Reflecting on Two Years at North Way East End 1-27-14

This is a big week for North Way East End... we're celebrating our two year anniversary! I'll be sharing a lot of stories and photos this week to reflect on how far God has brought us as a church in such a short amount of time. I've been privileged to see lives transformed by the profound love of Jesus Christ. I've experienced the ups and downs of Christians doing life with one another. It's been quite an adventure.

On our church launch day in January of 2012, everyone was hopeful. We had a big turn out from people from North Way locations checking out what this campus in East Liberty was all about. The launch team had worked hard to get everything up and going. While we had our first church service, giving all the glory to God, somebody was outside breaking into about a dozen cars and a local convenience store. Here's a picture of one of the cars that was broken into, which included my sister's car and also Pastor Freedom's:

We haven't had any break ins since that day. It turned out to be just a one time thing. Still, we weren't discouraged. We knew that we needed to persevere. There were other challenges to press through, as well. Our ministry center space wasn't quite ready so we held kids church in the lobby of the theater. Our technology wasn't quite ready so we had to get creative to pull the first worship service off. It looked like this:

It was amazing to see God come through on that first day, and on every day since then. Starting a new church has been a huge challenge. But, it's been worth it to be an integral part of God's redemptive mission in our city. I'm looking forward to what God is going to do in 2014!

A Full Week of Ministry in the City

As I look back over this past week, I am thankful for the opportunities that God gives me to build relationships with so many different types of people at North Way East End. Serving as an urban pastor allows me to get to know people in a way that transcends socioeconomic, racial, and cultural barriers. This week I met with a businessman who attends the church to encourage him as he helps influential people in our city to steward the resources that God has given them. He is a financial planner, and he is serving God right where he is supposed to be serving God. My goal as a pastor is to continue to point him toward Jesus. I am proud of the way that my friend is honoring the Lord with his vocation.

I spent almost the entire part of another day this week navigating the Allegheny County court system with a young friend of mine from East Hills who managed to get himself into some legal troubles. We've spent at least four or five days over the past three months showing up at court appearances and being bounced around from pretrial event to pretrial event and from magistrate's offices to court rooms. We both know that God is in complete control of the whole situation, and we are trusting God with the outcomes while trying to learn everything that we can from the circumstances. I have been given the gift of time with this young man... lots of time sitting and waiting. We've had some great conversations about life and God and just about everything else. I am thankful for the gift of time.

I prayer walked our city with a pastor friend from Guatemala who leads a ministry that is making a huge difference in many different parts of our world. I served in executive leadership team meetings to help to make decisions that will guide the direction of a church that reaches thousands of people on a weekly basis. I got to serve with the amazing staff at North Way East End... some of my favorite people on this planet who are impacting many people with the Good News of Jesus Christ. I was able to read the Bible, read other books, write, and pray a lot. I led people closer to Jesus during Sunday morning worship at a performing arts theater in the heart of a diverse, urban neighborhood. I spent time with people that I bumped into in the heart of that neighborhood during the week. I spent time in an elementary school in Homewood with board members from our LAMP partner organization. We dreamed about ways that we could continue to impact some of the most vulnerable children in our city through mentoring.

There were so many other experiences this week that I won't take the time to write about in this blog post. However, the important thing for me to remember is that all of this is about people growing closer to God. I am learning to love my city and to love the people that God has called me to lead. I pray that God will continue to stretch me and grow me to build meaningful relationships with many different kinds of people in my city. The city isn't a problem to be solved. The city is a gift of common grace, and its inhabitants are sons and daughters of the Most High God. Leading in this environment is truly a privilege. 

Diverse Neighborhoods In Pittsburgh

One of my favorite things about living in a city like Pittsburgh is that it has so many different neighborhoods. There's a lot of diversity in the people and places that occupy the different neighborhoods. From one street to the next it seems like there is something or someone new and interesting around every corner. This is true whether I am walking around in Homewood where I live, in East Liberty where I lead a church, or in any number of the surrounding neighborhoods like Squirrel Hill or Point Breeze.

Many people look as cities as problems to be solved, choosing to focus on what's wrong with neighborhoods instead of what's right. It's tempting to want to flee things like crime and systemic brokenness. However, followers of Jesus should learn to see cities as gifts of common grace. I don't pretend like there's nothing wrong with my city, and I am actively working to take on big issues like violence and racism. Still, I love to look at the assets in the neighborhoods that surround my urban existence.

God is teaching me to love my city. I'm learning to love the people and the places that make up my diverse urban environment. I'm doing my best to lead the people at the church I happen to lead to love one another well and to love their city. I love participating in God's redemptive mission in Pittsburgh. 

