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A St Joan of Arc Story of Collaborative Ministry Sarah Gleason and ISAIAH - “ We are the people we have been waiting for.”

Going to church has always been a complex journey. Sometimes we go just to hang on to life, or to feel alive, or maybe we seek something different, something that speaks to our spirit. This is a story about a small group of parishioners, who when they go to church, they keep hearing that other part of the Gospel message, - the part that says , I am my brother’s keeper. - C. MacDonald

“You shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.” Isaiah 58:12

From her mid twenties to her forties, whenever she was in the United States, which wasn’t all that often, she always came to St. Joan of Arc. She comes more frequently now because she is currently employed in St. Paul. She attends the 9:00 Mass and she gives a lot of her free time to her passion, the work of ISAIAH. Her name is Sarah Gleason and she really has a tale to tell.

Stories start somewhere, Sarah’s starts when she graduated from Regina High School in Minneapolis. She went off to Rutgers University, picked up a degree in biology and joined the Peace Corps. The Corps trained her in the art of ‘fish farming’

Peace Corps Training Center, Senegal

and she was shipped to the country of Burundi in the center of Africa, for two years. Africa seems of late to attract a lot of St. Joan of Arc parishioners, but Sarah Gleason‘s career tops them all. Who would think that sitting in the pews chairs at St. Joan of Arc is an expert on ‘fish farming’, or better yet, fish farming in a third world country? But this is just the beginning. When Sarah finished her tour of duty, she took the long way home and traveled in the Near East for six months. Once back in Minnesota she decided to go to graduate school and get a masters degree that would allow her to develop an Extension program in Africa. While she was figuring out her future, she decided to drive cab, which she did for a year and a half. In 1992 the Peace Corp hired her on contract to once again go back to Africa and train people in the art of fish farming, but this time she was sent to Cameroon on the western coast of Africa, “the land,” she says, “of 200 languages”. In Cameroon she also branched out and started to do work in community development. She stayed this time in Africa for a year and half.

Wedding Day in Senegal

She came back to Minnesota and was job hunting and found this perfect opportunity as training director but it was in Senegal, Africa. At first she was unsure she wanted to go to Senegal which is on the southern tip of the Sahara Desert, but in the end she did. She stayed four years, fell in love with the people and fell in love with a citizen of Senegal whose name is Malick. She smiled at this point in her story and said, “How wrong we can be about life sometimes. I did not want to go to Senegal and it changed my life.” Sarah Gleason worked for four years with the Senegal people and then she and her new husband returned home to Minnesota. Once home, Sarah stayed on the same parallel path her lifework has taken her. Now she works at the Wilder Foundation, managing an AmeriCorps program. Again she smiled, and said “We have the President’s support since 9/11 so my employment isn’t a current problem.”

With Friends on Wedding Day

We talked for a long time about the spirituality of Africa and the people. Then we talked about St. Joan of Arc. Sarah said that it was a place for her that seemed to speak about God and Spirit as she has come to understand God. It is a church committed to Peace and having lived for years in third world countries, the need for peace and justice is more keenly felt. She comes alone, because Malick is a devout Moslem and they respect each other’s spiritual paths. One day a close friend called Sarah and asked her to attend a meeting at where else, St. Joan of Arc, saying this group of people was concerned about some of the issues she was interested in. Sarah attended an ISAIAH meeting and has been devoting much of her free time to this ministry.

ISAIAH is the public, prophetic voice of the faith community, with action and numbers behind the voice, in issues of public policy and social justice for the Twin City growth corridor. Their goal is to provide congregations with the tools to harness their strength to become a major force for economic and social justice. Their vision statement says: We are called by Faith, we join our voices and energies to shape our world. We embrace the democratic process to help shape our world. We choose to respond to the power and call of God to become an interfaith force for equipping and uniting with other congregations to transform the community on local, regional, and statewide level.

Sarah and Malick

There are those of us who pray for the poor, there are others who share of their time and talents in a ministry to help the poor. Sarah has had enough first hand experience both here and in three African countries, to know that if you really want to address the social issues of poverty, deteriorating housing or no housing, inadequate schools, and limited medical assistance, one must start by organizing the people, especially the people who feel powerless. This is not a new idea, it comes from the success of the famous Backyard Councils in the stockyards of Chicago. The motto used in working to teach other the art of organizing is to get them to say “We shall decide our own destiny.” In this country people can be organized in a variety of ways, but faith-based communities, or churches with honest values or ministry are the one of the best sources to give voice to the needs of people. Sarah, like some others at St. Joan of Arc and other churches, sees The ISAIAH movement as a way of creating a major force. Their current goal is to address the issue of inclusionary housing in the greater metropolitan area.

ISAIAH meeting

That Sarah Gleason knows as she sits in church on Sundays, is that St. Joan of Arc is a strong congregation and if she and others can harness the strengths that is within the parish and use it to influence public policy, to challenge those laws that create our disparities… a difference can be made. Collaborative ministry offers parishioners many ways of witnessing to that art of the gospel message that speaks to our brother‘s need. The following quote is from the Gamaliel Foundation, of which ISAIAH is the Minnesota member.

Before September 11 there were over 33 million poor people in the United States. They are still here. Before September 11, there were millions of Americans without health care. There are more now. Before September 11, millions of children were being educated in substandard schools. They still are. Before September 11, there were huge pay scale disparities for whites, blacks and Latinos. Those disparities remain. The difference between September 11 and today is that 1) there are more poor because of the massive layoffs created by the economic downturn, and 2) there is less money available to address these needs. Our eyes, our psyche, our focus, our attention is on Afghanistan, on taking out terrorists, on increasing military spending. We will have a difficult time noticing the disparity, the injustice, the racism that exists in our very communities. ISAIAH has as its core mission to create metropolitan equity. Its goal is to develop coalitions that cross race, religious, class, and political boundaries to create change.

and Chuck MacDonald and his wife Beth are members of St. Joan of Arc. Chuck is a member of the Parish Council. He is currently active helping a clinic in South Africa and works part time teaching English as a second language to recent immigrants. Chuck can be reached at chuckmacdonald@attbi.com.

Paul Oman is a software engineer and compulsive barefoot waterskier who skis in shows with the Twin City River Rats. In winter, Paul plays hockey and sings in St. Joan's choir. He hosts some events with the St. Joan Singles group and lives in Brooklyn Center.

If the story of Sarah Gleason, or the goals of the ISAIAH movement speak to you, and you are interested in more information, you can find more about ISAIAH by contacting Julie Madden at 612.823.8205 ext. 228 or jmadden@stjoan.com.

If you'd like to get involved or just learn more about the issues ISAIAH is focusing on right now, watch for details of the 'Unleashing Pentecost' meeting on May 18, 2002 at St. John's in New Brighton. There should be an opportunity for attendees to meet with MN State Gubernatorial candidates individually.