCCUPIED CHURCH?: READING THE OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT ECCLESIOLOGICALLY IN CONVERSATION WITH NEW MONASTICS
Abstract
The church needs to challenge itself about its identity, constitution, and mission, because out of necessity this involves the world and the events that unfold in it. Thus, sociological, political, and economic issues have ecclesiological components and consequences that are practically tautological, including the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement. The question thus moves from whether the Church is called to critical reflection on OWS to how that critical reflection should occur. The purpose of this article is to point out the specific practice of the OWS movement – the “sign” – to be considered through an ecclesiological lens. The method used is from an ecclesiological lens with a new monastic. The results of this research are firstly, the church must actively and responsibly inculcate non-violent practices, communitarian economy, and embody space and place, while at the same time joining forces with non-ecclesiastical organizations that support these practices. similar. Second, by whom - and by whom - the Church (as a very different polis) must always point beyond itself to what is its foundation and fulfillment. As long as the Church faithfully responds to this call, the Kingdom will be in our midst.
Downloads
References
Bahnson, Fred. “Mark 11: Peacemaking in the Midst of Violence and Conflict Resolution Along the Lines of Matthew 18,” in School(s) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, ed. by the Rutba House Eugene: Cascade Books, 2005.
Barnard, Anne. “Occupy Wall Streets Meets Tahrir Square,” New York Times, October 25, 2011, http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/occupy-wall-street-meets-tahrir-square/, accessed Nov. 20, 2011.
Claiborne, Shane. “Mark 2: Sharing Economic Resources with Fellow Community Members and the Needy Among Us,” in School(s) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, ed. by the Rutba House Eugene: Cascade Books, 2005.
Eckholm, Erik & Williams, Timothy. “Anti-Wall Street Protests Spreading to Cities Large and Small,” New York Times, October 3, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/us/in-chicago-banking-and-futures-industry-protests-planned.html, accessed Nov. 20, 2011.
Flegenheimer, Matt. “Protesters Arrested During Bomb Scare Evacuation,” New York Times, November 8, 2011, accessed Nov. 20, 2011.
Fulkerson, Mary McClintock. Places of Redemption: Theology for a Worldly Church. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Gutiérrez, Gustavo. A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1988.
Hauerwas, Stanley. “The Servant Community: Christian Social Ethics.” in The Hauerwas Reader, ed. John Berkman and Michael Cartwright. Durham: Duke University Press, 2001.
Hirschfield, Robert. “American Spring?: Finding connections between the past, present, and future at Occupy Wall Street,” Sojourners, December 2011.
Johnson, Kirk. “Occupy Protesters Regroup After Mass Arrest,” New York Times, October 30, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/us/occupy-wall-street-protesters-arrested-in-denver-and- portland.html, http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/protester-arrested-during-bomb-scare-evacuation/, accessed Nov. 20, 2011.
Klein, Naomi. “Occupy Wall Street: The Most Important Thing in the World Now,” The Nation, October 6, 2011, http://www.thenation.com/article/163844/occupy-wall-street-most-important-thing-world-now, accessed Nov. 20, 2011.
McKenna, Sr. Margaret M. “Mark 1: Relocation to Abandoned Places of Empire,” in School(s) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, ed. by the Rutba House Eugene: Cascade Books, 2005.
Mardell, Mark. “At the Scene,” BBC News, November 15, 2011, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15746013, accessed Nov. 20, 2011.
Mathetes. “Epistle to Diognetus 7:3-4; 10:5.” In Ante-Nicene Fathers. Volume 4: Tertullian, Part Fourth; Minucius Felix; Commodian; Origen, Part First and Second, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Revised and Chronologically arranged with brief prefaces and occasional notes by A. Cleveland Coxe. New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885. https://oll.libertyfund.org/title/coxe-ante-nicene-fathers-volume-4.
Matza, Michael. “Their Lives Shattered after Kensington Fire,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 23, 2007, http://articles.philly.com/2007-06-23/news/24994323_1_kimberly-kensington-fire-fire-department, accessed Nov. 21, 2011.
Meeks, M. Douglas. ed. The Portion of the Poor. Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1995.
New York City General Assembly. Good Neighbor Policy.” http://www.nycga.net/resources/good-neighbor-policy/, accessed Nov. 20, 2011.
Stock, Jon. “Mark 9: Geographical Proximity to Community Members Who Share a Common Rule of Life.” in School(s) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, ed. by the Rutba House Eugene: Cascade Books, 2005.
Stuhldreher, Katie. “Nonprofit Starts Two Relief Funds for Fire Victims,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 22, 2007, http:// articles.philly.com/2007-06-22/news/24994254_1_relief-funds-funds-for-fire-victims-community-center, accessed Nov. 21, 2011.
Terry, Don. “Banking and Futures Industry Protests Planned,” New York Times, October 8, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/us/in-chicago-banking-and-futures-industry-protests-planned.html, accessed Nov. 20, 2011.
The Associated Press, “Emotions Run High After Occupy Protests In Oakland,” NPR, November 4, 2011, http://www.npr.org/ templates/story/story.php?storyId=142011377, accessed Nov. 20, 2011.
The Associated Press, “Occupy Movement Debates How To Police Its Fringe,” NPR, November 9, 2011, http://www.npr.org/templates/ story/story.php?storyId=142177901, accessed Nov. 20, 2011.
The Associated Press, “Occupy Movement Stays Peaceful in Cash-Poor Vegas,” NPR, November 16, 2011, http://www.npr.org/ templates/story/story.php?storyId=142382571, accessed Nov. 20, 2011.
United Methodist Church. “Demographic Snapshot.” Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=2429873&ct=5078325, Accessed Nov. 22, 2011.
Wallis, Jim. “A Church Sanctuary for the Occupy Movement,” God’s Politics Blog, November 17, 2011, http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2011/11/17/church-sanctuary-occupy-movement accessed Nov. 20, 2011.
Wallis, Jim. “An Open Letter to Occupy Wall Street,” Sojourners, December 2011.
Wesley, John. Unless otherwise noted, references to Wesley are from the Bicentennial Edition of The Works of John Wesley. edited by Albert C. Outler, et al. Nashville: Abingdon, 1984.
Yoder, John Howard. “Peace without Eschatology?” in The Royal Priesthood: Essays Ecclesiastical and Ecumenical, ed. Michael G. Cartwright. Scottdale: Herald Press, 1998.
Copyright (c) 2021 Gregory P. Van Buskirk
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).