The sting of church eviction day

What happened to tolerance and diversity?

By Rev. Richard Del Rio and Jeremy Del Rio, Esq.

[Originally published by NY Daily News on 2/12/12]

Today, if Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott have their way, our church — Abounding Grace Ministries, which holds weekly services at PS 34 on Avenue D on Manhattan’s lower East Side — will be one of 60 or more evicted from public schools citywide.

The city, relying on a federal court ruling that the Supreme Court chose to let stand, says it’s within its rights to do this.

What they’re not saying is that neither does the ruling or the Constitution require the city to evict congregations like ours.

Currently, the Department of Education rents vacant school buildings to 10,000 community organizations, only 60 of which are congregations. We pay the same rents and operate under the same terms as every other group.

Excluding congregations alone contradicts a city that from its birth has celebrated freedom and pluralism.

As we contemplate eviction, Mayor Bloomberg’s declaration 17 months ago haunts us. In defending the right of a mosque to build near Ground Zero, he said: “We in New York . . . are Americans, each with an equal right to worship and pray where we choose. There is nowhere in the five boroughs that is off-limits to any religion. By affirming that basic idea, we will honor America’s values, and we will keep New York the most open, diverse, tolerant and free city in the world.”

The mayor’s boasts from another occasion ring equally hollow: “Our doors are open to everyone . . . Of all our precious freedoms, the most important may be the freedom to worship as we wish. And it is a freedom that, even here in a city that is rooted in Dutch tolerance, was hard-won over many years.”

The mayor argues that when the city allows churches to use school buildings for worship services on weekends, it confuses communities and children into believing that there’s an official religion established at a particular school.

The logic is craven. Are we to believe that the same New Yorkers Bloomberg admonished to “do what is right, not what is easy” during the mosque controversy now cannot tell the difference between a mosque, synagogue or church that rents an empty school facility on weekends and the academic instruction that occurs in the same building Monday through Friday?

New Yorkers are smarter than that. Our children are smarter than that, too.

And if on occasion a young, impressionable child cannot tell the difference, the rest of us can surely do the right thing, seize a teachable moment and explain our city’s “most important” freedom to worship.

We hope state legislators succeed in their efforts to nullify the evictions. Despite Speaker Sheldon Silver stalling a floor vote in the Assembly, the state Senate overwhelmingly rejected the mayor’s policy in a bipartisan, 54-7 vote on Monday.

But regardless of the outcome of these efforts, we are committed to serving the school and its children long after today.

It has been our privilege to partner with PS 34 for almost 20 years, even though we have only rented space there for three. PS 34 students primarily come from low-income housing projects along Avenues D and C. It has been gratifying to help those students — our shared students — and families in after-school, sports, mentoring and performing arts programs, and gang interventions; to beautify the school through paint and mural projects; to provide motivational speakers for graduations and assemblies, and to honor the school community through appreciation breakfasts, schoolyard festivals and barbecues. We join PS 34 in celebrating student achievements at the school.

After a decade of reform, the odds that graduates of New York public schools will finish college or be career ready is still only one in four.

We invite Bloomberg and Walcott to elevate this conversation from a debate about space to a long-term strategy that engages and mobilizes congregations for the leverage we alone can provide for sustainable reform.

Loving neighbors, pursuing justice, educating children — these are universal religious imperatives. Regardless of tradition, the vast majority of the faithful are directly or indirectly connected to public schools.

Transformational change requires us to see beyond parochial interests and forge partnerships on behalf of 1.1 million students. Let’s show them how neighbors of all faiths and no faith at all can co-create a more just New York.

Richard Del Rio is the senior pastor of Abounding Grace Ministries on the lower East Side. Jeremy Del Rio, his son, attends Abounding Grace and directs 20/20 Vision for Schools.

Jeremy Del Rio debates New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman, Esq., hosted by Errol Louis.

Watch the video here. (Embed not available.)

