"...the very people we are called to serve are required to provide the support for the ones who serve them" -Pastor John Girton (pictured with members of the community.)
Pastor John Girton, Jr. and his wife left Indianapolis nearly 20 years ago, living in various cities. Although the news reports he would read about his hometown reflected growth, economic development and prosperity, what he found when he moved back seven years ago was that those stories weren't entirely true. "I noticed Indy was two cities. It was the one I saw on television and the other was crumbling streets, countless vacant homes, high homicide rates and escalating unemployment, among other ills." Most importantly, he saw a community that was invisible.
"Pastor G" as he is known by his church family, felt compelled to advocate for his community and thought of a simple way to begin change—camp out in a tent on 30th and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Streets. He, along with members of his church spent 30 days simply listening to people from the community. What they heard led to the Unite For Change initiative to equip emerging leaders from under-resourced urban communities with the platform, information and resources to turn their neighborhoods around.
Last week Jim and I had a great lunch with Pastor G who is senior pastor of the Christ Missionary Baptist Church of Indianapolis and former executive director of the Indiana Healthy Marriage and Family Coalition. He's also instructed students at Ball State, Tennessee State University and Vanderbilt University and is preparing to pursue his PhD. So what's a man with all those various credentials doing in a small but historic church in one of the toughest neighborhoods in town? Put simply: He's trying to do his part.
In years past his father and later his uncle served for many years as pastors in the same community. His uncle serving the same church John now heads. But John is young and strong and brings talents to the job that no prior pastor has had. Pastor G is a communicator. One of his greatest challenges—outside of the need to replace a $100,000 roof on the old, but beautiful building his church inhabits, and dealing with the deaths of parishioners and neighbors who are the targets of local violence—is the stress he experiences trying to support those around him and at the same time be the leader and breadwinner of his family.
He resonates with other pastors in the urban community on this issue and laments the burnout and early exit of those who simply are unable to shoulder the burden for the years it takes to make lasting improvements in their neighborhoods. In a magazine he puts out simply called Forward, he wrote:
I see the inner city as a place similar to any other mission field throughout the world, ...with challenges that mirror third-world countries. Yet those who carry the banner in these communities aren't commonly supported with missionary dollars [as they are in foreign ministries.] The prevailing methodology of urban ministry is that the very people we are called to serve are required to provide the support for the ones who serve them regardless of the fact that they themselves are in [need of assistance.]"
When we talked with him during our lunch last week, we left wondering how long he can hold out. How long will it take for him to be forced to leave our local mission field in order to support his family? He runs from a meeting with city leaders about the potential redevelopment of vacant buildings in his neighborhood, to the bed-side of parishioners. He puts out a magazine aimed at communicating a message of hope to the local readers and organizes classes in budgeting and finance. He uses FaceBook to spread the word about a company that is hiring locally, and meets with those who determine transportation options so his folks can get to their jobs, and... and...and. All the while writing and delivering sermons, and managing the business of the church.
So, are we going to lose Pastor Girton like we've lost so many other amazing charities and church leaders in the past? Or will we support them like we do so many missions on the other side of the world? This is what UNITE INDY has been formed to do. To join hands with our inner city bothers and sisters, to raise funds for the work here at home, to mobilize volunteers, to find the expertise needed by local ministries so that we can take the momentum of all the Pastor Gs in this city and sustain them until their work is done. This is our job, this is our calling. No matter how long it takes.
Blessings,
Nancy
