WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:05.040 Navigating faith and politics. Many 2 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:08.680 don't want to do it, but we need to. So that's what we're 3 00:00:08.680 --> 00:00:12.160 addressing with Minneapolis pastor Tyler Sitte 4 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:14.080 on this episode of Compass. 5 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:21.280 You're listening to Compass, finding spirituality in the everyday. 6 00:00:21.360 --> 00:00:23.960 My name is Ryan Dunn. It's mid-February 7 00:00:24.720 --> 00:00:27.600 2026. Minneapolis and 8 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:31.280 Minnesota have been prevalent in the news as of late. 9 00:00:31.790 --> 00:00:35.350 In case you're listening down the proverbial road of 10 00:00:35.350 --> 00:00:39.070 time, that's because of heavy Border Patrol 11 00:00:39.070 --> 00:00:42.790 and Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in 12 00:00:42.790 --> 00:00:46.270 the area. Their tactics have been aggressive, 13 00:00:46.270 --> 00:00:50.070 to say the least, lethal in the worst cases, as we 14 00:00:50.070 --> 00:00:53.550 will talk about in the cases of Renee Goode and Alex Pretty, 15 00:00:53.630 --> 00:00:57.230 who were killed by Border Patrol and ICE agents. Our 16 00:00:57.310 --> 00:01:00.750 conversation with Reverend Tyler Sitte makes it clear that 17 00:01:00.990 --> 00:01:04.500 this presence impacts all of life across 18 00:01:04.580 --> 00:01:08.260 the area. And while these actions are inspiring 19 00:01:08.340 --> 00:01:12.060 fear and distrust, Reverend Tyler Sit offers some 20 00:01:12.060 --> 00:01:15.700 other inspiring perspectives. He's going to share how 21 00:01:15.780 --> 00:01:18.900 the crisis has reshaped his pastoral practices, 22 00:01:19.460 --> 00:01:22.660 how it has increased community mobilization, 23 00:01:23.300 --> 00:01:26.380 and how it's highlighted the spiritual resilience of 24 00:01:26.380 --> 00:01:30.180 individuals coming together in response to violence and 25 00:01:30.180 --> 00:01:33.770 fear. We're going to get into navigating political tensions 26 00:01:33.770 --> 00:01:37.610 while remaining rooted in faith, sharing stories 27 00:01:37.610 --> 00:01:41.450 of hope amidst adversity, and the role of the church in fostering 28 00:01:41.450 --> 00:01:45.090 connection and support for immigrant communities. Who 29 00:01:45.090 --> 00:01:48.770 is Reverend Tyler Sitte? Well, you may remember him from episode 30 00:01:48.770 --> 00:01:52.010 60 of this podcast released in May of 31 00:01:52.010 --> 00:01:55.850 2021. Holy cow, 5 years. He talked with us then about 32 00:01:55.850 --> 00:01:59.400 how worship "Prayer and Meditation Interrupt the 33 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:03.240 World's Cycles of Brokenness." That was in the wake of the release 34 00:02:03.240 --> 00:02:06.560 of his book, "Staying Awake: The Gospel for Changemakers." 35 00:02:07.440 --> 00:02:10.880 Tyler was then and is now the planting 36 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:14.320 pastor of New City Church in Minneapolis. 37 00:02:14.480 --> 00:02:18.120 He's a second-generation Chinese American, and he 38 00:02:18.120 --> 00:02:21.800 focuses a lot of his work on justice for all 39 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:25.540 people. Community, and inclusion. There's 40 00:02:25.540 --> 00:02:29.220 much to be discussed here. You might want to listen for how the church 41 00:02:29.220 --> 00:02:32.580 can engage in politics without partisanship 42 00:02:32.740 --> 00:02:36.340 and how isolation is not the answer 43 00:02:36.340 --> 00:02:40.060 to our human issues. So let's go. Reverend 44 00:02:40.060 --> 00:02:42.020 Tyler Sitte on Compass. 45 00:02:43.780 --> 00:02:47.460 Reverend Tyler, 2026 has probably, 46 00:02:48.180 --> 00:02:51.940 well, reshaped your practice of ministry thus 47 00:02:51.940 --> 00:02:55.440 far versus what it may have looked like in 2025. 25 or days 48 00:02:55.440 --> 00:02:58.880 earlier. So can you tell us a little bit about how the 49 00:02:59.600 --> 00:03:03.280 recent demonstrations in Minneapolis, how the ICE occupation 50 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:06.840 in Minneapolis, how all that has affected the 51 00:03:06.840 --> 00:03:10.359 life of your church? Oh, gosh, yeah. 52 00:03:10.359 --> 00:03:14.080 Operation MetroSurge has changed functionally 53 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:17.680 every aspect of our church life together. It's changed 54 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:21.120 our worship, small groups, administration, 55 00:03:22.190 --> 00:03:25.870 building use, pastoral care, community engagement. Every 56 00:03:25.870 --> 00:03:28.270 aspect of our life together has been affected. 57 00:03:29.950 --> 00:03:33.750 You know, cut to a couple Sundays ago when there was a raid 58 00:03:33.750 --> 00:03:37.190 happening 2 blocks away from church, and we 59 00:03:37.190 --> 00:03:40.550 couldn't start our worship service because half of the 60 00:03:40.550 --> 00:03:44.390 congregation was going out to make sure that our neighbors were going to be 61 00:03:44.390 --> 00:03:47.710 taken care of. So yeah, like, literally, 62 00:03:47.950 --> 00:03:51.550 logistically, it's, it's affected every aspect of our church, 63 00:03:51.630 --> 00:03:54.970 much less the spiritual and emotional impacts of having 64 00:03:55.530 --> 00:03:59.330 so much fear in the streets and so much cautiousness and 65 00:03:59.330 --> 00:04:02.810 lack of feeling like we can walk down the street in 66 00:04:02.810 --> 00:04:05.690 safety. So yeah, it's affected the body of Christ. 67 00:04:06.170 --> 00:04:09.610 Absolutely. How about your practice as a 68 00:04:09.610 --> 00:04:12.090 pastor? Do you feel that 69 00:04:13.370 --> 00:04:16.850 the shape of your ministry, the demands of your 70 00:04:16.850 --> 00:04:20.330 ministry is maybe a better way to put it, have been altered by all this? 71 00:04:21.580 --> 00:04:25.020 Yes, so as a pastor, the main 72 00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:29.260 way that I approach my work, how I envision being a pastor, 73 00:04:29.340 --> 00:04:33.140 is to set people up to bless each other. And that's always the 74 00:04:33.140 --> 00:04:36.620 case in any ministry season. I am always trying to set people up to bless 75 00:04:36.620 --> 00:04:40.260 each other. Because, as you know, in the United Methodist 76 00:04:40.260 --> 00:04:44.060 system, we have an itinerancy, and I want to make sure that 77 00:04:44.140 --> 00:04:47.820 I'm building up a community that will sustain itself even after 78 00:04:47.820 --> 00:04:51.100 I'm appointed elsewhere. And that's just kind of healthy 79 00:04:51.100 --> 00:04:54.800 organizational development anyway. Ways. So everything has kind of 80 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:58.040 went on hyperdrive because now the ways that people 81 00:04:58.280 --> 00:05:01.520 need support for each other is exponentially 82 00:05:01.520 --> 00:05:05.080 increased because of— because of Operation Metro 83 00:05:05.080 --> 00:05:08.759 Surge. So for example, there are folks at New City 84 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:12.480 Church who aren't leaving their homes