Jeff Carr emphasizes importance of policy change and community involvement
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05/11/11
Students, professors, pastors, and church members filled Payton Hall on Monday evening to hear Jeff Carr—chief of staff for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa—speak on how churches can engage their society for the common good. The lecture was sponsored by Fuller's Office for Urban Initiatives and Nazarene Cohort in the School of Theology.
As an ordained minister in the Nazarene Church and previous chief operating officer for the Christian social justice organization Sojourners/Call to Renewal, Carr offered a unique perspective on how local churches could have a significant impact on critical issues of justice in their communities.
After brief introductions by Fuller President Richard J. Mouw and Dean of the School of Theology Howard Loewen, Carr discussed his own journey of faith that led him to the position he holds today as the Mayor’s right-hand man. After being exposed to Third World poverty in college and experiencing a time of deep questioning of his own Christian faith, Carr began to rediscover the rich history of justice within the Church of the Nazarene—the tradition he had grown up in since he was an infant. “I asked God to be real in this world that was full of poverty,” says Carr, “and to allow me to do my part in changing what I could.”
Now, as chief of staff for the L.A. Mayor, Carr works to change people’s perspectives on issues of violence, education, homelessness, and other topics that concern the general population. Carr advocates for a community-based approach, claiming that problems in the city require entire communities to come together in unity to make their neighborhoods a better place to live. This includes local churches and their congregants taking an active role in policymaking—especially as it concerns the poor and marginalized in their communities. “How do we move from compassion to community change, and then towards policy change?” asks Carr. “We need to move from a concept of “servanthood” to a concept of friendship with the people we are serving. This is a subtle yet necessary shift in perspective.”
Carr expressed his concern that if churches do not engage society for the common good, they will face a downfall—especially among today’s younger generation of people who are genuinely concerned about injustices in their midst and across the globe. “If churches do not have a ‘prophetic faith’ that sees the possibility of what this world could look like, then they will suffer a loss with the young people,” says Carr. To enact this “prophetic faith,” Carr suggested that churches move from simple responses that deal with individual and isolated problems to more sophisticated involvement that includes advocacy for policies that will affect the poorest and most vulnerable in society for the better. Practical application of this ideal includes networking with organizations to establish partnerships, and creating local, grassroots movements that can act as catalysts for change in a community.
Carr ended the discussion by insisting that church leaders set high expectations for their members regarding positive community change. “If we set these low expectations for our parishioners, then they will rise to that low expectation. But if we dream, we can help them envision a better community,” explained Carr. “If there is no risk, there is no reward. If Christians or people of faith are not willing to risk, who will, and what will be our reward?”