Building Relationships in the City

There was a significant snow storm in Pittsburgh last night, so I was surprised when our doorbell rang right in the middle of an intense period of the storm. Turns out it was a young man that we've grown close to over the years. He lives in Homewood, and he was walking back to his house after walking to a store to get some basic groceries. He and his brothers have become like family to us since their mom died a few years ago. They are all welcome to stop by to see us at any time, so that's what Will did last night. He just stopped in to visit, to catch up on life, to tell some stories about he and his brothers, and to ask us how we're doing. There is nothing forced about our relationship. It's just doing life together. And that is the subtle progress of incarnational urban ministry.

The slow process of transformation in our part of the city happens through relationships that are built over time... one life on one life... one family with another family... our paths intersect and Jesus accomplishes amazing things. Relationships win out over programs any day. Relationships will last for eternity... relationships with God, and, as a result, relationships with one another. There are no quick fixes when it comes to the complexities of the urban environment. Dramatic improvements are few and far between. I'm thankful for the little signs of hope that I get to experience on a seemingly daily basis, and I'm thankful for the people that God has brought into my life.

The Power of Strong Friendships

Julie and I had the opportunity to get away from Pittsburgh for a few days this week. We love the ministry that we are a part of in Pittsburgh, but sometimes it's good to get away for a little while to clear our heads. For this particular reprieve, we visited our good friends, Tim and Flora Parsley, who happen to live in Fort Wayne, Indiana. They were amazing hosts. The time was filled with great conversations and fun together with our families. We first became friends with them in our early twenties, and so it was exciting to see that friendship pick up in our late thirties even though we are separated by many miles. Our hearts were full when we left Fort Wayne to make the long drive back to Pittsburgh.

Many things in this life come and go. There are a lot of ups and downs. Relationships remain. This is especially true in urban ministry. Ministry in the midst of a city can be filled with tremendous break throughs and stinging set backs. Life seems to be magnified in the city. God's redemptive mission remains unchanged, and God's redemptive mission is relational. In other words, we need a strong relationship with God to persevere. And, we need strong relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ who are willing to lock arms with us. It hurts when people break fellowship with me, and it is amazing when people show unconditional love by hanging in there with me. I have been blessed with many incredible friendships on this journey through life. I'm looking forward to what this coming year has to offer because of the amazing people who are running the race with me. 

An Update on Pastor Freedom

I spent some time with Pastor Freedom this afternoon. His recovery from the surgery to remove cancer in his leg is going very well. The physical therapy is progressing nicely, as he has been using a walker to take walks in the hallway outside his hospital room two times a day. He is still waiting to hear back from the doctors about whether or not he is cancer free or if he will need additional radiation or chemotherapy. Hopefully he will be released from the hospital tomorrow, and then he will spend a week or so in a hospital facility that specializes in rehabilitation and physical therapy. If that goes well, he'll be home for Christmas with his family. He's really looking forward to that! Free and the kids are doing well, also. This family is impacting many people with their testimony of trusting God in the midst of intense trials. Please continue to lift them up in prayer through this period of physical therapy over the next three or four months.

Baptizing Tyrone

Tonight I have the opportunity to baptize one of my good friends at the All Campus Worship Night at North Way Wexford. It's happening because North Way has an incredible "go" strategy... we're opening up North Way locations all around the city of Pittsburgh in both suburban and urban areas. I lead the East End location in the urban environment of East Liberty, and that's where I first met Tyrone. He was homeless when I first met him, and he happened to find our church. We welcomed him into our church family, and he has been on a dramatic process of transformation since we first met. He has dedicated his life to God. He is so passionate about Jesus, and he invites a constant stream of his friends to our church.

About two months ago, Tyrone nearly died. His kidneys failed while he was staying the night at a local shelter, and he had to be rushed to a local hospital. The doctors saved his life that night, and he has been on a slow process of care and recovery since then. Tyrone desperately needs a kidney transplant, so his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ have been encouraging him and helping him navigate through the process of dialysis and obtaining insurance so that he doesn't slip through the cracks of our society. He is hoping to be able to return to work soon, to be able to rent an apartment by Christmas, and he hopes to be able to help out more at the church.

I've grown to love Tyrone as a brother in Christ. He looks much different than me... he's African-American, he has tattoos all over his body and his face that are the obvious signs of a tough life. He has persevered through a difficult life of gangs, drugs, and eventually homelessness. He's looked death in the face, and he has come out on the other side with a new outlook on life where he wants to share Jesus with as many people as possible in the short time that he has on this earth. He currently reaches many people with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ that I would ordinarily have a difficult time reaching.

Tyrone has spent his life on the margins of mainstream society in America, and God is now working through him to reach other marginalized people. He is giving so many people hope. He gives me hope. My life has been changed forever because of my friendship with Tyrone. God is indeed close to the brokenhearted. God's grace is found in its most abundant forms in people like Tyrone. I can't believe I have the privilege of baptizing him tonight. God is so good!