unless they're 85 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:16.280 accompanied by a white community member. So 86 00:05:16.520 --> 00:05:20.170 logistically, that just presents an whole new level 87 00:05:20.170 --> 00:05:23.770 of organization to figure out how people can get grocery store— 88 00:05:23.930 --> 00:05:27.650 go to the grocery store, go to the DMV, or go to places 89 00:05:27.650 --> 00:05:31.330 where they have to go to, go to the dentist. I'm also seeing 90 00:05:31.330 --> 00:05:34.650 a lot more food scarcity because people are unwilling to 91 00:05:34.890 --> 00:05:38.690 leave their homes, and so rightfully so. So, you know, we 92 00:05:38.690 --> 00:05:42.330 partner with organizations to do food shares every week through 93 00:05:42.330 --> 00:05:45.810 Walker Church, and which is another church that partners in the building, through Sisters 94 00:05:45.810 --> 00:05:49.490 Camelot. And that food share used to have 100 to 300 people 95 00:05:49.490 --> 00:05:53.270 coming to it every week, and lately Lately, it's been 6 people 96 00:05:53.590 --> 00:05:57.110 coming to it. So the entire operation 97 00:05:57.190 --> 00:06:00.950 has had to now change to a delivery operation 98 00:06:00.950 --> 00:06:04.710 and a decentralized food distribution model, 99 00:06:04.790 --> 00:06:08.270 which means, you know, 5 times as many volunteers are 100 00:06:08.270 --> 00:06:11.190 needed, capacity is needed to be able to pack this food. 101 00:06:12.390 --> 00:06:16.110 We need to hold information in really secure 102 00:06:16.110 --> 00:06:19.060 ways because we don't want to just be distributing willy-nilly. 103 00:06:20.140 --> 00:06:23.740 So yeah, it's, it's been an intense mobilization of 104 00:06:23.900 --> 00:06:27.740 people, and the art of setting people up to bless each 105 00:06:27.740 --> 00:06:31.580 other has been kind of 106 00:06:31.580 --> 00:06:34.780 multiplied. But I also want to name that 107 00:06:35.020 --> 00:06:37.900 there's been a real blessing in the 108 00:06:38.380 --> 00:06:41.980 upward energy that I'm seeing at New City Church. 109 00:06:41.980 --> 00:06:45.780 There are so many people, so many people coming out of the woodwork, so 110 00:06:45.780 --> 00:06:49.540 many neighbors who are saying, I want to be part of the solution, I want 111 00:06:49.540 --> 00:06:53.040 to show care for people, and please set my 112 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:56.680 hands to do this. And so we're seeing people who are 113 00:06:56.840 --> 00:07:00.560 taking vacation time off of their regular jobs to 114 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:03.800 be able to support neighbors. We're seeing 115 00:07:03.880 --> 00:07:07.240 mothers who are— who have recently given birth, 116 00:07:07.320 --> 00:07:11.080 collectivizing their breast milk so that babies 117 00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:15.080 of families whose mother has been detained can be taken 118 00:07:15.080 --> 00:07:18.840 care of. You know, like everyone has— we're seeing retirees who 119 00:07:18.840 --> 00:07:22.370 thought that the bulk of their ministry days were over, 120 00:07:22.930 --> 00:07:26.530 going to schools to help supervise the drop-off 121 00:07:26.730 --> 00:07:30.530 and pickup times of school buses, because drop-off and pickup time is a— 122 00:07:30.610 --> 00:07:33.730 is a moment when ICE agents tend to 123 00:07:34.130 --> 00:07:37.650 either detain parents or detain school staff or 124 00:07:37.650 --> 00:07:41.450 teachers. So we have retirees finding a 125 00:07:41.450 --> 00:07:45.170 new sense of purpose from being able to stand on a 126 00:07:45.170 --> 00:07:48.470 sidewalk with a whistle So like there's this real coming 127 00:07:48.630 --> 00:07:52.310 together that is beautiful to witness and something that 128 00:07:52.310 --> 00:07:55.190 frankly I didn't even know was possible, but God has been good. 129 00:07:55.590 --> 00:07:59.030 Yeah. Yeah. It, I appreciate you 130 00:07:59.030 --> 00:08:02.870 sharing those witnesses because it begins 131 00:08:02.870 --> 00:08:06.470 to paint the, the spiritual aspect of, 132 00:08:06.950 --> 00:08:10.790 of a response to this. So often for those of us who are not 133 00:08:10.950 --> 00:08:14.590 geographically there, are just kind of secondhand 134 00:08:14.590 --> 00:08:17.950 viewing the activities or things going on in 135 00:08:18.230 --> 00:08:21.710 Minnesota, there's a sense of 136 00:08:21.710 --> 00:08:25.390 removal. And certainly what we witness is painted as 137 00:08:25.390 --> 00:08:29.190 a picture of chaos and divisiveness. 138 00:08:29.270 --> 00:08:32.830 And so it helps so much to get these ideas of the 139 00:08:32.830 --> 00:08:36.510 ways in which people are coming together. When 140 00:08:36.510 --> 00:08:39.790 we, when we from the church aspect 141 00:08:40.110 --> 00:08:43.710 share messages coming out of Minnesota, there are some 142 00:08:43.870 --> 00:08:47.710 surprising lines of comments that pop up. One 143 00:08:47.710 --> 00:08:51.550 of them being that, well, those who may be, 144 00:08:51.550 --> 00:08:55.070 for example, who are standing on the street corner 145 00:08:55.070 --> 00:08:57.150 with a whistle are 146 00:08:59.070 --> 00:09:02.430 not respecting a command like Romans 13 to 147 00:09:02.750 --> 00:09:06.270 respect the authorities. Have you had verses like that 148 00:09:06.350 --> 00:09:10.070 kind of thrown back at you? Have you crafted 149 00:09:10.070 --> 00:09:13.750 a response to something like that? And for those who maybe 150 00:09:13.750 --> 00:09:17.470 don't know, I'm sorry to interrupt, but Romans 13 says that 151 00:09:17.710 --> 00:09:21.310 it's an encouragement to respect the governing authorities, 152 00:09:21.310 --> 00:09:24.949 that there's this sense that they have been ordained by 153 00:09:24.949 --> 00:09:28.710 God. And to go deeper into 154 00:09:28.710 --> 00:09:32.190 that, well, I'll let you do that. But has that been something that 155 00:09:32.190 --> 00:09:34.910 you've heard raised? Yeah. 156 00:09:36.530 --> 00:09:40.050 [Speaker:ELLIE] So just to reiterate, what I'm seeing with people 157 00:09:40.050 --> 00:09:43.650 standing on the sidewalk watching schools, most, 158 00:09:44.130 --> 00:09:47.730 like 99% of the folks that I'm seeing are people 159 00:09:47.730 --> 00:09:51.529 who are standing on a sidewalk with a whistle and 160 00:09:51.529 --> 00:09:54.530 a phone, which is legal and 161 00:09:54.530 --> 00:09:58.330 constitutional. So I want to be clear that, 162 00:09:58.330 --> 00:10:01.890 like, a vast majority of the mobilization 163 00:10:02.370 --> 00:10:06.170 is inarguably something that we are entitled to based 164 00:10:06.170 --> 00:10:09.790 off of the laws and Constitution. Constitution of this land. There are some 165 00:10:09.790 --> 00:10:13.470 individuals and some tactics where they're entering 166 00:10:13.470 --> 00:10:16.670 a little bit of a gray area where we could enter more 167 00:10:16.910 --> 00:10:20.270 conversation. But I think about folks like Alex 168 00:10:20.270 --> 00:10:23.310 Petty, who was standing on a sidewalk and 169 00:10:25.150 --> 00:10:28.990 an ICE officer or a Border Patrol agent shoved a woman. 