A beautiful day for a neighbor

By Gabriel Stovall ometimes, it’s hard to tell where Vintage Church ends and the Send Relief Pittsburgh Ministry Center begins. And that’s exactly what Vintage Church pastor Rob Wilton and Pittsburgh Send Relief Missionary Adam Sewell wanted. S

Every single homeless person who came into our ministry center was impacted by our church, and every person who came to worship on Sunday left knowing about Send Relief and the ministry center.”

Rob Wilton, Vintage Church pastor

hen Vintage began holding services at its Mount Washington location last year, Adam knew that the surrounding community had history with the facility—one that he and Wilton would have to overcome. W

“Everybody knows what that space was,” Adam says. “It was a dirty, old church with a dirty, old church basement. It was gross.”

Rob and Adam joined forces to build both a church and a Send Relief ministry center and renovate the dilapidated property with an unmatched view overlooking the city. The renovation work forced Vintage to spend three months worshipping in the basement that would become the Pittsburgh ministry center, but nobody was complaining.

“It was a win for us, because from the center’s grand opening in October until January, we were meeting for worship in that basement—in that Send Relief Center,” Rob says. “It caused the church and the center to not be separate. Every single homeless person who came into our ministry center was impacted by our church, and every person who came to worship on Sunday left knowing about Send Relief and the ministry center.”

Pittsburgh’s Send Relief Ministry Center focuses on poverty and includes showers, a laundry room and serves as a point place for feeding and clothing ministries.

Now, with most of the renovations completed, Vintage Church is back in its regular worship digs on the building’s top floor, allowing the ministry center to occupy the full basement. But that’s really the only thing separating the work of the two.

“Even though we’re in our sanctuary now, the vast majority of people know what we’re offering downstairs,” Adam says. “Back in October, it was a great launching point, not just for our church, but for our city. So now, the ministry center and church relationship has just become a lot more organic. It’s a lot more integrated as something we do, especially in the winter season where community needs are much higher.”

The numbers that tell the story of needs being met through Vintage and the Pittsburgh ministry center are staggering.

From its late-October 2019 launch until the end of the year, Adam says the center distributed more than 60,000 pounds of food from its once-a-month food bank. In addition, over 600 people have been mobilized into some 2,000-plus hours of tangible service in and around the Mount Washington area. And the reach is as diverse as the needs of the

Kids learned the art of serving during the Pittsburgh Ministry Center’s October 2019 grand opening.

On December 18, which happened to be the coldest day of the season—the day we needed it most—we were able to show up with 297 coats. Every student got a brand-new coat. It was amazing.”

Adam Sewell, Send Relief missionary

area’s residents.

“The people we’re mobilizing aren’t just from Vintage,” Adam says. “They’re not just Southern Baptist churches, either. People come to me and say, ‘Hey, how do we reach and engage our community? Can you help us?’ And now we’ve got a Presbyterian church that we’re giving training to, and they’re helping us with some of our meals.”

Another number Adam and Rob highlight is 297— as in the number of coats, one for each student, passed out at Pittsburgh’s Grandview Elementary School.

It happened, thanks in part to the benevolence of Sarepta Baptist Association in Athens, Georgia, which partners with the ministry center.

“We called the school’s principal back in October and said we wanted to give every kid in Grandview Elementary a brand-new coat this winter,” Adam says. “Of course, there were a lot of tears. And then on December 18, which happened to be the coldest day of the season—the day we needed it most—we were able to show up with 297 coats. Every student got a brand-new coat. It was amazing.”

And it was an opportunity for Adam, Rob, Vintage Church and the ministry center to up its “neighborhood cred”—something both pastors say is more valuable than money in Mount Washington.

“From a ministry standpoint, you’ve got to earn the right to be heard here,” Rob says. “We didn’t come into that (coat) event with a whole lot of big flash. We literally gave them the coats and loved on them in a respectful, low-key way, and they responded. And because of that, now we can come together and host the principal, who’s a believer, and present her in front of the church, celebrate with her, pray for her and let her know, ‘We’ve got you.’”

In other words, in Pittsburgh, neighboring is synonymous with ministry.

“They want to know that we’re their neighbor here first,” Sewell said. “Neighbors are a big deal in Pittsburgh. That’s why we’ve got Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. It’s a big deal for people to see that you’re their neighbor and that you care.”

For Rob, a former church planter in New Orleans— and still chaplain of the New Orleans Saints—he knew he had to do whatever it took to earn the city’s trust.

“I still wear all my New Orleans Saints stuff wherever I go,” he says. “I’m not a Mount Washington

It’s not Adam the pastor. I’m Adam the neighbor. The biggest call to Pittsburgh is to be a good neighbor. To love those intentionally and on purpose, whom God has put around you to love.”

Adam Sewell, Send Relief missionary

native, but the people love it. Pittsburgh and New Orleans are similar in that the people have a lot of pride. Pittsburgh is neighborhood driven, but city proud. They love to see new talent coming in the area, but only if you’re showing that you’re going to love them and their neighborhood.”

Adam, a Pennsylvania native, has a natural-born affinity to Pittsburgh. And it’s events like the Grandview Elementary coat giveaway that keeps him thinking front-porch ministry rather than strictly pulpit.

“For us who live here and are from there, it’s different,” he says. “The elementary school, my kids could be there. So, it’s not Adam the pastor. I’m Adam the neighbor. The biggest call to Pittsburgh is to be a good neighbor. To love those intentionally and on purpose, whom God has put around you to love.”

Sewell and Wilton have ambitious goals to plant upwards of 25 churches around the Pittsburgh metro area, equipping them with Send Relief ministry-center like training and resources. But it has absolutely nothing to do with building kingdoms for themselves.

“Our neighborhood needs to see a growing church,” Adam says. “They need to see a growing, thriving and living church. This is the center point of our neighborhood. It’s not about the building. This isn’t just for Vintage Church, or even just for the Send Relief Ministry Center. This is for the city.”

And Rob believes that what they’re building can turn Pittsburgh into something even greater for Christ than it’s ever been.

“We hope that by God’s grace, we’re overwhelmed with Send Relief-type centers and healthy Multiplying Churches across the city,” Rob says. “With the partnership and collaboration with Send Relief, we think what God can do is going to be crazy. But it’s God’s church, not ours. And if we remember that, I believe with all my heart we’ll see this city change because of the gospel.”

Gabriel Stovall writes for On Mission.

Learn more about Rob Wilton at AnnieArmstrong.com. To hear a story of how the Send Relief Ministry Center drew one lady in Mount Washington to Christ, go to SendRelief.org/StoriesOfHope and listen to the episode “What happened on Mount Washington.”

The Pittsburgh Ministry Center distributed over 60,000 pounds of food and more than 1,500 articles of clothing in the last three months of 2019 alone.