.png)
Growing Disciples Monthly Reflections are written by a variety of leaders across our synod; as such, the language reflects the individual's personal theology. We give thanks to Pastor Josh Ebener, Director for Evangelical Mission and Assistant to the Bishop in the Northern Illinois Synod, for his reflection on inviting.
The congregation I served for 9 years prior to my role as Director for Evangelical Mission here in the Northern Illinois Synod was St. Andrew/San Andres Lutheran Church in West Chicago, IL. In the late 90’s, this predominantly Anglo congregation in a far-west suburb of Chicago, had some intentional conversations around the shifting demographics in the community, where over 50% of the town was Latino.
The congregation, in a partnership with World Relief, began to host English language and citizenship classes. Many of the people who came to St. Andrew for these classes began to ask if the church had services in Spanish. At that time the answer was no, but then in 1999, the church held its first service in Spanish, on the Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Dec. 12). Pastors from other ELCA congregations in the area began to lead services in Spanish, and a couple years later, St. Andrew called a pastor to lead the Spanish services. More people began to come to the church for baptisms, first communions, and quinceañeras; they found a place that didn’t have any requirements to receive the sacraments and where all are welcome at the Lord’s Table. People who were told they couldn’t receive Holy Communion in other places found an open table where they tasted the grace of God.
The immigrant community found a place of refuge and sanctuary. The people who came to church then invited their friends and family to come. Like a great restaurant recommendation from a friend, people couldn’t wait to tell others about the grace they tasted at this church.
In 2020, the pandemic hit the community of West Chicago particularly hard, where 1 in 30 people tested positive for Covid. So, the church collaborated with our local state senator to host testing sites and mass vaccination clinics at the church. Also, close to half of the community lost their jobs, and many people in our community became food insecure. One of our community partners from Immigrant Solidarity DuPage asked me if the church could provide space to distribute food donations from local grocers.
So, we put the word out that people could drive to the church, and we would put food in their trunks. That day, so many cars pulled into the parking lot that it caused a traffic jam, and the police showed up. From there, we figured out a more organized system where volunteers would come and pack the food, cars would line up in the parking lot, and then they would drive through to receive the food. Many of the people who received the food began to volunteer to distribute the food. Many local churches and community partners heard about it and started to send volunteers, food, and money. Many of the volunteers had no connection with a church, but this became their church.
Early on, we had to turn families away, but eventually we were able to serve the over 500 families who drove through every Saturday. In the immigrant community, it was important that we didn’t require any ID; the only thing families were asked was how many families they were picking up for. We also asked the families what type of food they needed, and the food that was packed into the bags was based on their requests: tortillas, rice, beans, meat, and fresh produce. It may sound simple, but this gathering of hundreds of people sharing and receiving food every week started with two things: showing up and listening.
One of the things I have been reflecting on with congregations lately is that the way people engage with the Church has shifted. One of the broader societal shifts has been described as the shift from the Age of Association to the Age of Authenticity. This shift that happened in the 1960’s changed the way that people relate to institutions, including the Church. It used to be that you would open a church and people would just start coming - because that’s just what you do, go to church.
As my former DEM colleague Matt Short said, "This paradigm shift in the broader culture is the most important thing for congregational leaders to understand when trying to wrap their head around changes that have happened. In the previous ‘age of association,’ people saw their role as voluntarily associating with organizations that shared their values. But that is no longer the case. So, now the question becomes, how do we shift from “They come in and associate with us” to “We go out and associate with them on their turf"? How do we shift from "Waiting for them to come to us" to "Showing up where the people are and listening."
As I’ve been reflecting on the mark of discipleship for the month, “Inviting” and what Evangelism looks like in light of major societal shifts, in this Age of Authenticity, I think that it starts with understanding and building relationships in our community. For the helicopter view of our community, it is helpful to look at the demographics of the neighborhoods surrounding your church. We have a demographic tool available for congregations at the synod - send me an e-mail if you would like me to run a report of your church’s neighborhood demographics. For the street view, we show up where the people are and listen. What are their needs, desires, hopes, dreams, fears, and worries - what keeps them up at night? As we have these conversations rooted in curiosity and wonder, we ask where God is already active in our community and how we can be a part of it.
Many of our churches are trying new things and exploring different ways or “fresh expressions” of being church. These new ministry experiments begin with listening to the people in our community, trying something new, and then reflecting and learning from the experience.
