”Politics is building community with strangers.”
Chris Woodhull, a respected community leader in his early forties, is running for a seat on the Knoxville City Council. When he’s not campaigning, Chris is the executive director of TRIBE ONE, a faith-based nonprofit organization that works with teenagers affiliated with gangs. I’m interested in listening to Chris’s views on the church’s role in politics because I know he shares my ambivalence toward much of what has passed for church-based political action.
Just prior to our conversation, I pulled a book off the shelf, and a letter form a conservative Christian political group falls out. The letter is written in red, white and blue ink with whole paragraphs set in boldface type. It features lines such as “the stakes are incredibly high” and “we must fight.” The boldface words are underlined just to make sure I don’t miss them. The letter ends with an appeal for a “victory gift” to support voter guides that will tell the faithful who the approved Christian candidates are. None of the “approved” candidates is a Democrat, by the way. How did the gospel become connected with the Republican Party?
The posturing of the political left is just as annoying. The great sucking sound that so many church watchers heard in the last quarter of the past century was the sound of millions of spiritually famished Christians exiting their churches because they didn’t hear another sermon on global warming or nuclear disarmament.
At least liberals and conservatives have tried to relate their faith to their politics. Other Christians have opted out of the political process, retreating to Christian ghettos while they await the setting of the moral sun. That strikes me as gutless.
So what am I left with? I don’t want to be liberal, conservative, or gutless. I’ve been reading a book that calls for a “third way” that arises “out of a deepening hunger among many to find a…’spiritual politics’ beyond the old polarized options of Left and Right, liberal and conservative.” I share this hunger for a third way. I sense Chris does too.
“What has the campaign been like?” I ask Chris.
“Frightening,” he answers. “Running for office is a spectacle. But it is a gift, too.”
“A gift?”
“It has opened up rooms inside of me that have been locked. When we go through things like this, we see what’s inside us.” The grueling political campaign has become a means of spiritual formation for Chris – a crucible that refines him. I had never before thought of the refining process as a reason for the church to enter the public square, but it’s a good one: We grow spiritually when we bring faith to bear on issues that are crucial to the well-being of society.
Chris and I talk about his calling into politics. He recalls a father who loved JFK, a year spent in Washington working for a think tank, an African American friend named Danny, now deceased, who ran for office as an act of worship. Chris senses that I am hoping for something a little more dramatic, but he doesn’t go there.
“Modern Christianity is too utopian,” he says. “The Christian life is really about the ordinary, not the ideal. Place is important. The land is important. Politics is putting morality into practice. It’s a pragmatic dealing with life in a particular place, a community, our community.”
“What is a community?”
“A community is a place that supports our growth and wholeness. A community holds us, helps us feel alive.”
“And the goal of Christian politics, then, is…?”
“To build a place that works for everybody, a real place, a community with social equity, a community where everyone has economic access, a community that is economically sound and livable.”
The Hebrew prophets, when they dreamed of healthy communities, described their vision with the ancient word shalom. Shalom means “harmony, wholeness, completion, things as they should be.” Sometimes our bibles translate shalom as “peace,” but it is a much fuller word than that. In fact, a vast project to restore shalom to the world unfolds across the pages of scripture. God creates the world. Initially it enjoys shalom. Then sin destroys shalom and introduces alienation. The Old Testament is the story of God’s attempt to restore the shalom of Eden. The angels at Christ’s birth sing that he has come to bring shalom. The apostle Paul tells us that Christ’s death recovered shalom. John’s Apocalypse foresees the restoration of shalom on all the earth as the goal of history.
Shalom is a real place that works for everybody. “Seek the peace and prosperity (shalom) of the city,” the prophet Jeremiah said. This is the purpose of politics. This is why Chris is running for a seat on the city council. This is why the church must be involved in politics. Politics is a tool for shalom making.
I find myself puzzling over the ramifications of what Chris has said. I hope he wins the election, partly because I can’t wait to see how reporters handle him and partly because I think we need people like him in office. I tell him this before we part.
Our conversation ends with glimpses of insight and invitations to hope, but no coherent theory of Christian political involvement. I am both moved and mildly frustrated. Perhaps politicians who are poets are uniquely qualified to serve as guides along the political road less traveled.