Glen Beck: On the Record, GBTV.com (2/10/12)

Jeremy Del Rio joins guests NYC Councilman Fernando Cabrera and Rev. Richard Del Rio to discuss Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to evict 60+ congregations from holding weekend services at public schools.

NY Daily News Op-Ed: “The Sting of Eviction Day: What happened to tolerance and diversity?” (2/12/12)

By Rev. Richard Del Rio and Jeremy Del Rio

Today, if Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott have their way, our church — Abounding Grace Ministries, which holds weekly services at PS 34 on Avenue D on Manhattan’s lower East Side — will be one of 60 or more evicted from public schools citywide. …

As we contemplate eviction, Mayor Bloomberg’s declaration 17 months ago haunts us. In defending the right of a mosque to build near Ground Zero, he said: “We in New York . . . are Americans, each with an equal right to worship and pray where we choose. There is nowhere in the five boroughs that is off-limits to any religion. By affirming that basic idea, we will honor America’s values, and we will keep New York the most open, diverse, tolerant and free city in the world.”

Full article.

CNN: Pastors Protest School Rule (1/15/12)

Jeremy Del Rio discusses civil disobedience by 40+ clergy and others who got arrested protesting Mayor Bloomberg’s eviction of congregations from schools.

_______________

February 2, 2012
Testimony before the NY City Council Education Committee
By Jeremy Del Rio, Esq., Executive Director
20/20 Vision for Schools

Chairman Jackson and honorable education committee members:

I am Jeremy Del Rio from 20/20 Vision for Schools, representing more than 100 organizations that have partnered with local public schools to improve educational outcomes for vulnerable students since 2008. Several of those partners are among the congregations threatened with eviction in ten days. I am also a public school parent.

Others will testify to the discrimination, Constitutionality, and disparate impact of the Mayor’s Unequal Access policy. I am here to speak to a second tragedy it exacerbates.

Last June, Mayor Bloomberg lauded a record graduation rate of 65%. One month later, the City disclosed that only 25% of those students graduated college or career ready.

After a decade of reform, the odds that graduates of New York public schools will finish equipped for life is still only one-in-four. Three out of every four students who believed us when we told them graduation is their ticket out of poverty were betrayed by empty promises. Remediation awaits the lucky ones.

New York City can do better. Indeed, we must do better.

Today I urge the City Council to elevate this conversation from solely a debate about space to a long-term strategy that partners local schools with community stakeholders who can invest in the sustainable reform of our City’s schools.

Rather than evict congregations, mobilize them for the leverage they alone can provide in the fight for educational justice. Loving neighbors, pursuing justice, educating children – these are universal religious imperatives. Regardless of tradition, 70%-90% of the faithful are directly or indirectly connected to schools, positioned for impact.

Transformational change requires us to see beyond parochial interests and forge partnerships on behalf of 1.1 million students. Let’s model for them how neighbors of all faiths can co-create a more just New York. We can begin by passing Resolution 1155.

Watch CNN’s coverage here.

Jeremy Del Rio of 20/20 Vision for Schools believes that the ban will hurt low-income communities where most of the 68 congregations affected by the ban are located. “Mayor Bloomberg believes that children in New York City can’t tell the difference between the church that rents the building on Sundays and the academic instruction that takes place Monday through Friday. New York is smarter than that. Our children are smarter than that. They know the difference.”

GOLDEN LEGISLATION ALLOWING USE OF SCHOOLS FOR WORSHIP SERVICES PASSES SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Cabrera: “We are optimistic.” | WORLD New York

NYC Worship Protests Intensify

NYC Clergy/Councilman protest of DOE (Youtube Video link)

NYC’s senseless slap at prayer (NY Post)

Protest movement grows, Bronx Pastor willing to die to oppose city policy against churches meeting

NYC Press Conference 01/18/12 (Vimeo video link)

NYC Press Conference 01/18/12 from Christian Monzon on Vimeo.

