Day of Discovery

Monday, July 02, 2012

            I was scared.  Who were these big, rough and tough looking young black men, and where exactly were we?

            No, this was not a dream.  About 47 Presbyterians had just disembarked the bus at Homewood House, site of the House of Manna.  We were on the second leg of the mission tour, “Dynamic and Innovative New Church Developments of Pittsburgh Presbytery.”

            But let me first go back to the beginning of this afternoon’s tour—the one I got to participate in because Corey, NPSP’s executive presbyter, gave me his ticket.

            Our first stop was the Upper Room, a church plant geared toward cross-cultural ministry.  The group started out with eight people meeting in the living room of one of the co-pastors.  The storefront where it is now housed seats 40-some in its upper room.  The pastors, who looked to me to be in their twenties, led us in liturgical worship in sequences of prayer, Scripture reading, and the Jesus Prayer in song.   I felt the beautiful presence of the Holy Spirit as we worshipped together.

            There in the Upper Room, the pastors of two additional church plants also spoke to us.  The African Christian United Fellowship reaches out to immigrants and refugees.  As their pastor explained, they use the gift of language to share the gospel.  Born in Africa (Uganda, I believe) and now an American citizen, he abashedly admitted that he speaks only six languages.  Services are conducted in English or Swahili, depending on who is there, with translation in French as necessary. 

            Then we listened to the pastor of Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community.  The name references an actual bridge near their place of worship—in fact, at one point their church was homeless, so they met under the bridge.  Their humble beginnings were in a small group prayer meeting in a tattoo shop.   Their mission is “heart for the last, the least, the lost,”  their focus on feeding and including the homeless in their neighborhood.

            We boarded the bus again, our next stop the House of Manna.  Once again, we were warmly greeted, this time by those scary-looking black guys I mentioned, who, I soon discovered, are vibrant in their faith in Jesus.  Again, we worshipped, the music upbeat and soul-stirring, and then several on that ministry team shared their vision, their story, and their faith.  Their worship is Friday nights out on the street corner because that is a good time to reach many people. They give out food, they worship, and they build relationships with the people in that rough neighborhood.  They also live there.

            In 1999, the Pittsburgh Presbytery voted to learn to plant churches—none had been planted in the previous forty years.  You have to know that Pittsburgh has a Presbyterian church on just about every corner—the joke is that Presbyterians are the densest in Pittsburgh.  Assigned to that task was newly hired Vera, whose last name I cannot remember.  She and her commission learned a few key concepts as they started doing what no presbytery had done before.  Church planting is God’s work.  Instead of building a building, they look to see what the Holy Spirit is up to already and join in.  The commission’s role is to listen, discern, and provide resources.  Each of the eleven churches planted since 1999 is unique, meeting different needs and “doing church” in different ways, but each one’s desire is to bless the community in which they are planted.  Continuing prayer is the key to discerning and carrying out God’s plan to transform lives in a particular time and place.

            To wrap up the afternoon, we heard from leaders of three more new church developments.  The Open Door was planted 6 ½ years ago and has already partnered with three long-established churches in helping support a nonprofit, Open Hand Ministries, which helps residents in poor areas of downtown to establish good credit and become first time homeowners instead of being ousted as the city’s work of renovating neighborhoods continues.   They renovate vacant properties as part of this ministry.  Another “outplant” of Open Door is Garfield Community Farm, which grows produce on what once were vacant city lots to feed the hungry.

            Wow!  Church plants can plant new ministries.  People join together to form new communities of faith.  Lives are transformed by the generous love of God through Jesus Christ.  Populations otherwise unreached and often ignored are loved and discipled one life at a time.

            So, by the time the bus left House of Manna, those young black men whom I had silently and unfairly stereotyped as thugs, had deeply inspired me.  They are incredible brothers in Christ.

            And I haven’t even told you yet about the powerful message by Brian McLaren this morning.  It has been a day of discovery.