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By Jeff Gang, April 5, 2010 10:46 am

Our Easter Sunday earthquake here in Southern California got me thinking this morning. First, wasn’t there some kind of seismic activity the morning Jesus rose from the dead? If not felt physically, it was felt metaphysically, and we still feel the aftershocks today. Thanks be to God!

Second, what does the church have to say about living faithfully in earthquake country? Is this something we should be talking about with our congregations? If you’re a pastor, charged with protecting you’re congregation spiritually, do you have a responsibility to protect them physically as well. How about the rest of the community—in your church or not in your church? I say yes.

With all of the seismic activity around the world recently, many of us here in Southern California are wondering how long it will be until the “big one” hits us. It’s been relatively quite for fifteen years, but seismologists say a massive earthquake is inevitable. Will we be ready? Continue reading 'Living Faithfully in EarthQuake Country'»

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By Jeff Gang, January 19, 2010 1:33 pm

“The issue is figuring out how to live in the suburbs and still have a heart for the city. This was the place of Nehemiah in the Old Testament. It broke his heart to know the city of Jerusalem was in ruins, and he took some of the responsibility for why this was the case. We must acknowledge the systemic issues behind urban violence and take responsibility as well. Those living outside the city must take responsibility and work with those in the city to be salt and light.”

- Rev. Efrem Smith, Sojourner’s “Preaching the Word”

Within a few miles from my office I can leave the idyllic community of Loma Linda, California, where people live to be a hundred, and enter San Bernardino, once ranked the 16th most violent city in America.  Truthfully, I can go about my life, rarely venturing into this urban community in my backyard.

When you live in the city its on top of you, you can’t run from the needs, it’s in your face. But suburbia can anesthetize you to suffering and injustice. You can build a safe life (or so you think), a secluded life, where the world can be shut out. Not so in the city.

There’s lots of challenges to living missionally in the suburbs, but one of the most problematic for me? Complacency. I find myself too comfortable with nice sub-divisions, tidy neighborhoods, and picturesque streets. The Rev. Smith challenges me. I am responsible too. And here in my town I can’t escape the fact there’s enormous needs across the street. So what am I doing about? Sadly, the usual, not much.  What challenges do you face trying to live faithfully in Suburbia?

Jesus, have mercy on me. Remove my complacency. Compel me to action.  Let me not forget the city in my backyard. Amen.

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By Jeff Gang, September 21, 2009 10:11 pm

Thanks to my Twitter search widget I found a fascinating article today from the Wall Street Journal about aging in suburbia. There’s a lot to think about here beyond this issue as well, for example, what can suburban communities learn about facilitating greater communal connections? By the way, one of these days I plan to write about the idea behind this blog—the Suburban Pastor, but that’ll have to wait for now.

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By Jeff Gang, September 6, 2009 5:41 am

Thanks for stopping by The Suburban Pastor, the personal blog of Jeff Gang. I’m a pastor at the CrossWalk Seventh-day Adventist Church in Redlands, California. This blog is a place for me to share my musings on life in suburbia from a pastor’s perspective. Along the way I’ll also share a few thoughts on my ordinary life (a Jesus follower, a husband of one, father of three, friend of many, and a triathlete in my spare time).