An hour later my phone rings. Chris wants to say one more thing. Perhaps now I’ll get a real sound bite to wrap this essay around.
“I’ve been reading a speech Vaclav Havel gave on politics at New York University. Listen to this,” he begins. Quoting the Czech poet and president, Chris continues: “Politics should be principally the domain of people with a heightened sense of responsibility and a heightened sense of the mysterious complexity of being.”
I write frantically on my notepad.
“Isn’t that beautiful?” he asks.
Yes, I tell him. It is.
- an excerpt from "God On Earth: the Church - a hard look at the real life of faith" by Doug Banister, 2005.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Politics as Morality in Practice
The main task of the present generation of politicians is not, I think, to ingratiate themselves with the public through their decisions or their smiles on television. It is not to go on winning elections and ensuring themselves a place in the sun till the end of their days. Their role is something quite different: to assume their share of responsibility for the long-range prospects of our world and thus to set an example for the public in whose sight they work. their responsibility is to think ahead boldly, not to fear the disfavor of the crowd; to imbue their actions with a spiritual dimension (which of course is not the same things as ostentatious attendance at religious services); to explain again and again – both to the public and to their colleagues – that politics must do far more than reflect the interests of particular groups or lobbies. After all, politics is a matter of serving the community, which means that it is morality in practice. And how better to serve the community and practice morality than by seeking in the midst of the global (and globally threatened) civilization their own global political responsibility: that is, their responsibility for eh very survival of the human race.
(From a speech by Vaclav Havel at Harvard University)
(From a speech by Vaclav Havel at Harvard University)
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Overlooking the Obvious
(re-posted from RestoreKnoxville.com)
Newcomers and visitors often see what Knoxville locals overlook: our city is a place of beauty and promise. We are an original. We are the birthplace of Tennessee.
Out-of-towners, who come to us with fresh eyes see plainly the treasure trove of delights in our people and area that we take for granted or fail to see because it is too much in plain view. We are like fish in the ocean looking for water. And so our dilemma is not that we are lacking something or that we need a big idea to save us. It simply is that we fail to see what we already possess. We lack an appreciation for our own strength.
We hear the reasons for our underachieving with some regularity; I refuse to catalog, mainly because it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that we have so much going for us and we need to think on these things regularly and picture how we can work and plan together to make this city a great city for everybody in it today and for our children to come. RestoreKnoxville.com presents such an opportunity.
Here is a story that describes the attitude shift required.
There is a story about a weary traveler who comes to a crossroads and encounters a wise old man. The traveler is looking for a place to rest and inquires of a large town sighted off in the distance: “What kind of people live there?” The old man answers his question with a question, “What kind from whence you came?” When the traveler confides that the last town he visited was full of filthy streets and vicious people, knaves and thieves, the old man tells him, “Avoid that town; it’s exactly the same. You will find no peace there.” The weary man thanks him profusely for saving him a needless journey and trudges off in the opposite direction. The next day another dusty and tired traveler comes to that same crossroads, meets the same old man, and asks the same question: “What kind of people live there?” But this traveler tells the old man that the town from whence he came was a place of flower-strewn streets, good and giving people who always greeted each other with a smile. And the wise ole man says, “The town waiting over the horizon is exactly the same. Go down there and rest in peace.”
From the foreword to “Revolution of the Heart: a new strategy for creating wealthy and meaningful change,” by Bill Shore
Another reference points toward the solution. It is about care.
“Our problem is weak communities...Those relationships formed by consent and manifested as care are the center of community. It is this consenting care that is the essence of our role as citizens. And it is the ability of citizens to care that creates strong communities and able democracies.”
“Care is the consenting commitment of citizens to one another. Care cannot be produced, provided, managed, organized, administered, or commodified. Care is the only thing a system cannot produce. Every institutional effort to replace the real thing is a counterfeit.
“Care is, indeed, the manifestation of a community. The community is the site for the relationships of citizens. And it is at this site that the primary work of a caring society must occur. If that site is invaded, co-opted, overwhelmed, and dominated then the work of the community will fail.”
From the introduction to “The Careless Society: Community and its Counterfeits,” by John McKnight
Perhaps after looking over Restore Knoxville you will know where you came from.
