Where Jesus Meets Every Neighborhood
Urban. Suburban. Young. Old. Impoverished. Affluent. Last Monday, about thirty participants spent an hour and change hearing how Jesus meets people in each of those environments and situations.
That gathering was part 1 of our two-part series, New Starts in the SED. LeChelle Redd of Faith and Works Enterprises, Reddiet Berihun of Medhanialem Mission, and Pastor Andy Wrasman of CrossWaters Ministries joined us as guest panelists, and together we explored four types of new starts: Next Generation, Multi-Site, Community Outreach, and Digital.
During the 73-minute gathering, three themes bubbled to the surface: understand who you’re serving; meet people where they are; and, don’t underestimate the personal invitation.
Understand who you’re serving
“If you are thinking about dabbling in the world of outreach in a community that you only statistically know something about … you must have some relatability. It’s really difficult to speak to a person’s circumstances if you have no idea what that feels like.”
— LeChelle Redd, Executive Director, Faith and Works EnterprisesRedd leads Faith and Works, a faith-based community resource center in the Sandtown area of Baltimore, MD. Her comments underscored a theme that would echo throughout the evening: proximity and lived experience matter as much as strategy.
Meet people where they are
“I just ordered a ping-pong table, where kids would come here, have fun, have chips. … Some are mature enough to say, ‘I want to be here for Jesus.’ Some will say, ‘I just want to come and have fun with Coach Re and all the fun things he has.’ But they will see Jesus that day.”
— Reddiet Berihun, Owner, RAY Athletics / Medhanialem Mission (Instagram reel)Berihun’s gym in Alexandria, VA operates on the first floor of a building that houses a worship space upstairs. Kids come for the games and the TV. They stay long enough to see Jesus.
Don’t underestimate the personal invitation
“People are inviting their neighbors that they hadn’t invited before, and those neighbors are showing up. We’ve seen some go from only coming once a month, twice a month maybe, and now they’re here almost every Sunday.”
— Pastor Andy Wrasman, CrossWaters MinistriesAt CrossWaters (formerly Island Lutheran) in South Carolina’s Low Country, some congregants who traveled upwards of 30 minutes from the mainland to attend church on Hilton Head Island hadn’t felt comfortable inviting friends to make that same trip. That changed when the church launched a second site in Bluffton — and attendance grew, both from new invitations and from members attending more regularly.
Our speakers painted a vivid picture of the communities they serve. They shared their successes and were vulnerable enough to share their ministry challenges. By the end of our time together, we had a better understanding of how Jesus meets people in their circumstances. And I suspect more than a few of us walked away wondering how Jesus might use us to connect with the people in our communities.
To view the recording of the Witness Gathering, click here.
The Southeastern District is home to dozens of New Starts. If you have an idea for a new start, let’s talk about it. Email Rev. Dr. Yared Halche or Deaconess Robin Domeier to get the conversation started.