170 00:10:28.990 --> 00:10:32.630 And Alex Petty, as an ICU nurse, went to go help 171 00:10:32.630 --> 00:10:35.920 that woman. And then And then 172 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:39.200 we know what happened next. There are 5 agents surrounded him, 173 00:10:39.920 --> 00:10:43.440 emptied 10 shots into his body. He was 174 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:47.240 legally carrying. So I say 175 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:51.080 that to say that the aggression that we're seeing against the people of 176 00:10:51.080 --> 00:10:54.560 Minneapolis is not proportionate to 177 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:58.760 any of the tactics going the other way. And I say this from 178 00:10:58.760 --> 00:11:02.480 someone who's watching it happening on the ground and not just someone 179 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:05.700 who's part of kind of the social media sphere. 180 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:09.380 I appreciate that. The other story I wanted to name is 181 00:11:09.780 --> 00:11:13.340 New City Church is doing a sermon series right now called 182 00:11:13.340 --> 00:11:16.940 Bible Confident, where we're walking through the New Testament 183 00:11:16.940 --> 00:11:20.620 and giving people skills to feel confident in picking up the Bible and 184 00:11:20.620 --> 00:11:24.460 reading it for themselves. And the Bible is so— the Bible is so 185 00:11:24.460 --> 00:11:28.020 rich and so helpful and essential, really, for moments like this. 186 00:11:28.100 --> 00:11:31.470 I'm reading through the Book of Acts right now with my community, 187 00:11:32.030 --> 00:11:35.750 and it's uncanny, the parallels that we're seeing in 188 00:11:35.750 --> 00:11:39.550 the Book of Acts to what we're seeing on the ground here in Minneapolis. 189 00:11:39.550 --> 00:11:42.830 We hear in the Book of Acts, there are stories of women 190 00:11:42.830 --> 00:11:46.550 collectivizing to make sure that the needs of the widows are met. And 191 00:11:46.550 --> 00:11:50.190 I'm absolutely seeing that happening here. We're seeing 192 00:11:50.270 --> 00:11:54.030 Saul, a description of Saul going door to door and taking people 193 00:11:54.030 --> 00:11:57.390 out of their homes to arrest them. And that is a 194 00:11:57.740 --> 00:12:01.420 tactic that ICE agents used in Saint Paul. So 195 00:12:01.500 --> 00:12:05.180 we're seeing Saint Paul, ironically named after 196 00:12:05.340 --> 00:12:08.300 the rebrand of Saul. This is, 197 00:12:09.020 --> 00:12:12.620 you know, many of us pray for that, that, 198 00:12:13.180 --> 00:12:16.940 well, that witness of Saul who becomes Paul, 199 00:12:17.020 --> 00:12:20.860 who, you know, repents of this former way. Like, you 200 00:12:20.860 --> 00:12:24.540 know, we so want to hear that witness coming out of this experience. 201 00:12:25.800 --> 00:12:29.560 Absolutely. And, you know, we have thousands of 202 00:12:29.560 --> 00:12:33.320 people joining resistance choirs who nonviolently sing 203 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:36.960 on sidewalks. And one of the songs that went viral, a 204 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:40.680 video went viral of them, was a song where the lyrics are, "It's 205 00:12:40.680 --> 00:12:43.880 okay to change your mind." And just like, you know, 206 00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:47.800 embracing folks saying it's okay to change your mind. And what we're seeing 207 00:12:47.800 --> 00:12:51.480 in the streets of Minneapolis is that over and over again, 208 00:12:52.070 --> 00:12:55.790 people who previously would not have shown up 209 00:12:55.790 --> 00:12:59.510 to protests changing their mind to show up for protests or 210 00:12:59.510 --> 00:13:03.070 rallies or vigils. And so we have 211 00:13:03.070 --> 00:13:06.510 stories of people who said, "I've never been to any type of 212 00:13:06.510 --> 00:13:09.990 politicized public gathering or any type of spiritual public 213 00:13:09.990 --> 00:13:13.670 gathering. And this is my first time because I 214 00:13:13.670 --> 00:13:16.870 saw what happened to Renée Goode, and it's pushing me over the edge." 215 00:13:17.190 --> 00:13:20.950 Or we're seeing people who are conservative, who are really 216 00:13:20.950 --> 00:13:24.650 concerned about gun rights laws and what happened to Alex Petty. 217 00:13:24.650 --> 00:13:28.450 We're seeing business owners who are noticing that in the city of 218 00:13:28.450 --> 00:13:31.930 Minneapolis, there are certain areas where there has been a 50 to 219 00:13:31.930 --> 00:13:35.410 80% decrease of business to the— to 220 00:13:35.730 --> 00:13:39.210 shops in the area. And they're seeing, like, the real 221 00:13:39.210 --> 00:13:42.890 impacts, material impacts that this is having on their employees. So it's 222 00:13:42.890 --> 00:13:46.290 not just kind of the stereotypical left-wing 223 00:13:46.290 --> 00:13:50.050 so-and-so's who are protesting. It's 224 00:13:50.290 --> 00:13:54.130 parents and children and retired clergy. Non-retired 225 00:13:55.070 --> 00:13:58.150 clergy coming together saying, we don't agree 226 00:13:58.150 --> 00:14:01.830 ideologically on a lot of things, but we do agree that the 227 00:14:01.830 --> 00:14:05.670 aggression that we're experiencing during Operation Metro Surge is not the vision that God 228 00:14:05.670 --> 00:14:09.150 has for the world. You mentioned the P word. I mean, political. 229 00:14:10.030 --> 00:14:13.750 Sure. And another one of the thread of comments that we 230 00:14:13.750 --> 00:14:17.270 might see when, when posting about actions such as this, or even 231 00:14:17.270 --> 00:14:20.790 voicing a sense of 232 00:14:20.790 --> 00:14:24.430 resistance or word of resistance against aggressive government 233 00:14:24.510 --> 00:14:27.970 action like that is that The church is being 234 00:14:28.130 --> 00:14:31.890 political. Have you heard that? Yeah, 235 00:14:32.930 --> 00:14:36.210 I think that, of course, New City Church is kind of 236 00:14:36.690 --> 00:14:40.410 in the— in a spotlight right now, particularly because we've— 237 00:14:40.410 --> 00:14:43.650 we're within walking distance of where Renee Goode was murdered. 238 00:14:43.890 --> 00:14:47.490 So there's been a certain amount of attention, but I want to name 239 00:14:47.490 --> 00:14:50.770 that New City Church also spoke out against ICE when 240 00:14:50.770 --> 00:14:54.570 Democrats were in charge, because ICE existed while Democrats were in charge. 241 00:14:55.290 --> 00:14:58.410 New City Church also spoke out against police 242 00:14:58.490 --> 00:15:02.330 brutality when Democrats were in charge. So 243 00:15:02.490 --> 00:15:05.850 I want to name, like, there's a difference between partisanship and 244 00:15:06.010 --> 00:15:09.570 being political. And so partisan means, you know, 245 00:15:09.570 --> 00:15:13.250 aligning with Democrat or Republican. Partisan means you're, 246 00:15:13.250 --> 00:15:16.810 you know, backing certain candidates. And New City Church 247 00:15:16.810 --> 00:15:20.450 engages in none of that, intentionally engages in nothing 248 00:15:20.450 --> 00:15:24.290 partisan. But to be political is to, you know, at its 249 00:15:24.290 --> 00:15:26.830 root, it's about the polis, P-O-L-I-S. 250 00:15:28.030 --> 00:15:31.470 It's about the shared built community that we have together. 251 00:15:31.790 --> 00:15:35.550 And it's about engaging the question of how power is distributed. 