Reversing a Trend: A Suburban Church Moves to the City by L. Mark Reiff Contrary to the trend of churches taking flight to the suburbs, the Great Commission Church, formerly of suburban Rosyln, Pa moves to North Philadelphia The January 2009 issue of Christianity Today reported that African American congregations are increasingly embracing a “black flight” from urban areas as more and more African Americans reach middle-class socioeconomic status. The report said that this only increases the disillusionment with God’s people among those living in urban areas. Standing counter to this trend is the Great Commission Church (GCC). Founded a decade ago in Roslyn, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia, this congregation decided to move to a Northwest Philadelphia neighborhood that deals with more than its fair share of crime, drugs, and unemployment. GCC Pastor Larry Anderson, who oversaw the move, marvels at the work God is doing in and through GCC. And while many ministers might reflect similarly on their churches, Anderson and GCC have a rather unique testimony. The core plant group consisted of three leaders, each from a different ethnic background, and their goal was to create a diverse, non-traditional evangelical congregation, although the church eventually came to be composed mostly of middle-class African Americans-- a model of the very trend Christianity Today recently announced. The story of GCC’s unusual move goes back to 2002, when Larry Anderson and his family moved to Roslyn and began searching for a new church home. They visited GCC and found it was a good fit for them, but God had more than membership in mind for Anderson. A year later the church’s lead pastor expressed his desire to step into a support role, and Anderson, who at the time was doing urban training and pursuing his MDiv at Biblical Theological Seminary, was asked to consider the position.
GCC organized a Free car wash in the West oak Lane Community By the end of that year, through continued study and training as well as close mentorship by the leadership team, Anderson was confident enough to fill the lead pastoral role. “I never applied for the position,” recalls Anderson. “God prepared the entire situation, and I just followed his leading.” Since its inception, GCC rented meeting space in various church buildings within the suburban community. But Pastor Anderson’s understanding of the biblical partnership between evangelism and social action prompted in him a growing personal discomfort with the congregation’s vision for suburban ministry. His concerns were vividly confirmed when, during a Thanksgiving event where GCC planned to give turkeys to needy families in the area, nobody in the congregation knew of anyone in need. His discomfort intensified as Philadelphia’s 2007 mayoral election cycle commenced and he heard stories of the city’s rampant murder rates, many of which were occurring in his native North Philadelphia. Anderson wasn’t the only one in the congregation with urban roots. In fact, much of GCC had close ties to those urban areas that were in the most turmoil. Anderson began to seek God’s will for the church, and he invited the congregation to join him in an intensive study of Nehemiah. Continued on page 2
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Reversing a Trend, cont. Because of what God revealed to them through this study, as well as the congregation’s growing desire to have their own facility, GCC decided to move to an urban setting where they could integrate with the community and partner with God’s work of transformation.
These successes certainly have not come without trials, and Anderson is often eager to share about the times where their new context has strained congregational comfort zones. GCC has allowed God to sustain and lead them in this journey, making each of these struggles fruitful.
In the year following this discernment, GCC worked at raising adequate funds, handling logistics, and preparing the members’ hearts for the impending move into a new context.
Programmatically, Anderson has worked at developing partnerships with various agencies within the West Oak Lane community through which GCC can support and participate in social engagement. He has been influenced by John Perkins’ philosophy of Christian community development, which he has encountered in his current doctoral study at Biblical Seminary (where he is also the director of Urban Initiatives and the seminary’s first African American faculty member), and he is working to utilize those principles in GCC’s new setting. This has led the congregation to participate effectively in holistic ministry and to begin offering new hope to a neighborhood in turmoil.
They located an old church building in Philadelphia’s West Oak Lane section that fit their vision and was fiscally feasible for them to acquire, with some funding assistance. They studied the surrounding neighborhood and found that their congregation could mesh well demographically. They developed a document outlining their plan, expressing their desire to serve in an urban setting and inviting others to journey alongside them. Pastor Anderson used this document as a rallying point to mobilize the congregation and others to support the transition, both spiritually and financially. This entire process culminated in January 2008, when GCC moved into their new facility, poised to connect with the societal brokenness all around them and offer it Jesus’ love. Since the move, GCC has continued to be a nontraditional, informal evangelical congregation. Anderson has worked at cultivating a sense of authentic transparency throughout the church, which offers safety and grace to those in the community who are recognizing their brokenness.
By God’s grace GCC is pioneering an exciting response to the reality of “black flight,” offering a model of hope to all churches, regardless of their demographic makeup. To learn more about Great Commission Church, please visit their website at GreatCommissiononline.com.
L. Mark Reiff is a dual degree Master’s student in ministry and international development at Palmer Theological Seminary and Eastern University in Wynnewood and St. Davids, Pa respectively.
