A Beacon of Hope

My thesis for Luther Seminary studied four congregations in NW Minneapolis who were striving to work together in what they called the “North Side Area Ministry Strategy.” It was a way to address common concerns in the neighborhoods they all served.  In 2017, I visited each congregation and interviewed lay leaders and pastors from each congregation. I also talked with members from each congregation and visited each on a Sunday morning. The following story came from one of those congregations.

Redeemer Lutheran Church with Pr. Kelly (who went by PK) is a classic example of a “successful” redevelopment. Their story has been told in articles and books, at conferences and in research papers many times by many people. In summary, Redeemer was originally founded by Scandinavian immigrants in 1909, like most MN Lutheran congregations. Over time their neighborhood changed, becoming predominantly black and poor. Remaining members could have closed their doors but instead changed their mission. They decided to become “a beacon to the neighborhood”.

I believe that their decision to stay for the sake of the neighborhood is what made all the difference, but it was not an easy or direct path. Following are excerpts from a timeline on their website: (https://www.redeemermpls.org/leadership-staff )

September 1997- Congregation approved the Redeemer Center for Life (RCFL), a separate corporation from Redeemer formed to serve the needs of Harrison Neighborhood.

March 1999- Congregation voted to sell upper parking lot to RCFL to build Milda's Corner.

Pastor Kelly Chatman became their eighth pastor in June 2001. That December they opened Peace Palace and in June 2002, Pr. Kelly became the Executive Director of RCFL in addition to being their pastor. Later in 2008, Marilu Thomas takes over as Executive Director and PK continues serving as the pastor.

February 2020 Pastor Kelly Chatman retired from both Redeemer Lutheran Church and Redeemer Center for Life.

It is important to note that first the congregation decided it needed to connect with people in the neighborhood, so they formed Redeemer Center for Life and hired pastors they thought would help move them in that direction.

Even though the congregation embraced the idea of being a beacon in the neighborhood, they initially struggled to live into it. When Pr. Kelly (PK) came he found about 35 members who were mostly elderly and white. He also found a lot of conflict among members and no clear understanding of how to go about being a “beacon to the neighborhood”.

Rather than immediately trying to reform the congregation, PK began by developing relationships with the community as he got to know the members themselves. He rented space in a local popcorn shop within the neighborhood to have a place to meet local youth outside the church building. He visited local businesses and got to know the neighbors. Meanwhile, he challenged congregation members to lean into their mission statement asking what it could look like to be a “beacon of hope”.

It took time to build trust with the community and within the congregation. Before long it was clear that real change could not occur until old power structures were dismantled. At Redeemer, power laid with those who ran the kitchen and those who picked the hymns. In many ways the people who did these things were the heart of the church, yet their loving ownership of their roles kept anyone outside from ever truly belonging.

PK explained to the congregation that a healthy church is a place of welcome and belonging where everyone is safe (physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc.) and everyone can participate in all aspects of church.  He used stories to help shift people’s imaginations of what church could become. PK also functioned like a mirror showing people where they were doing well and falling short of their vision. This ruffled some feathers, but also challenged people to step up. Finally, he advocated for people within the congregation and community whose voices were not valued or heard.

When I talked with PK, he reflected that the congregation was far from perfect and that their transformation was not yet complete, but they had come a long way. The congregation supported the start of a community bike repair and coffee shop run by community members that provided repurposed bikes for local people to commute to their jobs. They built a community pizza oven in a vacant lot near the church and members from the congregation were active in advocating for justice with the local police department. Pastoral interns from Luther Seminary lead innovative initiatives where members would take some kind of action within the community and then gather to reflect on how God had shown up. This nourished their faith and brought them deeper in relationship with one another, God, and their neighborhood.

It is easy to look at Redeemer’s success and declare PK as their savior, but I see something more. Certainly, PK’s work was critical, but it would not have been effective if the congregation itself had not first taken the bold step of deciding to love their neighborhood rather than abandon it. They didn’t just declare themselves a beacon of light. They were willing to change in order to become that beacon. Redeemer followed God’s call to be transformed just as their neighborhood had already been transformed.

This transformation was not fast or easy. Many long-term members were challenged, not only by PK, but also by new members coming in with their own ideas. Long-term members had to let go of control and allow things to be done in new ways – including ways that did not appeal to them. Some of them left the congregation threatening its financial security. Yet their leaving made way for new people to step up, bringing their own gifts and passions.

The community continues to evolve. When I talked with PK in 2016, gentrification was changing their mostly low-income black neighborhood, and the church was wondering what that would mean for them and their ministry. Redeemer must continue adapting to their neighborhood if they want to continue being a beacon of light.

Most congregations have mission and vision statements, but few of them have risked their identity and power structures to live into their mission as conditions around them change. I admire the courage of Redeemer’s lay leaders to not only declare themselves as a beacon to the neighborhood, but to be willing to constantly listen, experiment, reflect and change to follow God’s call.

This is what love looks like.