On April 7, Salem Baptist Church in Chicago kicked off a 26-week community outreach initiative. That Saturday morning, the Reverend Senator James T. Meeks closed the doors of the largest African American church in Illinois, encouraging its 25,000 members to leave their comfort zones and take their ministry to the streets.

Called Vision 2007, the intitiative includes 14 projects designed to demonstrate Christ’s love and the values of the Church. These projects include Feed the Hungry, a clothing drive, a prison ministry, shelter visits, and a housing project. The church also plans to saturate all street corners within a certain vicinity every Wednesday in June to pray for residents in the area, and groups of six will also adopt one of 100 blocks in the area to clean up.

Meeks said he wanted to shake up his comfortable congregation, forcing them to live out the Word of God. Emphasis is placed on “doing” rather than just “hearing.”

It seems like more groups across the nation are taking action this year — whether it be “green” movements, peace movements, or community outreach programs such as that of Salem Baptist Church. With regard to the Church, such initiatives seem to be a throw-back to the days when the Catholic Church focused so much of its attention on community outreach (through setting up schools, hospitals, soup kitchens, and so on). Perhaps such movements have been going on in the Protestant world in the past couple of decades — if so, those movements have not received too much attention. As for the Catholic Church, the papacy continues to make statements about various political and social decisions, and to both make peace with (circa Pope John Paul II) and perhaps stir up relations with (circa Pope Benedict XVI) members of other world religions. However, less attention has been paid to outreach programs, as many parochial schools have closed and many hospitals have lost their funding.

Thus, Salem’s Vision 2007 gives hope to those who believe in the Church’s ability (and responsibility) to feed the poor, house the homeless, and cure the sick.

As Mike Yankoski wrote in his book, Under the Overpass, God “is calling you — like he does each of His children — to take important risks of faith that are unique to you and your opportunities. I doubt those risks will have much to do with putting on a Christian acronym bracelet or a cross T-shirt. More likely, your journey will lead you toward utter dependence on the King of kings and a resolution to follow Him wherever He may ask you to go. That might be to the streets, to your friends and family, to your neighbor, or to a stranger you haven’t even met yet…There’s only one thing left to do: Walk off the edge with Him.”

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Sikhs will celebrate Baisakhi Day on April 14th this year. For those unfamiliar with the Sikh celebration (or Sikhism), here is a quick rundown:

SIKHISM:
The major players: 10 gurus, teachers who passed the torch onto one another until the tenth guru told Sikhs to follow the eternal guru one year on Baisakhi Day. The first guru was Guru Nanak Dev whose life and preaching resulted in the founding of Sikhism.
The major scripture: Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the eternal guru, a collection of the teachings of the ten gurus and writers from other religions. It is the so-called “head” of the Sikh religion, though Sikhs do not worship the book as an idol.
The major tenants: There is only one God, he cannot take human form, one should devote oneself daily to remembering God, one should reject rituals (such as fasting, yoga, and pilgrimages) as one should focus more on good conduct and right mind than things connected to the world
The goal: To break the cycle of death and rebirth and merge with God
Encouraged practices: Meditation, following the teachings of the gurus, service, and charity
The social connection: Equality for all sexes, races, castes, and creeds; social responsibility and community service emphasized

BAISAKHI:
At the age of 33 (yes, 33), the tenth guru, then Guru Gobind Rai, gathered his followers in Anandpur, India, to celebrate the harvest festival, Baisakhi (in the Hindu month of Vaishakhu, or April). At the gathering, he asked for five heads to be sacrificed. Eventually one man came forward, Gobind took him into a tent, and reappeared with a sword dripping with blood. He then asked for four others. Each time someone volunteered, he took them into the tent and reemerged with a sword dripping with blood. The crowd assumed he had killed the men, and some began to disperse. But Gobind had actually baptized the men, and he brought all five men (now wearing white) out of the tent. Gobind proclaimed the men “The Five Beloved Ones” and said wherever five baptized people meet together, there the guru will be also.

Just years before, Sikhs had gained a reputation for cowardice (against the Mughal Empire), and Gobind sought to instill a sense of courage in them. He thus gave them symbols of courage and purity (the sword, unshorn hair, etc.) and proclaimed the baptized Sikh nation to be the Order of the Pure Ones (Khalsa). As such, the group found a common identity as Sikhs, thus eliminating divisive identification with castes, races, sexes, etc. He also eliminated divisions within Sikhism, asking followers to devote themselves to the eternal guru (the scriptures), rather than to a man. Finally, the guru gave all men the surname “Singh” meaning “lion” (he himself took the surname), and then gave the women the surname “Kaur,” or “princess.”

Sikhs today celebrate Baisakhi, not just as a harvest festival, but as a remembrance of Gobind Singh’s gifting of the Order of the Pure Ones. This year marks the 308th anniversary of that day.

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