252 00:15:35.870 --> 00:15:39.550 And when I look at the healing stories of Jesus, of people 253 00:15:39.550 --> 00:15:42.950 who were locked in graveyards and then reintroduced into 254 00:15:42.950 --> 00:15:46.590 society, of what he asked of the rich young ruler, 255 00:15:46.750 --> 00:15:50.390 I see Jesus negotiating power dynamics 256 00:15:50.390 --> 00:15:53.990 in his society to try to shape it to look a little bit more like 257 00:15:53.990 --> 00:15:57.570 the kingdom of God. And in that regard, Jesus 258 00:15:57.570 --> 00:16:01.410 was inextricably political because Jesus cared about power 259 00:16:01.410 --> 00:16:05.050 and society. And all of that was in 260 00:16:05.050 --> 00:16:08.610 service to the gospel. All of that was in service to good 261 00:16:08.610 --> 00:16:12.290 news that says that God is here for all 262 00:16:12.290 --> 00:16:15.530 of creation to be in peace and joy together. 263 00:16:15.930 --> 00:16:19.690 All of that in service is in service to God's saving work in the world. 264 00:16:20.810 --> 00:16:23.530 With that hopeful word, have there been some 265 00:16:24.700 --> 00:16:27.340 additional glimpses of maybe 266 00:16:28.380 --> 00:16:32.140 not just the community in action for the good of the 267 00:16:32.140 --> 00:16:35.980 world, but even, dare I say, like God 268 00:16:35.980 --> 00:16:39.540 in action? Oh yeah. Yeah, 269 00:16:39.540 --> 00:16:43.220 absolutely. So I want to tell two stories that 270 00:16:43.220 --> 00:16:46.820 are a little intense. And so if your readers have some triggers or whatever, 271 00:16:46.820 --> 00:16:49.900 just know that, you know, you can fast forward a couple minutes. 272 00:16:50.940 --> 00:16:54.220 So the first story is about Alberto Castañeda 273 00:16:54.220 --> 00:16:57.630 Mondragón. Who was born in Mexico, came to 274 00:16:57.630 --> 00:17:00.550 Minnesota, started a business, started a construction business, 275 00:17:01.350 --> 00:17:05.110 had no criminal record, was arrested by an ICE agent, 276 00:17:05.190 --> 00:17:08.870 presumably because of race-based profiling, because he had no criminal 277 00:17:08.870 --> 00:17:12.710 record and there would be no reason to arrest him otherwise. After arresting him, 278 00:17:12.870 --> 00:17:16.670 they found that he had overstayed his visa, and so 279 00:17:16.670 --> 00:17:20.070 they detained him. And hours after his arrest, 280 00:17:20.809 --> 00:17:24.569 he was rushed to the hospital here in Minneapolis because of 281 00:17:24.569 --> 00:17:28.329 significant damage to his skull. So the 282 00:17:28.329 --> 00:17:31.929 doctors were like, "Oh my gosh, what happened to this guy?" And the ICE agent 283 00:17:31.929 --> 00:17:35.689 said that he had intentionally run headfirst into a 284 00:17:35.689 --> 00:17:39.489 brick wall. And the doctors were doing an examination, the 285 00:17:39.489 --> 00:17:43.089 doctors were doing what they were trained to do and care for this person, and 286 00:17:43.089 --> 00:17:46.649 they realized that the wounds that he had on his 287 00:17:46.649 --> 00:17:50.240 skull could not have been self-inflicted. Was damage on the 288 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:53.880 right and the left side of his brain. There was damage on the front 289 00:17:53.960 --> 00:17:57.320 and backside of his— I should say not brain, but skull. 290 00:17:57.800 --> 00:18:01.560 There was damage all the way through from the axis 291 00:18:02.120 --> 00:18:05.840 between the front and the back. And they said there's no way that a person 292 00:18:05.840 --> 00:18:09.480 could self-inflict this. And now this man 293 00:18:10.040 --> 00:18:12.920 who is fortunately released from hospital 294 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:17.680 has a traumatic brain injury, and he has no family around to help him 295 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:21.500 in his recovery process. But what really sticks in my heart part is 296 00:18:21.500 --> 00:18:24.820 that he had a phone call with his daughter back in 297 00:18:24.900 --> 00:18:28.540 Mexico, a 9-year-old girl, and he can't 298 00:18:28.540 --> 00:18:32.380 remember his own daughter. The brain injury is such 299 00:18:32.380 --> 00:18:35.620 that he couldn't remember that he had a daughter. 300 00:18:36.260 --> 00:18:39.900 And so then she, a 9-year-old girl— a 10-year-old 301 00:18:40.220 --> 00:18:44.020 girl— had to explain to him the memories that they had together, 302 00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:48.260 the memory of when he taught her to dance, the relationship 303 00:18:48.260 --> 00:18:51.400 that they used to have.. And it was this 304 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:55.280 rupture of family. And, and if you're familiar with traumatic 305 00:18:55.280 --> 00:18:58.920 brain injuries, you know that this is not going to be a quick recovery. 306 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:02.760 So that is kind of one story of 307 00:19:02.760 --> 00:19:06.600 what's happening in Minneapolis. And then as a second 308 00:19:06.600 --> 00:19:09.960 story, I was contacted. So I was at church. I 309 00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:13.720 was contacted by a local teacher who said, we just did a 310 00:19:13.800 --> 00:19:17.500 survey of our families and 34 of these families are 311 00:19:17.500 --> 00:19:20.780 facing eviction because the businesses have been struck so much 312 00:19:20.780 --> 00:19:24.620 by Minneapolis that they don't have income and they can't pay 313 00:19:24.780 --> 00:19:28.340 rent. And this, by the way, like, these are families that are not, like, 314 00:19:28.340 --> 00:19:31.900 quote-unquote "low-income families" necessarily. These are families that 315 00:19:32.060 --> 00:19:35.660 had jobs and were running—in some cases running 316 00:19:35.660 --> 00:19:39.100 businesses, but they were facing eviction. 34 families. 317 00:19:39.500 --> 00:19:43.270 And not 2 hours later, a donor calls me 318 00:19:43.270 --> 00:19:47.030 up, a United Methodist just from throughout the connection, not anyone 319 00:19:47.030 --> 00:19:50.870 who has worshiped at the church, and said, "I would like to donate 320 00:19:50.870 --> 00:19:54.670 a large sum of money to support families who are facing eviction. Do 321 00:19:54.670 --> 00:19:58.310 you know any families that I can get in touch with?" And I said, "In 322 00:19:58.310 --> 00:20:01.390 fact, I do. In fact, I do know some families you can get in touch 323 00:20:01.390 --> 00:20:05.070 with." And so, so, you know, he drove over and he pressed 324 00:20:05.070 --> 00:20:08.430 a check into my hand. And he said, "I want to tell you 325 00:20:09.620 --> 00:20:12.980 something." I have two adult children, and we had a family meeting 326 00:20:13.220 --> 00:20:17.060 together, and we prayed together, and we decided that we were going 327 00:20:17.060 --> 00:20:20.500 to spend down the children's inheritance in order to 328 00:20:20.820 --> 00:20:23.700 pay for families facing eviction 329 00:20:24.660 --> 00:20:27.220 because that is the legacy that we want to leave in the 330 00:20:29.140 --> 00:20:32.900 world. So just to juxtapose these two stories, 331 00:20:32.900 --> 00:20:36.260 like, we have people who are literally 332 00:20:37.010 --> 00:20:40.650 forgetting the family, the biological family that they have because of 333 00:20:40.650 --> 00:20:44.410 the violence that we're witnessing. And then on the other hand, we 334 00:20:44.410 --> 00:20:48.050 have people who are rediscovering how they are family in 335 00:20:48.530 --> 00:20:52.290 Christ with people that they might not have even met. And how— 336 00:20:52.290 --> 00:20:55.890 and that God extends this sense of kinship and 337 00:20:56.690 --> 00:21:00.530 family to all of us because all of us are children of God. 338 00:21:00.530 --> 00:21:04.330 And that's the tale of two cities that I'm seeing right now. There's, 339 00:21:04.330 --> 00:21:07.460 there's a Minneapolis that is 340 00:21:07.860 --> 00:21:11.260 enduring deep violence, and then there's a Minneapolis that 341 00:21:11.260 --> 00:21:14.580 is rediscovering what God had wanted us to remember all 342 00:21:14.900 --> 00:21:18.420 along, that we belong to each other and that we should care for each other. 