Newcomers and visitors often see what Knoxville locals overlook: our city is a place of beauty and promise. We are an original. We are the birthplace of Tennessee.
Out-of-towners, who come to us with fresh eyes see plainly the treasure trove of delights in our people and area that we take for granted or fail to see because it is too much in plain view. We are like fish in the ocean looking for water. And so our dilemma is not that we are lacking something or that we need a big idea to save us. It simply is that we fail to see what we already possess. We lack an appreciation for our own strength.
We hear the reasons for our underachieving with some regularity; I refuse to catalog, mainly because it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that we have so much going for us and we need to think on these things regularly and picture how we can work and plan together to make this city a great city for everybody in it today and for our children to come. RestoreKnoxville.com presents such an opportunity.
Here is a story that describes the attitude shift required.
There is a story about a weary traveler who comes to a crossroads and encounters a wise old man. The traveler is looking for a place to rest and inquires of a large town sighted off in the distance: “What kind of people live there?” The old man answers his question with a question, “What kind from whence you came?” When the traveler confides that the last town he visited was full of filthy streets and vicious people, knaves and thieves, the old man tells him, “Avoid that town; it’s exactly the same. You will find no peace there.” The weary man thanks him profusely for saving him a needless journey and trudges off in the opposite direction. The next day another dusty and tired traveler comes to that same crossroads, meets the same old man, and asks the same question: “What kind of people live there?” But this traveler tells the old man that the town from whence he came was a place of flower-strewn streets, good and giving people who always greeted each other with a smile. And the wise ole man says, “The town waiting over the horizon is exactly the same. Go down there and rest in peace.”
From the foreword to “Revolution of the Heart: a new strategy for creating wealthy and meaningful change,” by Bill Shore
Another reference points toward the solution. It is about care.
“Our problem is weak communities...Those relationships formed by consent and manifested as care are the center of community. It is this consenting care that is the essence of our role as citizens. And it is the ability of citizens to care that creates strong communities and able democracies.”
“Care is the consenting commitment of citizens to one another. Care cannot be produced, provided, managed, organized, administered, or commodified. Care is the only thing a system cannot produce. Every institutional effort to replace the real thing is a counterfeit.
“Care is, indeed, the manifestation of a community. The community is the site for the relationships of citizens. And it is at this site that the primary work of a caring society must occur. If that site is invaded, co-opted, overwhelmed, and dominated then the work of the community will fail.”
From the introduction to “The Careless Society: Community and its Counterfeits,” by John McKnight
Perhaps after looking over Restore Knoxville you will know where you came from.
City Council Meeting
Here are the comments I made at the March 15th Knoxville City Council Meeting.
Thank you mayor.
We are in a very important season in the life of the city with the coming announcement of your proposed budget in April.
I want to take this opportunity to make just a few comments that relate to the health, vision and direction of our city. The budget, in my mind, is more than a balance sheet. It is a strategic document. In a sense it is a moral document deciding what we think is good and bad, what we think is important, setting forth our priorities.
I like what you have done so far.
We are, to use your words “making Knoxville America’s premier city to live, work and raise a family.” And toward that end your goals for the city of Knoxville are: stronger and safer neighborhoods, more and better jobs, embracing cultural diversity and efficient, accountable and responsive government. I appreciate the humble and humane way that you do your work.
You are probably waiting for the but. But there is no but.
But there is an and. And because of the good work that you have done, we have done, the stage has been set for a logical next step.
I believe that that next step is a strategic focus on Park City, better known as east Knoxville. As we all know, city income is flat and expenses are increasing. By bringing this large community back, every part of the city will benefit economically from both savings in law enforcement and increases in property and business tax revenues.
We have a valuable housing stock of larger homes from the early 20th century. We also have large numbers of urban lots available for infill development. We must make this area a priority in a way that provides programs and resources that encourage home ownership, maintain affordable housing and that bring these home back to the tax rolls and become income producing for the city.
The area that I speak of is vice Mayor Mark Brown’s 6th district. I live and work in the 6th district and so I understand first hand the potential and beauty of which I speak. I used to think that Councilman Brown’s slogan, “the super six district” was a kind of gimmick but more and more I understand that it really is a flash of brilliance. Councilman Brown is saying two things: to the people who live in Park City, “you have value and worth and potential. Rise up and live up to it.” He is also saying to whoever else will listen in other parts of the city that this part of the city is filled with possibility for raising a family, restoring an old home, starting a business. Please come and join us.”
