Bloggasm

Chuck Currie is a United Church of Christ (UCC) seminarian in-care of the Central Pacific Conference of the UCC. He has been approved for ordination pending a call to an authorized ministry.

He has been recognized as one of the leading advocates for the homeless in Oregon and has spoken at conferences throughout the United States and Canada.

He most recently held the position of director of community outreach at First United Methodist Church of Portland. His duties included running the Goose Hollow Family Shelter, the largest emergency winter shelter for homeless families in the Portland-Metro area, and staffing the church’s social justice related committees.

Chuck Currie began his work on homeless issues at Baloney Joe’s in 1986 while still a student at Sunset High School. He studied political science at Pacific University in Forest Grove. Currently he is enrolled in the Masters of Divinity program at Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves, Missouri. Course work for the degree will be completed in January 2005 and the degree awarded May 2005.

While in seminary he has served Grace United Methodist Church and St. John United Church of Christ in the St. Louis area as a student associate pastor. Currie holds standing as a licensed minister in the St. Louis Association of the United Church of Christ.

In Portland, he held staff and board positions with Baloney Joe’s, Outside In, Transition Projects, Burnside Advocates Group, Multnomah County Community Action Commission, Oregon Housing NOW Coalition, and the office of Portland City Commissioner Gretchen Miller Kafoury. He served on the board of directors of the National Coalition for the Homeless from 1998 – 2002.

In 1993, he was chosen to chair a City of Portland – Multnomah County committee to redesign the homeless service system for single adults. The result of this redesign included the opening of new housing facilities for homeless single adult men and women, and for people suffering from chronic mental illness. He is the author of a 1998 study on civil rights and homelessness in Oregon.

Currie is a recipient of the 1998 Community Harmony Award from the City of Portland Metro Human Rights Center. He has received other awards from Multnomah County and the Community Action Directors of Oregon. In 2002, Willamette Week named him one of the “Best People in Portland”. Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon awarded Currie the 2003 Vollum Ecumenical Humanitarian Award. He was honored with a “Blessed Are the Peacemakers Award” by the World Council of Churches in 2004.

He is married to Liz Smith Currie. They have two children.

Simon Owens: Many conservatives try to make the words Liberal Christian an oxymoron. How well do you think they succeed at getting this view across to the public?

Chuck Currie: Bring up the term “Christian” and many Americans will associate the word with people such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. The Religious Right has been able to convince the media and many in the general public that their positions on social issues are the only legitimate Christian views to hold. However, Christianity has always been a diverse religion and for much of history the Christian voice has been one prophetically calling for social justice on behalf of those Jesus called “the least of these.” Christians across the globe, for example, opposed the US invasion of Iraq and Christians in many nations have been at the forefront of movements for economic justice, opposition to the death penalty, and for environmental protection. Christianity is not liberal or conservative. Those are modern political terms. Sadly, some have tried to co-opt Christianity to advance their partisan political agendas. All Christians need to guard against that.

SO: Do you think that religion should be so prominant in political culture? At what point do you think politicians go too far?

CC: There is nothing wrong with religious people being involved with politics. My friends in the United Methodist Church have a great way of addressing this issue in their Social Principles:

“The United Methodist Church has for many years supported the separation of church and state. In some parts of the world this separation has guaranteed the diversity of religious expressions and the freedom to worship God according to each person’s conscience. Separation of church and state means no organic union of the two, but it does permit interaction. The state should not use its authority to promote particular religious beliefs (including atheism), nor should it require prayer or worship in the public schools, but it should leave students free to practice their own religious convictions. We believe that the state should not attempt to control the church, nor should the church seek to dominate the state. The rightful and vital separation of church and state, which has served the cause of religious liberty, should not be misconstrued as the abolition of all religious expression from public life.”

Politicians go too far when they claim that God wants them to be elected and / or when they suggest it is un-Christian to vote for anyone other than them. The Republican National Committee went too far in 2004 when they mailed our flyers to rural areas in Arkansas and West Virginia stating that democrats would “Ban the Bible.” Their actions were a gross affront to many Christians across the globe.

SO: How well do you think the secular left and the Christian left get along? Is there any unity between the two?

CC: There are some in the secular left that believe that religious considerations are irrelevant and should not be discussed in the public sphere. I object to that view. Religious people – Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc. – have every right to be involved with the political process. We also have much to offer. Churches and church groups – like the National Council of Churches USA – can mobilize thousands of Americans to support of causes we all share (like opposition to the war). My sense is that more discussions and partnerships are being developed between these two groups that will further advance the causes for which we share positions.

SO: What are the five blogs everyone should be reading?

CC: Street Prophets is a newer blog with an interfaith cast of writers taking on all the big issues of the day from a theological perspective. Disclaimer: I’m one of the writers.

Talk to Action is a new multi-writer site that tracks and reports on the activities of the Religious Right.

Radical Hapa is written by a Unitarian Universalist seminarian.

Father Jake Stops The World and SALT have been two of my long time favorites.

You can find Chuck’s blog over here