343 00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:22.260 Yeah, I think that there are some folks, some cynical folks who could 344 00:21:22.260 --> 00:21:26.060 hear that story about the donor and say, "Well, yeah, but that wasn't God moving. 345 00:21:26.060 --> 00:21:29.700 That was people moving." But I just gotta name that, 346 00:21:29.780 --> 00:21:33.420 like, I've been at this for— I've been at ministry for about 10 years, and 347 00:21:33.420 --> 00:21:37.130 I have I've worked on a lot of projects, and I've 348 00:21:37.370 --> 00:21:41.170 cared for a lot of different families in a lot of different situations, including 349 00:21:41.170 --> 00:21:44.930 during the George Floyd uprisings. And this 350 00:21:44.930 --> 00:21:47.530 type of coordination and mobilization 351 00:21:48.250 --> 00:21:52.050 and resurrection, frankly, is only possible 352 00:21:52.050 --> 00:21:55.650 because of God. Because I've seen how slow these processes can 353 00:21:55.650 --> 00:21:59.090 go other times, and I've seen how many families don't get their rent paid 354 00:21:59.090 --> 00:22:02.890 during crises in other times. So when I witness this, it 355 00:22:02.890 --> 00:22:06.690 feels like I have a front row seat to God moving in the world. And 356 00:22:06.690 --> 00:22:08.810 it's something that will permanently change my 357 00:22:10.490 --> 00:22:14.290 ministry. We're recording this in the middle of February. 358 00:22:14.290 --> 00:22:17.930 Supposedly things are drawing down a little bit, probably in any case, 359 00:22:17.930 --> 00:22:21.690 whether that's the truth or not, things are reaching a sense 360 00:22:21.850 --> 00:22:25.530 of, I don't know, rhythm within Minneapolis. Do 361 00:22:25.930 --> 00:22:29.670 you get an impression that that there 362 00:22:29.670 --> 00:22:33.350 will be a return to life as it was before? 363 00:22:33.990 --> 00:22:37.190 Or if not, how is life 364 00:22:37.190 --> 00:22:40.990 in Minneapolis going to be different in, say, a year? 365 00:22:40.990 --> 00:22:44.670 So first, I want to name for any listeners who are listening still close 366 00:22:44.670 --> 00:22:48.270 to the date of recording that 367 00:22:48.270 --> 00:22:51.950 Minnesotans are very skeptical about language around 368 00:22:51.950 --> 00:22:53.830 a drawdown or drawback 369 00:22:55.800 --> 00:22:59.520 because this is the same leadership that has 370 00:22:59.520 --> 00:23:02.840 told us stories about violence in the city 371 00:23:02.840 --> 00:23:06.680 that directly contradicts video evidence of that 372 00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:09.800 violence. We heard that during Renee Goode. We've heard that during Alex 373 00:23:10.360 --> 00:23:13.720 Predi. So while we would certainly welcome a 374 00:23:16.040 --> 00:23:19.760 drawdown, we're just— everyone I know is in a posture of, "I'll believe 375 00:23:19.760 --> 00:23:22.440 it when I see it," not because we don't deeply want it, but 376 00:23:23.540 --> 00:23:27.260 because We've had chaos injected into 377 00:23:27.260 --> 00:23:30.420 our city on every level over the past 378 00:23:31.940 --> 00:23:35.660 month-plus, and it's hard to know how to move forward 379 00:23:35.660 --> 00:23:39.420 from that. So that's kind of on a 380 00:23:39.420 --> 00:23:42.100 meta level, but in terms of the city of Minneapolis moving 381 00:23:45.140 --> 00:23:48.500 forward, you know, Mayor Frey calculated, I think it 382 00:23:50.900 --> 00:23:54.500 was $250 million. The city of Minneapolis has lost 383 00:23:54.500 --> 00:23:57.460 over $200 million over the course of this 384 00:23:58.100 --> 00:24:01.540 surge because of the loss of business, because of 385 00:24:01.620 --> 00:24:05.460 the stress that it's put on social services, school systems having to shift 386 00:24:05.620 --> 00:24:08.980 to distance learning instead of having— 387 00:24:09.300 --> 00:24:13.140 So I don't know exactly what it looks like to recoup 388 00:24:13.140 --> 00:24:16.390 hundreds of million dollars that were bled out of the city over the course of 389 00:24:16.390 --> 00:24:19.990 a month. But I do know that Minneapolis 390 00:24:19.990 --> 00:24:22.830 as a cultural 391 00:24:23.470 --> 00:24:27.310 fabric feels more resilient than it ever has. And I 392 00:24:27.310 --> 00:24:31.030 honestly think that some of that is because of the lessons that we learned 393 00:24:31.030 --> 00:24:34.870 during the uprisings 5 years ago, the George Floyd uprisings. During the 394 00:24:34.870 --> 00:24:38.670 George Floyd uprisings, neighbors exchanged numbers, and 395 00:24:38.670 --> 00:24:42.310 there was kind of a deeper sense of, like, how are we going to look 396 00:24:42.310 --> 00:24:45.310 out for each other just on a practical level? Like, how are we going to 397 00:24:45.310 --> 00:24:49.130 make sure that business our houses are safe, or that our 398 00:24:49.130 --> 00:24:52.410 neighbors are safe, or that our kids are safe. And so we were able to 399 00:24:52.410 --> 00:24:55.930 kind of reanimate those systems now during 400 00:24:55.930 --> 00:24:59.650 the occupation, and it has allowed us 401 00:24:59.650 --> 00:25:03.330 to be more resilient on a ministry level. And so 402 00:25:03.330 --> 00:25:06.850 I don't know what the future of Minneapolis exactly looks like, but I do know 403 00:25:06.850 --> 00:25:10.570 that we've put together systems and tools and 404 00:25:10.570 --> 00:25:14.290 relationships that will allow us to be more resilient no matter what comes 405 00:25:14.290 --> 00:25:18.070 down the line. Because we're in communication and in relationship 406 00:25:18.070 --> 00:25:21.630 with each other, which ultimately is the deepest desire of 407 00:25:21.870 --> 00:25:25.670 God, I believe. You know, just as 408 00:25:25.670 --> 00:25:26.750 a side 409 00:25:29.710 --> 00:25:33.430 example, so a lot of, so a lot of people are using different 410 00:25:33.430 --> 00:25:36.470 apps to communicate with each other. Signal is one of the apps that we're using, 411 00:25:36.470 --> 00:25:40.230 and Signal, which is an encrypted text messaging app, 412 00:25:40.230 --> 00:25:43.950 has a limit of 1,000 people. 