And so mayor while I understand that it is important how we do business I also think that it is critical where we do business. A case in point is our emphasis on downtown and the south waterfront. We can do the most for all of Knoxville by making the inner city an asset. Building off the momentum of downtown redevelopment it makes sense to me to move our efforts east. I welcome your comments or other councilmember’s comments. Thank you.
Thank you mayor.
We are in a very important season in the life of the city with the coming announcement of your proposed budget in April.
I want to take this opportunity to make just a few comments that relate to the health, vision and direction of our city. The budget, in my mind, is more than a balance sheet. It is a strategic document. In a sense it is a moral document deciding what we think is good and bad, what we think is important, setting forth our priorities.
I like what you have done so far.
We are, to use your words “making Knoxville America’s premier city to live, work and raise a family.” And toward that end your goals for the city of Knoxville are: stronger and safer neighborhoods, more and better jobs, embracing cultural diversity and efficient, accountable and responsive government. I appreciate the humble and humane way that you do your work.
You are probably waiting for the but. But there is no but.
But there is an and. And because of the good work that you have done, we have done, the stage has been set for a logical next step.
I believe that that next step is a strategic focus on Park City, better known as east Knoxville. As we all know, city income is flat and expenses are increasing. By bringing this large community back, every part of the city will benefit economically from both savings in law enforcement and increases in property and business tax revenues.
We have a valuable housing stock of larger homes from the early 20th century. We also have large numbers of urban lots available for infill development. We must make this area a priority in a way that provides programs and resources that encourage home ownership, maintain affordable housing and that bring these home back to the tax rolls and become income producing for the city.
The area that I speak of is vice Mayor Mark Brown’s 6th district. I live and work in the 6th district and so I understand first hand the potential and beauty of which I speak. I used to think that Councilman Brown’s slogan, “the super six district” was a kind of gimmick but more and more I understand that it really is a flash of brilliance. Councilman Brown is saying two things: to the people who live in Park City, “you have value and worth and potential. Rise up and live up to it.” He is also saying to whoever else will listen in other parts of the city that this part of the city is filled with possibility for raising a family, restoring an old home, starting a business. Please come and join us.”
And so mayor while I understand that it is important how we do business I also think that it is critical where we do business. A case in point is our emphasis on downtown and the south waterfront. We can do the most for all of Knoxville by making the inner city an asset. Building off the momentum of downtown redevelopment it makes sense to me to move our efforts east. I welcome your comments or other councilmember’s comments. Thank you.
About Chris Woodhull
Chris is a community leader who serves Knoxville both professionally and personally to make Knoxville a great place to live.
After growing up in an Air Force family and graduating from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Chris founded TRIBE ONE (along with the late Danny Mayfield), an inner-city Christian ministry that encourages young men and women to get out of gangs and destructive lifestyles and into productive lives.
Just last year Chris’ ministry served more than 80 young people who chose a productive life over prison and death.
Chris’ professional experience and training provides him with the tools to be a problem solver and consensus builder on city council. He helps people find their own strengths. Chris has the desire and the knowledge to bring people together who may not be like-minded, to talk out their problems and come to solutions for the good of the whole community.
Family is most important to Chris. He has been married to native Knoxvillian Mary Lawrence Arnett Woodhull for 19 years. They – along with their two daughters Tess and Paris – live in a 110 year-old home in Mechanicsville, the heart of the area TRIBE ONE serves.
Chris’ background shows his leadership and interest in
serving Knoxville:
- Board member of Knox Children’s Fund
- Board member of his neighborhood association, The Old Mechanicsville Neighborhood Interest (OMNI)
- Board member of Midway Rehabilitation Center
- Community Advisory Board of the Junior League of Knoxville
- Presenter at 28th Annual Conference on Neighborhood Concerns in Chattanooga
- Past board member and Chairman of Knoxville Project Change
- Conducts classes and workshops for the UT School of Law and the UT College of Social Work
- Classes in negotiation and entrepreneurship at Harvard and Yale
- Mediator with Community Mediation Center
- Recipient of 2003 Heart of Change Award given by Community Shares
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
