Today’s guest Blog
is by The Rev’d Dr. Robert M. Lewis,
Rector of
St. Stephen’s
Church, Grand Island, Nebraska
Times have been better for the town parish. Throughout
Middle America it is this type of parish that is suffering through decline and
in some cases, even death. Town parishes are often shifting from pastoral-sized
models with full-time clergy to family-sized models with part-time or yoked
clergy supply. But what is the recipe
for changing such an outcome? Is there a
silver bullet approach? In most cases,
the answer is no. There is however one
thing that I hold to be key in turning a declining town parish around, and that
is incarnational perspective, in other words, embracing our neighborhoods.
Most town parishes have a history like mine. It is over 100 years old. It has had a series
of pastorates, some far too short to really get anything off the ground. There
are stories of the “glory days” when churches were filled with far more people
and Sunday Schools were filled with children. Those days, the standard
Episcopalian had far more clout than most and our members were perceived as the
movers and shakers in that town’s community.
But…those days are long gone.
In the town parishes I have known, this is a common lament
with significant blaming: culture,
youth, technology, lack of duty, soccer games on Sunday mornings, and the list
goes on. But one thing that town parishes never really had to do was look into
their neighborhoods. Town parishes grew
used to evangelism by attraction and forgot that we are called to be witnesses
of resurrection, that is, a vehicle that conveys all that is right, good, and
gracious in our own neighborhoods.
One such turnaround was in a parish that I served as a
consultant. The Priest-in-Charge was in ill health and projected a very “Father
knows best” attitude. The Vestry had noticed (quite appropriately) that the
congregation really did not look like the neighborhood. The church was composed of an ethnic group
that did not look like the neighborhood and they were significantly older as
well. The only outreach ministries were
aimed at addiction, and those who attended those programs, drove for the
program from a nearby town. There seemed
to be little interface with the neighborhood.
All that would change.
New life and new faces changed when that church decided to
construct an open playground for the children of the neighborhood. Let’s be
clear -this church had NO children, it was purely giving something away without
hope of a return. A series of get to know meetings (always including free food)
celebrated the playground’s debut in the neighborhood. As people began to visit their neighbors, celebrating
this gift to the neighborhood, relationships were formed, stories shared and
slowly, new faces appeared at worship in this now “neighborhood” church.
Town parishes often do not sit next to residential neighborhoods.
The last story was an unusual one. In fact, the standard model is the downtown
church. But here too, the incarnational
approach of knowing your neighborhood can help.
(Spoiler alert, I lead this very town parish). I hear the same
aforementioned laments. People tell me, “All the people I know already attend
some other church.” But the one thing
that this parish did not look at – out of fear – was its own neighborhood.
I said WAS. We have turned a corner together. The
neighborhood had plenty to engage:
addicts, the trafficked, the homeless, the lonely. It was these that I
pointed out were our neighbors. We began
with a free lunch on Sundays. It is never fancy, just sandwiches, coffee and
bottled water. At times, we get as many as 120 on a given Sunday and manage to
always have money to keep the mission work going. At times the church is a
little smelly and we have had to make adjustments for security as well. But this activity has made us actually look
our neighbors in the face, know their names and hear their stories. Usually, folks just come for the meal, but occasionally,
for worship as well.
We also began embracing our neighborhood by going into a
local school and providing an after-school Bible study. We chose the most
impoverished school and one we knew might have some families that frequented
our “Sandwich Sunday”. For many children, this is the only church that they
have and a perfect jumping off point to bring new families in. On Pentecost Sunday, we offered “open baptism”
and invited through our neighborhood Bible study welcomed four new souls
through baptism. (Just to be clear, the
Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that Bible studies may occur in schools after hours
if they allow for any outside after school groups whatsoever)
With any transition, there will be those who dislike it, and
others who may actively sabotage a new initiative. While that is really the subject for another
blog, you can expect that you will need to do some campaigning to get the
initiative across. Invariably, when
embracing your neighborhood, the detractors will quickly point out that these
folks do not pledge or give (or give very little). I would be quick to point
out that God always sees that what he wills is paid for. I have never had a
hard time getting funds for our neighborhood ministries simply because we all
see the effect they make.
I wish I could tell you that this one simple way of
incarnationally welcoming your neighborhood would make a dramatic U-turn for
any congregation. Instead, I offer it as a congregational development strategy
and not a grow-your-church-quick initiative.
Embracing our neighborhood has changed us and poises us to look firmly
at our present and not bemoan our lost past.
When we embrace only those initiates that promise rear ends in the
seats, we often fail to realize that we have to grow together before we will
ever grow numerically. A funny side effect did happen. It galvanized the
Generation X folks of our parish to be the missioners in our neighborhood. Although
our numbers are only moderately climbing, the average age is much lower than 5
years ago and our vestry has no one over the age of 60. It is a significant corner to turn.
We will not be who we once were. That is part of the life cycle of a parish.
If we stay just where we are, we never grow. Embracing our neighborhoods
changed forever two parishes in active decline. It is a provocative question to
ask ourselves, “Are we known by and involved with those in our neighborhood?” If not, it’s time to get into your
neighborhood.