413 00:25:44.270 --> 00:25:47.850 So a group, a group can't be larger than 1,000 people. For a Signal 414 00:25:48.170 --> 00:25:51.610 Group. And I know, for example, the 415 00:25:51.850 --> 00:25:55.650 resistance choir, the singers who are going around, is now 416 00:25:55.650 --> 00:25:59.210 on their 8th Signal Group because over 7,000 417 00:25:59.290 --> 00:26:02.810 people have joined together to join this effort, and they keep 418 00:26:02.970 --> 00:26:06.650 making more. So it's kind of, 419 00:26:06.650 --> 00:26:10.410 like, mind-blowing to even think of the scale of this. But the 420 00:26:10.410 --> 00:26:13.930 ways that we've learned how to organize together and stay in touch with each 421 00:26:14.090 --> 00:26:17.730 other is something that I hope continues even when we're not facing 422 00:26:17.730 --> 00:26:21.430 the type of crisis that we were facing before. In 423 00:26:21.590 --> 00:26:25.230 this teaching series that you're going through on Acts, how far into it are 424 00:26:25.230 --> 00:26:28.990 you? Like, are several, like 15 425 00:26:28.990 --> 00:26:32.670 chapters? Where are we at? Where, what's going on? So 426 00:26:32.670 --> 00:26:36.470 it's a, we're doing a 90-day read through the New Testament. And so 427 00:26:36.470 --> 00:26:40.230 it's, it's, we're in Acts right now, but we're just in the part 428 00:26:40.390 --> 00:26:44.070 where Peter had the vision, the threefold vision of a 429 00:26:44.070 --> 00:26:47.740 sheet coming down with with the different animals on it and God saying, do not 430 00:26:47.740 --> 00:26:51.580 call unclean what I have determined as clean, which also 431 00:26:51.580 --> 00:26:55.260 kind of feels like it resonates with some of the things that 432 00:26:55.260 --> 00:26:58.900 we're seeing in the city, you know? Yeah. 433 00:26:59.220 --> 00:27:03.060 Oh, what? So just one of those random serendipitous 434 00:27:03.060 --> 00:27:06.860 moments. I just read that verse yesterday for a different project I 435 00:27:06.860 --> 00:27:10.500 was working on. I'm going to have to go back and read again because 436 00:27:11.830 --> 00:27:15.670 like Apparently, Holy Spirit's saying, like Ryan, there's still something yet to be learned 437 00:27:15.670 --> 00:27:18.390 in this moment that I need to look at. God's up to. 438 00:27:21.030 --> 00:27:24.150 Something. God's up to something. My reason for asking about Acts, though, is that I'm 439 00:27:24.150 --> 00:27:27.990 just wondering— Acts is about the 440 00:27:27.990 --> 00:27:31.630 sort of the inception of the church, the moving forward of 441 00:27:31.630 --> 00:27:35.350 the church. They sometimes call it the birthing of the church. And I'm wondering 442 00:27:35.350 --> 00:27:39.040 if this moment in the ways that people have come together 443 00:27:39.120 --> 00:27:42.680 and really offered support to one another, if that has in 444 00:27:42.680 --> 00:27:46.320 some way refreshed the way in which you 445 00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:50.240 look at what the church was doing through the 446 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:53.880 Acts narrative. Oh yeah. 447 00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:57.280 Yeah. I mean, it honestly, I'll just use 448 00:27:57.280 --> 00:28:00.880 I statements like this experience has broken open 449 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:04.080 my anthropology. It is redefining what I 450 00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:08.210 believe human, what I am now knowing that human beings are capable 451 00:28:08.370 --> 00:28:12.170 of, frankly, from both directions, the, the violence and the cruelty 452 00:28:12.170 --> 00:28:15.570 that human beings are capable of, as well as the 453 00:28:16.370 --> 00:28:19.730 incredible peace, joy, and love that is possible through people rising 454 00:28:20.770 --> 00:28:24.330 together. So yeah, I think when I used to read 455 00:28:24.330 --> 00:28:27.970 Acts 2 or Acts 4, you know, those stories about 456 00:28:27.970 --> 00:28:31.610 the believers shared everything and people who had land sold 457 00:28:31.610 --> 00:28:35.330 the land so that all their needs could be met and they were worshiping and 458 00:28:35.570 --> 00:28:39.310 joyful, I was kind of like, I'm like, "That seems like an 459 00:28:39.310 --> 00:28:42.910 exaggeration." Like, there's no— there's no way. [Speaker:DAVID] Did they really sell it? [Speaker:ELLIE] 460 00:28:42.910 --> 00:28:46.270 Did they really do that? Like, 461 00:28:46.670 --> 00:28:50.430 what? And, you know, like, yeah, that's a nice horizon to move towards 462 00:28:50.430 --> 00:28:54.230 is kind of how I thought about it. But I'm seeing it in real time 463 00:28:54.230 --> 00:28:58.030 here in Minneapolis. Like, I'm seeing people live 464 00:28:58.030 --> 00:29:01.150 into Acts 4 without 465 00:29:01.390 --> 00:29:04.830 even necessarily deeply knowing each other. Like, there are 466 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:09.640 ways— Ryan, it's so hard to describe the feeling of like people 467 00:29:09.640 --> 00:29:13.400 being in a group together. And people, a common thing 468 00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:17.200 is that people are using code names in groups because there, we also know that 469 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:20.960 there are people infiltrating Signal groups and doxxing people in 470 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:24.560 the group. And so, so it's hard to describe like 471 00:29:24.800 --> 00:29:28.000 people naming needs that they have. Like I have a family 472 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:31.920 who needs groceries tonight, or does anyone have a line for an 473 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:35.610 emergency dentist, that kind of thing. And they're 474 00:29:35.610 --> 00:29:39.450 naming that as someone who has a code name, and then they get 475 00:29:39.450 --> 00:29:43.010 10 responses from people who also have code names of people who 476 00:29:43.010 --> 00:29:46.851 are sacrificially willing for, like, to meet those 477 00:29:46.930 --> 00:29:50.770 needs without even seeing their face or knowing their name. 478 00:29:50.770 --> 00:29:54.610 And, like, that to me is the vision of what God has 479 00:29:54.610 --> 00:29:58.450 for how we can live together. And frankly, like, it also showed to 480 00:29:58.450 --> 00:30:01.480 me how important a local worship community 481 00:30:02.040 --> 00:30:05.320 is, because we are the holders of 482 00:30:06.040 --> 00:30:09.640 these rituals and traditions and practices that are 483 00:30:09.640 --> 00:30:13.160 helping people to ground themselves in 484 00:30:13.160 --> 00:30:16.920 the immutable love that is God, in the 485 00:30:16.920 --> 00:30:20.680 midst of some really terrible things. And that immutable 486 00:30:20.680 --> 00:30:24.320 love is what is enabling us to minister to people that we 487 00:30:24.320 --> 00:30:28.130 may not even know. And so like it's changing 488 00:30:28.450 --> 00:30:31.890 my vision of ministry because it's raising the bar of what we can 489 00:30:32.450 --> 00:30:36.250 expect from the human society. And honestly, it's also showing 490 00:30:36.250 --> 00:30:39.930 me a juxtaposition of just using I statements 491 00:30:39.930 --> 00:30:43.730 again. Like, I am aware of how conditioned 492 00:30:43.730 --> 00:30:46.770 I've been to be individualistic and 493 00:30:47.330 --> 00:30:50.850 selfish by Western society, how like 494 00:30:51.490 --> 00:30:55.130 my insistence on comfort and the ability to 495 00:30:55.130 --> 00:30:58.830 withdraw from other people is something that that I've been conditioned 496 00:30:58.830 --> 00:31:02.550 to internalize again and again and again. And it took a 497 00:31:02.550 --> 00:31:06.230 crisis like this to rupture me out of 498 00:31:06.710 --> 00:31:10.470 even those kind of conditioned habits and realize that life is so much 499 00:31:10.790 --> 00:31:14.470 better when we can build community together. And that to me is an inbreaking of 500 00:31:14.470 --> 00:31:18.230 the Holy Spirit as well. Yeah, well, tell me about that a little 501 00:31:18.230 --> 00:31:22.030 bit, that sort of rupturing out and moving away from the, 502 00:31:22.030 --> 00:31:25.790 I guess, isolation really is what it is. It's not so much individuality 503 00:31:25.790 --> 00:31:28.390 as much as it is isolation. That's a good point. 