Church partners to build bridges and conversation

 

By Kaye Hult

In June 2024, St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Coeur d'Alene began a journey with six other churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane as part of the first cohort for their "Building Bridges: Healing Divides" five-year grant under the Thriving Congregations Initiative of Lilly Endowment, Inc.

David Gortner, rector of St. Luke's, described the church's experience with this project to improve relationships among groups with differing views.

"The program fit what we were already doing in the community," he said, "so the diocese asked us to be a cohort member."

The core team—Kristin Keyes, Dave and Lyndi Phifer, David Owren and David—made a two-year commitment to the program. Others were involved at different stages, and St. Luke's participated in quarterly engagements.

"Basically, Building Bridges helped the congregation know and own who we are spiritually, in ministry, in relationship with God and in our prayer life, helping us deepen faith, share good news and care for others," he explained.

"Emphasizing healthy, courageous, caring conversations both within the congregation and in the community beyond our doors called us into conversation with others we might not usually talk to," he said. "We were working at building bridges."

Much of the first year was spent doing an inventory called "RenewalWorks," from Willow Creek Church in Illinois.

"That raised questions like ones we'd been asking but from a more evangelical foundation," he said, "The questions included: What are people experiencing here? Where are their groups? Are they new, status quo or growing in their Christian walks?

"Some questions didn't resonate with us," he noted. "Generally, we're doing well in deepening our faith."

The group felt the inventory took much time in the first year. They were more interested in building skills. David led an intensive walk through the Book of Revelation to do that.

"Revelation wasn't written with that intent, but through it we learned to respond differently, see a new way of looking at the book," he said.

"We were already digging into and helping folks appreciate the scriptures," David said. "That gave us things to think about for our enrichment."

During the pandemic, people's ability to converse with one another spiraled downward fairly universally, he noted.

It was timely for the congregation to begin using a tool called "From Many, One," which asked questions: 1) What do you love? 2) What have you lost? 3) Where does it hurt? 4) What do you dream about?

"Conversations could go in many directions. They helped us get to know each other in a different way," he said.

"We also used another tool during the pandemic, a documentary and discussion series, 'Finding Our Place in the Inland Northwest,' in collaboration with the Human Rights Education Institute (HREI) and the Museum of North Idaho," he said.

"There was much inflammatory stuff with white supremacist fliers posted and other intrusions, including upheaval in the government, on educational boards and in hospitals. People were getting ugly with each other," David observed.

From 2021 to 2023, St. Luke's partnered with the HREI to offer events every few weeks, watching documentaries on history and cultural undercurrents in the Inland Northwest, and facilitating conversations.

Participants were asked to listen well, so they could speak for the people they had heard in the documentary. Next, they were to agree on what they had heard together. Then, in relation to a given issue, they were asked, "What do you love, lose, hurt and hope?"

The first theme was "When Country Becomes City." Other themes were on class, labor relations, the working poor, Indigenous issues and race relations.

"We identified a common pattern that followed through to the present," David said. "Given this opportunity for a bridge-building conversation, extreme conservatives did not show up. There is a sad but real wall there."

With Building Bridges, the church worked through the inventory first with their own congregation. Next, they held conversations with people in their lives using this tool.

"With good conversations happening in the church, we were hearing each other pretty well," he observed.

"Then I began working with a few parishioners to strengthen the relationship between St. Luke's and North Idaho College (NIC)," he said.

In 2021, after the make-up of the NIC board of trustees changed, board members clashed and key people resigned. Administrative leadership and legal representation also changed, and   NIC employees feared being fired.

When NIC administrators didn't seem to be able to hear each other, the college was at risk of losing its accreditation and federal funding, he described.

"In our contacts with NIC, we found that, while people on campus felt isolated, they had a passion for the quality, cohesive organization they were working together to create," said David. "We felt a sense of calling from the staff, faculty, custodians and administration to help them create a warm environment.

"I tweaked visits toward relational, one-to-one meetings, asking: What are you passionate about? Where is your passion leading you to act? What are your gifts? Then we invited them to gather with others to have more impact," he said. "We went on campus and had eye-opening conversations."

St. Luke's, after hosting events to get to know others at NIC—a fall welcome back to school and early Christmas celebrations—began to take the relationships in new directions.

They held an Octoberfest and dinner at St. Luke's to honor NIC faculty and staff. Max Mendez, a professor, led a sing-along with his Beer Choir Hymnal.

They celebrated with people at NIC with picnics at the chapel twice a year.

St. Luke's began interacting with staff at the Center for New Directions, which works with single-parent—mostly mothers—NIC student families. As they learned about needs, they responded.

In January and April, about 60 people came to lunches at the center. They shared a simple meal, held a raffle with everyone winning something—a pizza or movie night. They played games.

During two fun events last summer, David offered a blessing and a prayer, and church members asked how St. Luke's might work with them.

"This approach with no expectations other than to build relationships took time," he said.

NIC faculty invited St. Luke's to join their Braver Angels group, reading Monica Guzman's book, I Never Thought of It That Way: Breaking Down Barriers. Braver Angels is a national group that brings together conservatives and liberals to help them understand each other, find common ground on controversial issues and, if possible, find ways to work together.

"The campus considered us trustworthy. We read the book and offered an off-campus site for discussions. When enough at the church and on campus had read it, Braver Angels offered a process to have conversations and monitor them. We're continuing that relationship, meeting at St. Luke's," he said.

"It's hard to build conversational muscles that have atrophied," David said. "It's like building core muscles. We need to lean into conversations because many people have been taught to run from matters of consequence.

"That's not what Jesus, Paul or the prophets would do, or what apostles invite us to do. They invite us to know each other, walk the extra mile and give our cloak, too. We see this generosity of Spirit in Jesus. It's holy work, bringing hope to people in our congregation and community," he said.

"Building Bridges enhanced our bridging work," he affirmed. "It gave us tools to get us over the hump."

For information, call (208) 664-5533 or email admin@stlukescda.org.