Rev. Gary ALAN Shockley, Director of Equipping Vital Congregations
Many years ago, in a different annual conference, I was sent to meet with a church in a “sketchy” part of the city notorious for drugs, gang violence and decline. I was given the unenviable task of guiding them toward closure. Seated around the table with me were seven adults all of whom were in their 70’s and 80’s and white. Half of them lived outside of town and commuted in for worship.
The council chair described his church as “in its final steps” of their 100+ year journey as a community of faith and wanted to know what was next. Questions emerged like, “Why did this happen? Why have people stopped coming to church? How could the community abandon us? Why hasn’t the conference fixed this?” I listened. In time the questions shifted. “How do we turn this around? What should we be thinking about? Is there still a mission for us?” I could not help but notice the “shiny eyes” of some the people around me. I leaned forward with a twinge of excitement.
“Tell me about the people who live around here,” I asked. They essentially described themselves. “There’s just a bunch of old people like us. No younger families. No kids.” Now, as I drove into town earlier that day, I could not help but notice the projects that bordered two sides of their building. As was my custom, I drove through the area and away from the main drag. I stopped at two parks where a dozen or so teenagers were shooting hoops. All of them people of color. I saw young mothers sitting on the stoops of their apartments in the projects with small children on their knees. Again, mostly people of color. I visited a convenience store and acted as though I was lost and looking for the church. I got shrugs and expressions of confusion. One young man pointed away from where the church was (which was within easy walking distance and on the main drag) and said, “I think it’s down there but closed years ago.” My tour of the area yielded a vastly different picture of the community than the folks around me had painted.
I suggested a few simple things for them to do between this meeting and the one we had scheduled in two weeks. “First, get out and visit parts of the town you never frequent. Stop and observe who you see and what is happening around you. Take notes. Second, eat at other places you would normally never go to and vary the times you dine out. Stop and visit a bar even if it is just to have a Coke. Pay particular attention to the people right around your building. Sit outside. Walk the block (in pairs!). Say “hi” to the people you see. And, as you are doing these things, PRAY for God to give you the eyes and hearts you need to SEE your community.” You get the idea.
Between meetings I did a pretty thorough demographic study of the area. When we gathered again there was a noticeable buzz of energy in the room. There were three new people at the table. They could not wait to share with me what they had learned. I listened and often had to choke back tears. When they were finished, I shared what I had learned from my study. The largest population group right around their church (which was in the projects) were twenty-two-year-old single mothers. Over 80% were people of color! We sat with this information for several minutes. “There IS your mission field!”
We then had a conversation about their assets. Not just financial but human assets. What gifts, experiences, heart, and passions had they received from God for such a time as this. I will never forget the statement made that changed the course of their lives and their church. “These young women have no families, no support for their children, no opportunity to work because they can’t afford child-care. WE can be their surrogate parents and grandparents. WE can watch their children. WE can teach them how to cook good food on a tight budget. WE can be with them!”
Fast forward. This group of seventy and eighty-year-old men and women opened and staffed a day care. They held cooking classes and regular meals for their neighbors (and ate with them at the table). They hosted birthday parties for the children and managed to create Sunday School classes which allowed the mothers to attend worship.
Instead of the church closing, they received a new pastor (the former part-time pastor was retiring for the second time) and when I was invited back to preach a year later, I was stunned to see a sanctuary filled with young women of color and their surrogate family members who beamed with joy at the new life they and their church had experienced.
First, they had to SEE the people. Second, they had to LEARN of their needs. Third, they had to make an ASSESSMENT of what God had provided them to meet those needs. Fourth, they had to STEP UP, try something new and TRUST God to guide and provide.
What about your church?
The office of Equipping Vital Congregations is interested in having a conversation with you. Call 717-545-0525 or email evcoffice@susumc.org.
Find tools and training to equip your church at facebook.com/EquippingVitalCongregations
