…We have the opportunity to get in the way of evictions, helping people to occupy their homes as they seek new terms with predatory lenders. We have an opportunity to expose the nature of our usurious society and call people to jubilee. We have an opportunity for us to practice hospitality to the growing number of recently-evicted. May we, the followers of Jesus, proclaim jubilee to those awaiting salvation.

For the past several months, my community (Missio Dei) has been following the case of Rosemary Williams. After living in her neighborhood for 55 years, she is facing foreclosure. For many like Rosemary, banks have been unwilling to really sit down and help people keep their homes. It makes financial sense for banks to stonewall…there is nothing in it for them to show compassion.

And so, after court cases and unsuccessful attempts at getting GMAC to negotiate, Rosemary and those standing with her are facing tresspassing charges as they remain at her home–a home that she’s lived in for years. As arrests loom, Rosemary is asking the Church to come bear witness to the arrests.

Rosemary is a 55-year resident of the Central Neighborhood in south Minneapolis. She has been fighting to save her home for almost a year now. After months of non-communication from the mortgage holders, an eviction was ordered this spring. Ms. Williams, along with dozens of community supporters, tried to use the courts to stop the eviction, only to find out that pursuing “justice” would cost us $49,000. Meanwhile Rosemary has also been desperately trying to get financing to save her home, a process that takes time, especially in this economic and bank climate. Through it all, Ms. Williams makes it clear that she is standing up to inspire everyone to fight against these unjust foreclosures and evictions.

If you are at all sympathetic–whether you agree or not–would you be willing to come to Rosemary’s house today to simply bear witness? To see and hear what is happening so that others may know? A couple members of Missio Dei are standing with Rosemary to face arrest as a stand against injustice. Rosemary is asking for pastors and church leaders to come bear witness to the arrests, so that her story can be told…in these days, a name and a face needs to be attached to the masses facing homelessness. The Church needs to tell stories that reveal injustice so that, we hope, financial institutions will be shamed into practicing hospitality.

At current rates, 9 million homes will be foreclosed by 2012. This means that, in coming months and years, homeless will continue to be on the rise. What caused this situation? Certainly it was a lack of wisdom by some homeowners. But it was also caused by unexpected job loss and predatory lending.

We are looking for church leaders to come to 3138 Clinton Ave S, Minneapolis sometime today (Monday) or, if arrests haven’t been made, tomorrow. Please pass this along to clergy, religious brothers and sisters, and other church leaders.

I know protests and civil disobedience seem like a feable way of addressing foreclosure. The truth is, the Church could be doing so many different things to address this issue: creeating opportunities for just homeownership, wealthy Christians would practice Jubilee, we could practice radical hospitality, churches could spend far less on their own buildings and much more on their neighborhoods…etc. I’m working with folks to create a network of hospitality rooms in Christian homes for those that become homeless in these uncertain times, but the church seems to be, for the most part, asleep at the wheel.

You can find my post here. Here’s a snippet:

Over the years, this beautiful gospel of Jesus got replaced with the old gospel of the Empire. The Jesus movement (the church) embraced a message and methodology of oppression, violence, hierarchy, exclusion as they clambered for wealth and power.

Interestingly, while this message of Jesus has been twisted and reshaped, the society in which we live isn’t all that different from Rome. Instead of a Roman Empire, we live in an American Empire. And if Jesus was seen as a threat to the Pax Romana, then he is no less a threat to the American Dream.

Jesus would make a lousy American. He works little, lives like a bum, holds no official role or office, befriends the scum of the earth, rants about wealth, is critical of traditional authority, and exposes the evil of corruption and oppression wherever it is to be found.