Many Presbyterian congregations find themselves in changing neighborhoods, with aging members, declining membership and attendance, and with facilities they can no longer manage. Many are closing their doors, or at least wringing their hands looking for that “special pastor” to come in and turn things around, One such congregation found a new life by giving theirs up. This is part of their remarkable story.
I was called to Shiloh Bethany Church in November 2004 to become their half-time pastor for redevelopment and transformation. By that time, Shiloh was a very small congregation, with a membership of around 50 and average attendance around 25. Most of the members were more than 70 years old.
Shiloh Presbyterian Church was founded in 1884, and Bethany Community Church in about 1886 — they merged in the 1920s.
The congregation had been torn apart in the mid 1990s by a variety of issues (too many to go into here), but a group of around 80 people wanted to continue as a Presbyterian congregation. The other 200-plus members scattered to churches of other denominations in the area.
Those who stayed came to believe that God was not done with this congregation in this place. They were a people of prayer who prayed that God would show them the “next chapter” for this place. They were told to close their doors, because such a small congregation could not maintain the facility. Still, they believed that God wasn’t finished with them yet, and there was more work to be done, so they kept going on meeting and praying.
Stated supply pastors served the church for about 10 years. Its numbers dwindled from 80 to about 50, including a group of Sudanese refugees who also called this place “home.”
After a two-year self-assessment study, they determined to apply for a grant so they could call a pastor to lead them into an unknown future. A grant for a full-time pastor was denied, but one for a half-time pastor was finally approved by all of the appropriate judicatories.
I was called to this half-time ministry. I knew when I arrived on site, that there was more work to do than one person could do on a part-time basis. I had another job in the secular world to supplement my income, so my time was limited. But what impressed me most was the faithfulness of the core group of people who had faithfully “hung in there” through some very lean years. I also knew that unless we would receive an infusion of people from other area Presbyterian churches, we would not be able to turn it around.
After a few months, we decided that a new chapter needed a new name. So, after much discussion, Shiloh Bethany Presbyterian Church became Grace Church on Silver Lake (GCSL). The new name reflected what we wanted to communicate to the world (Grace), and identified our location (on Silver Lake).
Still, no one from the established Presbyterian churches was willing to come and help “jump start” this struggling congregation. Even with the new name, the future looked bleak. However, the people believed God still had a future for them, they just didn’t know what it would look like.
About that time, the chairperson of the Congregational Redevelopment Task Force suggested that we have a preliminary discussion with a new church called Church of All Nations, birthed by the Korean Presbyterian Church of Minnesota. I met with the pastor, who is young and visionary, and who was looking for a new site their congregation could call home. As we talked it became clear that both of us, as pastors, had a passion for the ministry of reconciliation, and a belief that we were called to be agents of reconciliation in the world. The two of us talked again, and the more we talked, the more it seemed like we shared a common vision to bring reconciliation and hope to the broken world in which we find ourselves.
Since Columbia Heights has many new ethnic groups immigrating here from around the world, having a “Church of All Nations” in the community seemed like a natural fit.
A task force made up of elders and the pastors of each of the congregations was formed, and we began to try to work out the details of how we could bring these two very different congregations together. As we talked, it became clear that it would be in the best interests of both congregations to “blend.”
Merging congregations is a very complicated procedure. Grace Church on Silver Lake opted to dissolve, and have the active membership transfer into the membership of CAN. It was a formal dissolution of one congregation, and an unofficial “merger” into another.
What has amazed most people at the presbytery level and around the country was the relatively seamless blending of these two very different congregations. GCSL was willing to “give up” its life as a single congregation in order to become a part of the new chapter that they had been praying about for years. They were ready to let go of their ownership of the building, and let this new and younger congregation come in.
Just about all of the GCSL members have been thrilled to see the life and energy now present in this building that was once very, very quiet. Now instead of 25 people in a sanctuary that has a capacity of more than 300, between 180 and 200 are present in worship every Sunday. The energy still brings smiles to their faces. Indeed, God does answer prayers.
The process by which all this occurred affirms that even though an aging congregation may not have all of the energy and vitality of a youthful one, it can have a spiritual energy and maturity beyond mere numbers. It was the spiritual vitality of the members of this small but faithful congregation that has enabled this “merger” to take place, and a new chapter to be written.
Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if that seed dies, it will produce many new seeds (John 12:24). It is amazing what happens when we “get out of the way,” and allow God to work as only God can.
As I reflect on this amazing journey, it occurs to me that too many congregations find themselves in a similar situation. They merely wring their hands and worry about keeping on the traditions of the past. They waste lots of time trying to rekindle the old traditions and replicate “the way things were in the good old days.”
But “the good old days” are history. They aren’t coming back in the same way, and if we dwell on them, we will be lost, and miss out on what is yet to be. GCSL quit believing their best years were behind them and they looked forward to a bright new future God would bring forth. Church members embraced change rather than fearing it.
Sometimes we just have to let go of control, and trust God to do what only God can do. When we do that, the results are amazing. After all, it’s not about us. It’s all about what God wants to do in, through and in spite of us. Thank you GCSL for keeping the faith, living with hope, being faithful in prayer, and trusting God.
Kenneth J. Ribe is a member-at-large of Twin Cities Presbytery currently serving as pulpit supply for First Church in Belle Plaine, Minn.
