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Rev. David Ostendorf, Center for New Community Max Cardenas, Iowa Project for Immigrant Justice, Center for New Community

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Rev. David Ostendorf

David Ostendorf is a United Church of Christ Minister currently serving as director of the Chicago-based Center for New Community. Since 1974 he has been engaged in social, economic and racial justice organizing, and in that capacity has worked closely with the nation’s religious and civic community at every level. The Center, established in 1995, is committed to building democratic communities for justice and racial equality. Its faith-based organizing commitments, and its commitments to build a racially just society are carried out nationwide. From 1981 until 1993 he served as executive director of PrairieFire Rural Action, a rural education, training and organizing group based in Des Moines, Iowa. Prior to that he served on the national staff of Rural America. He began his organizing work in the coalfields of southern Illinois.

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State Of Hate: White Nationalism In The Midwest 2001-2002 -

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are likely to embolden white nationalist groups to turn up their assault on immigrants, said the Rev. David Ostendorf

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Rural frustrations: breeding ground for the far right
Christian Century, Sept 27, 1995 by David Ostendorf

In 1985 Prairie Fire Rural Action became aware of the rise of far-right groups and launched an effort to bring religious, farm, rural and labor organizations together to educate their members about the far right and to develop countermeasures. Aggressive public education and organizing campaigns to expose the hate groups were mounted by a strong interfaith religious community, by grass-roots farm groups and by new coalitions. Training sessions involving some 2,000 community leaders and clergy from across the U.S. and Canada yielded effective community and state-level strategies to counter the movement. Over a period of three years this collective effort helped push the organized far right out of the farmbelt.

The far right is not just one more issue to take on. The resurgence of this movement underscores the need to develop in churches a biblically engaged and theologically motivated community that can stand up to the purveyors of religion-based hatred and simultaneously create a new vision of human community. It compels congregations to engage in social analysis and to work in coalition with other faith traditions, farm and rural organizations, labor and community groups to tackle the harsh socioeconomic problems that push people to embrace hatred and violence. It forces us to lay solid groundwork for the long process of creating a new vision of democratic community.

Such work is under way. In 1991 PrairieFire and six denominations launched the Renewing Rural Iowa project in some of the state’s poorest counties. In 1993 the Missouri School of Religion and the North Dakota Conference of Churches began similar initiatives to develop strong, biblically based congregations equipped to address in creative ways rural social and economic realities.

The General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church has moved quickly to equip rural chaplains for ministry in the face of violence and hatred, and recently the board held a national Consultation on Christian Ministry in the Midst of Hate and Violence.

David Ostendorf, a United Church of Christ minister, directs the Center for New Community, a rural-urban training organization for congregations and communities. He is former executive director of the Des Moines-based Prairie Fire Rural Action.