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History does not record all the great and near great social movements. Like the ocean’s waves, they crash on the shores of reality and time. Some leave lasting marks like Woman’s Suffrage; others are drowned out by the next wave, like Prohibition. On November 18, 2006 in downtown Minneapolis at the Wesley United Methodist Church, 800 plus men and women gathered to learn more about this new wave that is causing the latest buzz, even naming itself the gathering of Spiritual Progressives. They do not say ‘Religious” so as not to identify themselves with a particular set of beliefs and the word Progressive is to give one a sense of the direction they are going.
Part of the reason this movement is drawing attention is that it has some heavy hitters chairing it nationally. Rabbi Michael Lerner, author of the Left Hand of God, Joan Chittister speaking for the Catholic liberals, and Cornel West, professor of Religion and African American at Princeton University. The conference co-sponsors were 39 of the most progressive churches and organizations in the metro area. After Plymouth Center came St. Joan of Arc Church, then Wesley Methodist, and Cathedral of St. Mark, Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers, Dignity, Hennepin Ave United Methodist Church, Loyola Spirituality Center, First Unitarian Society, the Basilica Peace and Justice Council, etc. The list goes on but one knows by scanning the list that this is the gathering of the spiritual left or more correctly, the seriously spiritually concerned.
Sitting in Wesley United in downtown Minneapolis, one knows this church is steeped in historical events. The church is a monument to the great Protestant churches of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Trying to heal society’s ills and make it healthy has always been a Methodist cause. The sanctuary space included a large Rainbow flag as the Reverend Suzanne Mades, senior pastor of Wesley welcomed us all. This among other things gave those of us from more male dominated or conservative traditions something to think about.
The invitational calling of the diverse communities and congregations for a common event must have provided a challenge. To be inclusive made the welcome and introduction more of a marathon. There was a small African-American choir followed by American Indian drumming, a Muslim meditation, Buddhist meditation, Hindu mediation and for the rest of us a Universal meditation.
The headliner for this event was Rabbi Michael Lerner whom the crowd warmed to. He spoke for over an hour but his theme was that this country, the United States is spiritually starved. He said that the Religious Right had correctly identified the need of people but sought to address spiritual need by, in a sense, saying we can be spiritual after we make exclusionary rules about marriage and gays and abortion, etc. The Secular Left has made a grave mistake by attempting to downplay the spiritual aspect of people’s lives, or attempting to make politics a totally secular activity. The goal of the Spiritual Progressive Movement was to embrace the Left but to infuse the spiritual aspect that is part of our lives. At this point in time the movement is calling for a return to ethical behavior in public life, corporate social responsibility, a universal single-payer health care program, a plan for stewardship of the environment, inclusion of all peoples as creatures of God, a strategy of nonviolence, and while they want to protect the separation of church and state, a free discussion of spiritual values in the public sphere.
Rabbi Lerner(right) said that while people were not out in the streets protesting the war in Iraq, they did speak up with their votes two weeks ago because they saw the terrible suffering of the Iraqi people and they knew this was wrong. He used the Woman’s Movement of 40 years ago as a testimony to what some movements can do. People say that we will not get anywhere or that nobody will listen to us. That is what they said to women in the 1960’s. Now we are seeing the very visible movement in society to condemn those who would insist that gay and lesbian men and women are disordered or not deserving of equal acceptance.
The Spiritual Progressives are very new and they admit they are a work in progress. They do have a very attractive cast of spiritual activists and the afternoon sessions introduced the gathering to the progressive ideas and thinking of several local spiritual leaders. They currently are holding monthly meetings on the second Monday of each month at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis. They have a developing website, http://www.nspmn.org/.
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