WNYC News Blog – Clergy, Politicians Protest Ban on Worship in Public Schools

Perp Walk for Praying (Youtube video link)

Waves of pastors, professors, politicians, lay people arrested at Bloomberg’s annual State of City

At least 30 arrested at rally against public space service ban (News 12 video link)

City Council Members Make the Case For Houses Of Worship in Closed Public Schools (NY1 video link)

Temperature check: how the crowd outside see the Bloomberg administration

For the last couple of years churches have worked as partners with many city public schools. Jeremy Del Rio of 20/20 Vision warned that the churches cannot let the conflict with the city government to reduce their focus on the important role that churches are playing in sustaining and improving their communities. “The biggest challenge is that we have reduced the relationship between churches and schools to a landlord tenant relationship. We’re not just tenants in buildings, but were partners in the transformation of our schools.”

Churches Change Tactics to Fight Ouster From N.Y.C. Schools (NY Times)

New York City Church Leaders Arrested Fighting for Right to Worship

Clergymen in Cuffs as Protesters Are Arrested (NY Times Cityroom Blog)

20/20 Vision for Schools stands in solidarity with the sixty-eight congregations scheduled for eviction from New York City public schools a month from today, February 12, 2012.

We join our voice with theirs to urge Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Chancellor Dennis Walcott, and the City of New York to reverse a short-sighted policy that excludes congregations alone from renting school space for community activities outside of regular school hours. This policy, rooted in the misguided idea that New Yorkers cannot tell the difference between a congregation renting space on weekends and the school that otherwise meets in the building Monday – Friday, disproportionately affects low income New Yorkers in gentrifying neighborhoods where affordable space is scarce.

We also urge those sixty-eight churches and those who stand with them to elevate the conversation from solely a protest about space to a long-term strategy to partner with the City of New York and invest in the sustainable reform of our City’s schools. What might happen if the congregations currently threatened with eviction, PLUS those who stand in solidarity with them, shift their perception of public schools from solely a space to hold services, to a place to lead service? Meaningful service. Transformational service. Monday through Friday, not just on Sunday.

When only 25% of the graduates of NYC public schools graduate college or career ready, as they did in 2011, our city has a crisis far beyond where sixty-eight congregations worship on weekends. When the City can decide in the same year to evict congregations from underperforming schools, it’s at least partly because the city does not perceive in them any value beyond a rent check.

The best educators are life-long students, ever learning, ever curious about the world and people around them. Schools and congregations alike are places of learning, where people come to grow as individuals and in community. We invite the City of New York, the Department of Education, and New York City’s various faith communities to embrace this controversy as a uniquely teachable moment. Let us model for 1.1 million New York City public school students how neighbors who share many, if not most, interests in common can achieve understanding and peace rather than hostility and resentment.

In an effort to unite the City, rather than perpetuate policies of division, let us mobilize congregations for the unique leverage they alone can provide in the fight for educational equity. At any given worship service, regardless of tradition, 70%-90% of the people in the pews are directly or indirectly connected to a school, positioned for impact if only their leaders would activate them for service.

Loving neighbors, pursuing justice, educating children – these are universal religious imperatives. When community and spiritual leaders nurture this motivation, exponential change is possible.

Mayor Bloomberg, Chancellor Walcott, faith leaders: the fight for students and schools requires us to see beyond parochial interests and forge partnerships on behalf of our students. Now is the time. Lead us.

Watch CNN’s coverage here.

Jeremy Del Rio of 20/20 Vision for Schools believes that the ban will hurt low-income communities where most of the 68 congregations affected by the ban are located. “Mayor Bloomberg believes that children in New York City can’t tell the difference between the church that rents the building on Sundays and the academic instruction that takes place Monday through Friday. New York is smarter than that. Our children are smarter than that. They know the difference.”

I’m teaching three undergraduate and seminary courses this winter:

• Leadership of Urban Ministry, an in-person winter intensive at Nyack College/Alliance Theological Seminary,
• Leadership and Management of Urban Youth Ministry, a distance course at Fuller Seminary, and
• Introduction to Urban Youth Ministry, an undergraduate online course via City Vision College.

