Inner-city congregation battles presbytery to keep ministry alive
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, April 28, 2004
The Presbyterian Church (USA) has a policy of trying to increase ethnic/minority congregations in the denomination, but try to explain that to the members of an inner-city church in Gary, Ind.
They are about to lose their church building because the Presbytery of Wabash doesn’t believe they have enough members – or money – to keep it going.
On Tuesday, the presbytery voted to establish an administrative commission to explore survival options for First United Presbyterian Church, which was once all-white but has become a 95-percent black congregation.
Before the meeting, members and friends of First United rallied outside, protesting what the presbytery had already done – leasing the large building to the Assemblies of God for $5 a year. They carried signs saying, “We are Presbyterians, too” and “Thirty pieces of silver for Jesus and $5 for FUPC.”
Calvin Hawkins, a lawyer, member of First United and a commissioned lay pastor in the presbytery, was one of those seeking to continue the Presbyterian presence at Sixth and Monroe in Gary’s inner-city.
In an interview with The Layman Online, Hawkins, 59, who has a theology degree as well as a law degree, said First United is the last stand for mainline Protestants in Gary’s inner-city. The congregation once had 1,500 members, but white flight from the inner-city decimated the ranks.
Today, there are fewer than 100 members, but the building has not downsized. Still, the ministry – until recently – had been fairly vibrant, including an evangelical outreach to youth.
Hawkins believes the problems between the presbytery and the congregation are both financial and theological. The presbytery had been subsidizing the youth ministry to the tune of about $20,000 a year.
The transition began in the 1960s.
“When I came to the area in 1974, the congregation was about 70 percent black and 30 percent white,” he said. “It was probably down to 300 to 400. Herb Valentine was the pastor.”
Valentine, a former moderator of the General Assembly and retired executive of the Presbytery of Baltimore, is an outspoken liberal. The congregation declined further under his leadership.
By the 1980s, membership declined to about 200, Hawkins said. Today, it’s about 100, but many are elderly and cannot attend. Still, Hawkins said, the congregation is significant.
“It’s the only ever predominantly black church in the Wabash Presbytery,” he said. “It’s the only congregation in the presbytery that has a significant outreach in the inner-city: clothing, a lunch ministry and arcade games for young people.”
The most ambitious ministry was probably the arcade games for children. Hawkins and others scrounged up donations to buy the games. About 50-60 youth came to the church to play the games and take part in a Bible study. He said more than 20 made decisions for Christ.
When it cut a deal with the Assemblies of God, the presbytery ordered the congregation to cease its youth ministry, contending that the area being used in the church was not safe because it didn’t meet current fire regulations.
However, the Assemblies of God was allowed to use that same space for its own ministry. Hawkins and other members of the church complained several times to the presbytery without getting any results.
Finally, he said, the elders at First United changed the locks so that the Assemblies of God couldn’t use that portion of the church.
The agreement between the Assemblies of God and the presbytery does allow the members of First United to conduct worship services weekly at the church for 10 years, but they must pay extra for funerals and weddings.
Hawkins served as commissioned lay pastor of the congregation for several years. In 1994, the session established a Pastor Nominating Committee to search for a minister of Word and Sacrament. It finally succeeded in 1998. But that’s when the trouble with the presbytery increased.
“In Herb Valentine’s day, the presbytery would always give mission support to that church,” Hawkins said. “When the most recent minister of Word and Sacrament came, they said they would cut all mission funding. That had a rippling effect.
“We felt missing funding was part of the total package. Everything in that church was mission. When the utilities started to get high, we had to use some of those funds to pay the bills. When that funding was cut and everything started to escalate, we had to rob Peter to pay Paul.
“It got to the point of either keeping the doors open or losing the pastor. The pastor resigned in December 2003, insisting that the bills be paid to keep the doors open.”
Hawkins looks at the situation in terms of what he calls the “but” theology. “Scripture tells me I am to love my neighbor, ‘but’ I can’t love my neighbor; he was nasty to me. Scripture tells me to feed the poor, ‘but” we barely have enough money for ourselves. Scripture tells me that Jesus is Lord, ‘but’ there’s always other Gods. The Word of God says that as Christians, we are to do such and such, ‘but’ as Presbyterians we are to give away our ministry.”
The Wabash Presbytery’s deal to pull out of the inner-city ministry in Gary was one of those “buts,” Hawkins says.
The decision by the presbytery to appoint an administrative commission leaves the congregation’s future in limbo, “but” presbytery executive Sue Berry said Tuesday, “We will partner with the group of faithful people in Gary so they can carry forward their rich heritage. We will partner with them to figure out their future.”