504 00:31:30.360 --> 00:31:34.120 Yeah. Painful process? Is it— 505 00:31:34.120 --> 00:31:36.960 I think a lot of us fear that it's like, I'm just going to long 506 00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:40.720 to be back to the way that things were before. Do you wish to go 507 00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:44.040 back to the way things were before? I do not wish to go back to 508 00:31:44.040 --> 00:31:47.680 the way that things were before, emphatically. I, if 509 00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:51.240 anything, we're seeing truly how the way that things were 510 00:31:51.560 --> 00:31:54.840 before was also an unsustainable fiction, you 511 00:31:55.240 --> 00:31:58.930 know, and we have to to create a new way. So yeah, I want 512 00:31:58.930 --> 00:32:01.290 to name that when I name 513 00:32:02.650 --> 00:32:06.370 community, I don't necessarily mean extroversion. 514 00:32:06.370 --> 00:32:10.210 So like, I'm an extrovert, but there— Minneapolis is a 515 00:32:10.210 --> 00:32:13.890 famously introverted city, and there are many people at New City Church 516 00:32:13.890 --> 00:32:17.650 who are intensely introverted. And sociologically, just a little peek behind 517 00:32:17.650 --> 00:32:20.730 the curtain, the reason why that is, is because we have a winter that could 518 00:32:20.810 --> 00:32:24.610 last from 4 to 8 months. And that means that we have to get 519 00:32:24.610 --> 00:32:28.230 really good at being at home by ourselves 520 00:32:28.230 --> 00:32:32.070 because Like, sometimes we're snowed in. And so, 521 00:32:32.070 --> 00:32:35.110 like, yeah, introverts thrive in Minneapolis because 522 00:32:35.630 --> 00:32:39.270 it's— there's space to read and there's space to really think things through and there's 523 00:32:39.430 --> 00:32:43.110 whatever. But community means that we're showing up for each other based off of what 524 00:32:43.110 --> 00:32:46.950 God has put into our hands to share, not we're showing up for each other 525 00:32:46.950 --> 00:32:50.550 based off of extracting something that we don't have. And so 526 00:32:50.550 --> 00:32:54.350 I know lots of introverts who are like, I am not 527 00:32:54.350 --> 00:32:58.070 going to be doing the people-facing side of this, but I would 528 00:32:58.230 --> 00:33:01.810 love to wash laundry for families who relied 529 00:33:01.810 --> 00:33:05.250 on the laundromat who can't go to the laundromat now, and they're gonna do 530 00:33:05.650 --> 00:33:07.970 that. Or introverts who are like, I'm not going to 531 00:33:09.650 --> 00:33:13.370 be tabling at an event that has hundreds, a vigil 532 00:33:13.370 --> 00:33:15.570 that has hundreds of people at it that I have to do a lot of 533 00:33:15.570 --> 00:33:19.370 small talk on. But if there's just like a small handful of people 534 00:33:19.370 --> 00:33:21.330 that I can go deep with or have 535 00:33:22.450 --> 00:33:26.170 a contemplative conversation with, like that is what, that's what 536 00:33:26.170 --> 00:33:29.680 I'm willing to give, or that's what God has given me to share. 537 00:33:29.680 --> 00:33:33.400 So yeah, I think that part of what the crisis 538 00:33:33.400 --> 00:33:37.240 allowed us to see is what God has put in our hands 539 00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:41.000 to share and how truly it was never ours to hang on to in 540 00:33:41.000 --> 00:33:44.799 the first place. So yeah, I think that that has been helpful. Even small 541 00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:48.480 things, Ryan, like instead of driving home 542 00:33:49.760 --> 00:33:53.360 on 26th, I'm going to drive home on Lake because Lake 543 00:33:53.360 --> 00:33:57.160 has more immigrant businesses and I just want to have an extra pair of eyes 544 00:33:57.160 --> 00:34:00.710 on the street just to make sure that folks are okay. You know, it's 545 00:34:00.940 --> 00:34:04.140 just little, little lifestyle adjustments that's like, well, wait a 546 00:34:04.700 --> 00:34:08.460 second, why weren't we doing this all along? You know, like, why weren't we 547 00:34:08.460 --> 00:34:11.820 aware of which businesses are immigrant-owned businesses that we could 548 00:34:11.980 --> 00:34:15.540 support? Like, of course we want to do that. That's aligned with our values. And 549 00:34:15.540 --> 00:34:19.100 it just feels like kind of a fresh 550 00:34:19.900 --> 00:34:23.500 air gust is moving through an open window that was closed before, you 551 00:34:23.660 --> 00:34:26.940 know? Well, I appreciate you offering those 552 00:34:26.940 --> 00:34:30.580 actionable items that people can do because it begins to help paint a picture 553 00:34:30.580 --> 00:34:34.281 for those of us who are maybe geographically removed and yet still want 554 00:34:34.281 --> 00:34:37.880 to be invested in the 555 00:34:37.880 --> 00:34:41.560 processes of support and even 556 00:34:41.560 --> 00:34:44.280 the processes of resistance 557 00:34:45.160 --> 00:34:48.600 against what we consider to be some unjust policies and 558 00:34:49.480 --> 00:34:53.280 policing. Do you have any maybe additional 559 00:34:53.280 --> 00:34:57.000 advice that maybe people who are hundreds of miles away can enact in terms 560 00:34:57.000 --> 00:35:00.310 of like how they might either provide provide support 561 00:35:01.510 --> 00:35:05.230 to the people in Minnesota or just to 562 00:35:05.230 --> 00:35:07.430 be active in this situation 563 00:35:08.310 --> 00:35:12.070 abroad? Absolutely. So if you're listening, and certainly if you're listening 564 00:35:12.390 --> 00:35:15.830 and you're a United Methodist, there are 565 00:35:15.830 --> 00:35:19.150 immigrant ministries in your conference. There are immigrant churches 566 00:35:19.150 --> 00:35:22.870 or fellowships or ministries, or there are 567 00:35:22.870 --> 00:35:25.730 collaborations happening outside of shared buildings. This 568 00:35:26.690 --> 00:35:30.450 is, this is a great time to start building relationships 569 00:35:30.450 --> 00:35:34.130 of trust and collaboration. And the way that 570 00:35:34.130 --> 00:35:37.890 I kind of think about it is like, what is the relationship that I 571 00:35:37.890 --> 00:35:41.489 will be glad I've invested in regardless of what 572 00:35:41.489 --> 00:35:45.130 happens with immigration enforcement? You know, like it's what is, what is the type of 573 00:35:45.130 --> 00:35:48.850 networking that is just like the infrastructure that I've been meaning to get around 574 00:35:48.850 --> 00:35:52.210 to? And maybe this is kind