Urban Pastors Follow Jesus into the Streets

September 9, 2008 -- Clarence Presley and Rik Stevenson are building their congregations by following the lead of Jesus who took his message to the people where they lived, worked and relaxed.

Presley, pastor of Word of Truth International Ministries in Seattle, Wash., has done this by holding house parties for people interested in the Gospel. He has also met and talked with many young people on the streets and subsequently used their suggestions in creating the vision for "The Truth Center" -- a place in which people now gather to worship, play games, learn various jobs and leadership skills.

Stevenson, pastor of City Hope Ministries in Grand Rapids, MI, follows Christ's mandate to go out into the world by holding a Bible study in a barbershop and by riding motorcycles with people who have questions about faith but are not that interested in attending a formal church.

Presley and Stevenson gave presentations this week about their CRC-supported ministries at a lunch hosted by Christian Reformed Home Missions in the Grand Rapids office of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. Home Missions supports the ministries.

"Our work began seven years ago in the Seattle Union Gospel Mission," said Presley, whose wife and ministry partner is Athena. "I was working with broken people. I was broken myself. I had been sexually molested. I'd been around gangs. I saw murder and violent crime – all things I've been able to overcome by the grace of God."

Early on, he and his wife opened their home for people from the highly ethically diverse neighborhood for worship. From there, they formed the idea to establish a community center that could serve as a gathering place and house of prayer. "We keep asking what would Jesus do in our situation," he said. "We have to realize that the first Bible someone might read is us – and by watching what we do."

Stevenson had a similar message about the need to make an entire neighborhood, and not just the church building, a living and vital worship community. "Our philosophy is to take God and church into the community. The church has not been a safe place for people of color." Stevenson's wife is Denise and she plays an integral role in the ministry.

One Sunday morning, he says, he stepped away from the pulpit and led his church members on a tour of the neighborhood, which is 21 percent white, 12 percent African American, and more than 63 percent Hispanic.

"This neighborhood has many challenges. Nearly 50 percent of occupants in the area are renters and one-third of the children are born into poverty."

In Home Missions literature about the ministry, he says that "crumbling, gutted homes pepper this neighborhood. Overgrown alleys, empty lots, trash on curbs, and graffiti serve as constant reminders that this place is, in many ways, forgotten."

After they spoke, the pastors fielded a few questions, which mainly focused on how to best build relationships with people living in neighborhoods around churches. The answer: build true frienships in which you share your life and your home with others. "Radical change can come if you are truly willing to invest in relationships," said Presley.

Christian Reformed Home Missions is an agency of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. It partners with congregations and classes to encourage church planting, help churches become more mission-focused, support educational ministries, train leaders and promote spiritual growth. To learn more visit www.crhm.org.

- Chris Meehan, CRC Communications