You can register for the City Vision College course online here.

Course 330 – UYM101: Introduction to Urban Youth Ministry (3 credits)

This course is offered during the Spring 1 Term  – (January to February)

Professor: Jeremy Del Rio

Course Description
This course introduces students to the theory and practice of holistic youth development in an increasingly interconnected, open-sourced, urban world. Students will be equipped to develop asset-based, student-led, contextually relevant, culturally engaging, transformational relationships with young people. Special emphasis will be placed on issues of multiculturalism, urban poverty, and educational inequity.

Course Objectives

• Empower students to lead holistic youth development in their respective communities.
• Introduce students to the ideas and principles of community youth development.
• Create a framework for nurturing authentic student leadership.
• Provide tools for asset-based youth development, accessing community resources, and transformational mentoring.
• Explore the cultural context and implications of the first generation to grow up online.
• Explore the influence of Hip Hop on cities, pop culture, and youth development.
• Explore the implications of digital media for youth development strategies.

Weekly Topics

1. Foundations of Community Youth Development
2. Empowering Authentic (Student-Led) Student Leadership
3. Holistic Strategies: Introducing 40 Developmental Assets
4. Sustainable Supports: Cultivating Community Assets
5. Beyond Service: Restoring Justice to Youth Development
6. Developing Leaders on your Team: Mentoring Matters
7. Cultural Remix: Engaging the Hip Hop Generation
8. The Generation Changing the World

One of the challenges leading a youth ministry community is staying on top of all that is happening in the field. We know that in order to keep up YS must partner with strategic thought leaders in youth ministry. I’m well aware that we are “better together.”

Inviting Doug Fields and Kara Powell to join the leadership team was the first of many steps to expand the voices speaking into the YS community. The next project was developing a team that we affectionately will call the “YS Thought Partners”. The idea is simple–I’ve asked a few long time youth ministry leaders, who are familiar with YS, to voluntarily partner with us and help speak into the direction of YS.

I’m pleased to announce our first round of participants:

1. Jeremy Del Rio – Founder and Executive Director of 20/20 Vision for Schools.
2. Ginny Olson –Director of Youth Ministry for the Northwest Conference of the Covenant Church and an adjunct professor at Bethel University in Minnesota.
3. Walt Mueller – Founder and President of Center for Parent/Youth Understanding
4. Allen Jackson – Founder and Director of Youth Ministry Institute, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
5. Mike King CEO, Youth Front, Kansas City

These five individuals will serve a two year term as a YS Thought Partner. Each year we will ask an additional 3-5 others to join the team. The group doesn’t vote or have any fiduciary responsibilities, so any bad decisions will still be mine to own, but they will have tremendous influence as they share their youth ministry wisdom so we can better serve the growing community of youth workers throughout the world.

Doug Fields, Kara Powell, Marv Penner (ED for YS Canadian), Lucas Leys (ED of Especialidades Juveniles), [and] Terry Linhart (Director ofYouth Specialties Academic Network), will join the team as non-rotating members. To have this team available to me as a leader is humbling to say the least.

Article.

Thanks, Mark! It’s humbling to serve alongside you and such an extraordinary team. I’m excited for the future. Better together, indeed!

1. In the short week before Thanksgiving, bring breakfast to the office and teacher’s lounge one day before classes start.
2. Learn the names of the teachers and staff and personalize letters of gratitude for their service.
3. Invite church members to adopt school staff members for Christmas, and give them a gift that’s meaningful to them (not a free Bible and gospel tract).
4. Make staff and teacher appreciation part of the culture of your organization.  Find out if the school already has a mechanism to celebrate their effort, and enhance what already exists.  If something isn’t in place, offer to sponsor and help produce it.
5. Sponsor a year-end award for outstanding teachers and/or students the teachers recommend.
6. BONUS IDEA: perform an extreme makeover of the Teachers Lounge during winter or spring vacation.

What do you think? Please add your ideas in the comments.