of an extra push to build 575 00:35:52.210 --> 00:35:55.890 that infrastructure. So relationships are key. Relationships 576 00:35:55.890 --> 00:35:59.150 are everything. The resilience that we're seeing here all hinge 577 00:35:59.150 --> 00:36:02.830 on relationships, continuing to develop those 578 00:36:03.070 --> 00:36:06.790 relationships with immigrant churches, immigrant ministries, 579 00:36:06.790 --> 00:36:10.430 but also like that immigrant-owned business that's down the street from 580 00:36:10.430 --> 00:36:14.270 your church, the immigrant-led initiatives that are in your 581 00:36:14.350 --> 00:36:18.150 city. Like, you don't have to become the deepest, like, 582 00:36:18.150 --> 00:36:21.230 you don't have to dedicate 40 hours a week to making this happen, you know, 583 00:36:21.390 --> 00:36:25.080 like, but if you can just have a meaningful 584 00:36:25.320 --> 00:36:28.280 enough connection that you— that when 585 00:36:29.080 --> 00:36:32.600 they are facing something challenging, they know how to get in touch with 586 00:36:32.680 --> 00:36:35.720 you. And when you are seeing something, you know how to get in touch with 587 00:36:36.040 --> 00:36:39.800 them. So like, that's one piece of advice I'd have. 588 00:36:39.800 --> 00:36:43.440 And to the immigrants who are listening, or the leaders of 589 00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:45.800 immigrant congregations who are listening, I think 590 00:36:47.160 --> 00:36:50.440 that doing an audit of who your trusted connections 591 00:36:50.760 --> 00:36:54.390 are and developing and establishing relationships with 592 00:36:54.470 --> 00:36:57.910 people who are worthy of the trust that, that you could give 593 00:36:58.150 --> 00:37:01.910 them is something that is, I think that immigrant populations have always had 594 00:37:01.910 --> 00:37:05.710 to do, but I think now is a really good time to establish that. I 595 00:37:05.710 --> 00:37:09.510 say this as the child of an immigrant who witnessed his dad also 596 00:37:09.510 --> 00:37:13.310 try to make these types of survival connections all over the place. So, so shout 597 00:37:13.310 --> 00:37:17.070 out to immigrants as well. So that's one thing I would name. The second 598 00:37:17.070 --> 00:37:20.830 thing I would name is even if it doesn't look like Operation 599 00:37:20.830 --> 00:37:24.180 Metro Surge, There is immigration 600 00:37:24.500 --> 00:37:28.180 enforcement happening all over the country. People are being detained all over the 601 00:37:28.340 --> 00:37:32.180 country, and people are experiencing tragedies like what I talked about 602 00:37:32.180 --> 00:37:35.900 with Alberto all over the country. So I think 603 00:37:35.900 --> 00:37:39.620 that it's worthwhile to get a pulse for 604 00:37:39.620 --> 00:37:42.980 what's happening in your community and start some early 605 00:37:43.460 --> 00:37:47.220 conversations of what it would look like if something like Operation Metro Surge 606 00:37:47.220 --> 00:37:51.010 ratcheted up that, that pressure in in your own community. So 607 00:37:51.010 --> 00:37:54.610 I'm really inspired by pastors who are preemptively 608 00:37:54.610 --> 00:37:58.090 getting together with other pastors and saying, if our community starts looking 609 00:37:58.090 --> 00:38:01.370 like Minneapolis January 2026, what are we going to 610 00:38:02.330 --> 00:38:04.490 do? How— who are we going to be together, and how are we going to 611 00:38:04.490 --> 00:38:08.210 support each other? So that's something that really 612 00:38:08.210 --> 00:38:11.930 inspires me. And again, those are networks that are valuable, 613 00:38:11.930 --> 00:38:15.610 whether it's because an ICE surge is coming or 614 00:38:15.610 --> 00:38:19.380 because there was a literal winter storm 615 00:38:19.380 --> 00:38:23.100 that created like physical ice that is preventing you from getting 616 00:38:23.100 --> 00:38:26.740 into church. Like, so that's, that's important. 617 00:38:26.980 --> 00:38:30.300 What I want to really advise people away from though, 618 00:38:30.300 --> 00:38:33.420 is responses of 619 00:38:34.060 --> 00:38:37.860 scarcity, distrust, or fear. I think it's really easy 620 00:38:37.860 --> 00:38:41.500 in these moments to kind of get caught up in the panic of 621 00:38:41.580 --> 00:38:45.310 this or to start prepping your 622 00:38:45.310 --> 00:38:49.110 end of the world bunker or getting into the— and I 623 00:38:49.110 --> 00:38:52.310 just, I think that that same energy applied 624 00:38:52.310 --> 00:38:56.070 to relationships is going to yield much, 625 00:38:56.070 --> 00:38:59.270 much more resilience than kind of doomsday 626 00:38:59.830 --> 00:39:03.590 prepping or anything like that. Really investing in 627 00:39:03.750 --> 00:39:07.590 connection instead of bunker prepping, I think is very— 628 00:39:07.590 --> 00:39:11.110 you know what I mean? Like, this isn't the moment to write the world 629 00:39:11.430 --> 00:39:14.950 off. No, no. How we 630 00:39:15.190 --> 00:39:18.710 achieve, I guess, an eschatological end, 631 00:39:18.950 --> 00:39:22.550 right? That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I don't think God wants 632 00:39:23.270 --> 00:39:26.630 us to react to violence with isolation, 633 00:39:26.790 --> 00:39:30.350 period. Like, I just don't think that's, that's what we see in Jesus's life or 634 00:39:30.350 --> 00:39:34.030 ministry. That's not what we read in the Pauline letters. So, like, 635 00:39:34.030 --> 00:39:37.590 I think that allowing this to motivate people to 636 00:39:37.590 --> 00:39:40.730 lean in is, is where the Holy Spirit is leading us right 637 00:39:41.520 --> 00:39:45.280 now. Tyler, thank you so much for offering that leading to us 638 00:39:45.440 --> 00:39:49.160 and for sharing the stories. I appreciate so much that your 639 00:39:49.160 --> 00:39:53.000 practice of ministry probably feels different and therefore a little bit chaotic right 640 00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:56.080 now. So I appreciate you making the time to share the witness with 641 00:39:57.120 --> 00:40:00.960 us. I'm so grateful to be on this podcast, and I'm praying for 642 00:40:00.960 --> 00:40:04.640 everyone who's listening to this podcast that wherever God is leading you, 643 00:40:04.720 --> 00:40:08.240 that you might feel inspired by a spirit 644 00:40:08.240 --> 00:40:11.550 of peace and joy. Awesome. 645 00:40:11.870 --> 00:40:15.510 Yes. Need more Reverend Tyler Sit in your life? Of course you do. 646 00:40:15.510 --> 00:40:19.270 So check out episode 60 from May of 2021. I 647 00:40:19.270 --> 00:40:22.830 think that episode 169 with Bishop Julius Trimble would 648 00:40:22.830 --> 00:40:26.350 also be a great follow-up to this episode. In 649 00:40:26.350 --> 00:40:29.870 that episode 169, we talked again about 650 00:40:29.950 --> 00:40:33.710 faith, politics, and about how taking a stand and working 651 00:40:33.710 --> 00:40:37.280 in compassion can be issues of faith, not issues 652 00:40:37.280 --> 00:40:40.520 of partisanship. While you're listening, leave a rating 653 00:40:40.800 --> 00:40:44.520 and/or review. The Compass Podcast is brought to you by United 654 00:40:44.520 --> 00:40:48.240 Methodist Communications. That's all for this week. We'll be back with a new 655 00:40:48.240 --> 00:40:51.250 episode in 2 weeks, so I will chat at you then. Peace.