Fresh Approaches in Ministry

Rev. Taehoo Lee, who is part of a new Christian Reformed Church ministry initiative, sees his church as the tough, poverty-stricken North Philadelphia neighborhood in which he lives.

Houses are condemned and abandoned. Drug dealers hang out on street corners. Shootings and fights are common. Many children come from families in which no father is present.

But the grace of God is fully alive and the love of Christ is active in this area of historic rowhouses where he has been doing ministry since 2003, said Lee, who served other churches before settling in this community.

“I heard God calling me in a calm but loving voice to take part in an incarnational ministry to be a good neighbor to the poor and oppressed of this neighborhood,” said Lee, associate pastor with Spirit and Truth Fellowship in Philadelphia.

“I came here to slowly build relationships and to present God, not just in word but in actions as well.”

Initiative Not a ‘Cookie-Cutter’ Approach

Lee is one of a handful of ministry workers involved in what is called “Forward in Faith: Cultivating seeds of imagination and courage within emerging leaders of the CRC.” The initiative was launched a year ago by Christian Reformed Home Missions with the help of an anonymous donor.

The five-year initiative aims to bring a higher profile to what Lee and the others are doing, said Rev. Moses Chung, director of Christian Reformed Home Missions.

“We are trying to create a space for these ministry leaders to gather and share the story of who they are,” said Chung. “We want to get behind them and fan the flames of the wonderful missional work that they are doing.”

So far, the cohort has met twice, first in Seattle and then in Chicago, as a way for the participants to become familiar with one another.

In the future, said Chung, the goal is for them to discuss and implement ways in which they can encourage other ministries to become more deeply involved in the communities in which they find themselves.

"We’re not talking about promoting cookie-cutter approaches to ministry,” said Chung. “But we believe the Holy Spirit is showing up in these edgy places, where God is speaking and you listen. They are showing fresh approaches to ministry.”

When he first moved into the North Philadelphia community, Taehoo Lee got to know his neighbors simply by chatting with them. He also did yard work and shoveled snow for those who needed the help.

Today, he runs a summer camp for about 200 neighborhood children, holds Bible studies, prays in people’s homes, goes to court with those who want his help, and visits the sick and prisoners. In addition, he has purchased an abandoned rowhouse that he hopes to turn into a center for area youth.

“I’m trying to live out the faith I profess,” said Lee. “I believe that is what the gospel is all about, bringing people hope and new life.”

Pathway Steps Off the Traditional Path

Reaching out to and living among communities, wherever they are located, is the hallmark of those who are part of the cohort of church leaders taking part in this initiative, said Kevin Schutte, pastor of Pathway Community Church in Olathe, Kan.

“The idea many of us have is to engage our communities in tangible ways,” said Schutte.

“We don’t simply go out and invite people to be part of what we have got going. We join with people in our neighborhoods and share their struggles and celebrate their joys.”

His church began in the early 2000s as a traditional church plant, with a building and a focus on Sunday services. Even though they were successful drawing people for worship, something was missing, said Schutte.

After some discussion, prayer, and discernment, Pathway began to step outside of the normal route for church growth and started to join in ministry with others in the area, especially emphasizing work with youth and families in crisis.

“We found it important to reach people who weren’t engaged with the church,” said Schutte. “As we have done this, our eyes have been opened to the needs all around us.

“Those who had no real identification with the church were willing to partner with us to work together for the common good.”

Among other things, Pathway has joined with another area church to participate in a program that offers training to families to help them reduce problem behaviors in their homes.

Pathway is also involved in Spero House, a home that helps children who are making the transition out of foster care. The church still meets on Sundays for worship, but time is also set aside on some Sundays to, for example, pack lunches for elementary school children.

Another member of the cohort is Karen Wilk, who leads a neighborhood community in Edmonton, Alta., and works with others who want to involve themselves in missional outreach in their communities.

“Instead of starting with the church, we start with God,” she said. “We ask, ‘How can we go and be with our neighbors and partner with what the Spirit of God is already doing among them?’”

Fresh Food and Grace

In Denver, Colo., Jeanine  Kopaska Broek, and her husband, Rev. Craig Broek, are involved in a ministry called The Table, which is all about food — growing it, sharing it, eating it.

They started by gardening little spaces of land between the sidewalks and the streets of their neighborhood and, as the gardens flourished, so did their outreach. More gardens were planted, and people from all over the area joined in, said Kopaska Broek.

Every Thursday, people fill their home for a soup supper and gather in a local church basement on Sunday for what is called “The Feast.”

They also offer a pub theology ministry and operate the “Veggie Bike,” which they load with vegetables and flowers to give away to their neighbors. Another arm of their ministry is “The Greenhouse,” a place for people to gather and seek ways to grow in their faith.

“We see The Table as a sacramental celebration of grace,” said Kopaska Broek. “We exist to share tangible grace with our neighbors. One of the most beautiful ways that we are able to do this is through the giving and eating of food.”

College as Community

Mike Moore, campus ministry chaplain at Loyola University in Chicago, said he appreciates being part of the cohort.

“It has made me aware of all of these people who are doing unique ministries in their own contexts,” he said.

In his ministry he serves students, who essentially make up their own neighborhood. They live together in rooms on campus, attend classes together, interact with other students, and gather once a week for a Bible study and for a Sunday worship service that students often help to lead.

Outside of campus, members of the campus church serve as sponsors for refugees coming into the Chicago area. One student has recruited others to get involved in a ministry that provides clothes to people in poverty after they are released from the emergency room at a local hospital.

“We don’t want the students to think that church is only about what happens on Sunday mornings,” said Moore. “It is about having authentic relationships with others and being accountable and dependable.

“I hope that when they graduate, they will want to continue to be followers of Jesus and to join another community of believers.”

In reflecting on his participation in the cohort, Chad Polito says he has “greatly appreciated the opportunity to learn from like-minded leaders who have creatively contextualized the gospel in their unique ministry contexts.

“Being able to honestly share about our successes, failures, struggles, and dreams has been a real source of encouragement to me,” said Polito, who serves with Christian Direction, a ministry in Montreal, Que.

Other members of the cohort are involved in work ranging from a home for street people to a mentorship program for fathers, and from an inner-city housing ministry to a large, multiracial church.