Proclaiming the Gospel in Both Word and Deed The mission of Word & Deed Network (WDN), a ministry of The Sider Center on Ministry and Public Policy is to help churches in any and all ways to develop ministries that combine evangelism and social action. In pursuing this mission, WDN director Al Tizon pretty much does whatever it takes. This includes preaching at churches in addition to providing them consultation services and various print and multimedia resources. WDN also seeks to put churches in touch with one another so they can benefit from the experience and knowledge of larger networks.
WDN has focused on four levels of networking. First, it brings together churches and other Christian organizations located in the same geographical area. Second, WDN functions at the denominational level, working to help Christian denominations to promote a vision for holistic ministry, including through Sunday School literature and various events and conferences. Director Tizon, for example, has worked with the Evangelical Covenant denomination’s Department of Church Growth and Evangelism as well as its Department of Compassion, Mercy, and Justice, seeking to provide guidance for bringing together the missions of these two entities.
Third, WDN links urban and suburban churches. The mutual benefits of such partnerships are highlighted in the recent book (published by Baker Books)
Linking Arms, Linking Lives: How Urban-Suburban Partnerships Can Transform Communities, co-authored by Al Tizon, Ron Sider, Christian community development pioneer John Perkins, and Chicago pastor and Palmer alumnus Wayne Gordon (‘01). The fourth level of networking entails linking arms (and lives) between U.S. churches and churches around the globe, particularly in the developing world. Randy Frame is Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University in Wynnewood, Pa. .
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cities,” the authors write. But many of the poor still live in the cities and the wealthy in the suburbs—meaning that they live in closer proximity than they have in decades. And that presents a real opportunity to see poorer neighborhoods transformed into productive communities. Co-winner of Outreach Magazine’s in the compassion category, Linking Arms, Linking Lives: How UrbanSuburban Partnerships are Transforming Communities by Ron Sider, John Perkins, Wayne Gordon and Al Tizon (Baker 2008), has struck a chord among those who see the indispensability of forming partnerships across racial and socioeconomic divides for the sake of community transformation. The following is part of a review of the book by author Marcia Ford. For her full review go to http://www.faithfulreader.com/ reviews/9780801070839.asp. “The last twenty-five years or so have made a mess of the urbansuburban landscape. Where do cities end and the suburbs begin? Wealthy suburbanites are turning cities into suburbs, and poor urbanites are turning suburbs into inner
Making that transformation a reality is the purpose of the book, and the key concept driving that purpose is partnership, a concept reflected in the writing partnership of the four authors. After describing the need for transformation and the need for Christians to participate in that, the authors turn their attention to “radical community” the kingdom of God - a countercultural society characterized by a distinctively different relationship between the rich and the poor. That was the ideal for the people of God throughout biblical history, from Genesis to Revelation, and it continues today with the Great Commission. After laying the groundwork, the authors define three of the foundational principles of community partnership—deep reconciliation, authentic relationship and collaborative action— and outline the do’s and don’ts of such a partnership. Among the do’s: do begin with existing relationships, do foster interdependence, do commit long-term.
Among the don’ts: don’t forget to love God, don’t become a burden, don’t forget to play. The fruit of the hard work of community transformation extends beyond the benefit to the neighborhoods themselves: ‘Urban-suburban partnership may have its challenges, but the kingdom fruit that it can potentially bear— theological, sociological, cultural and practical—make the endeavor worthy of our affirmation and our uncompromising commitment,’ the authors write. The partnership fruits translate into the personal transformation of the partners themselves. The book’s thirteen chapters provide numerous examples of partnerships that have succeeded, as well as some that didn’t. The final chapter offers a stepby-step action plan for emerging urbansuburban partnerships. is a dense volume packed with information crucial to anyone working to make a difference in poverty-stricken areas in cities and suburbs. Its authors know firsthand what it means to live and work among the poor; theirs is no abstract, theoretical challenge to the church, but a get-to-work and get-dirty proposal.”—Marcia Ford
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“As churches
commit to action and reflection for the sake of the gospel, they Take part in God’s mission to transform the world.” - Al Tizon
If newsletters reflect the need to report noteworthy activities and inspiring stories, then I’m ecstatic about the maiden issue of Praxis. God is on the move in and through local Al Tizon churches, and Praxis, Director Word & Deed Network’s official newsletter, seeks to share these activities and stories in order to generate discussion, inspiration, and action among God’s people. Why “praxis”? In his classic book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, the late Brazilian educator Paulo Freire defined the word as, “reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it.”
As such, I can’t think of a more appropriate word to describe what Word & Deed Network envisions— Christians and churches committed together to holistic action that flows out of deep theological and spiritual reflection, as well as theological and spiritual reflection that is informed by the actions of the faithful among, for, and with the poor. As churches commit to action and reflection for the sake of the gospel, they take part in God’s mission to transform the world. This vision of churches together in praxis gets me up in the morning. It is why Word & Deed Network exists. Please let us know how we can help you in your holistic ministry journey. God’s Best,
Al
Word & Deed Network seeks to equip churches to work together to make a difference. For more information, go to www.worddeednetwork.org
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