A City Church Moving Back Into the City

     The Church of the Nazarene started as a city church. My Nazarene friends have probably heard those stories multiple times, about how our founder Phineas Bresee started the Church of the Nazarene in downtown Los Angeles.
    A story you may not know, is how that same Phineas Bresee traveled to Hammond, Indiana in 1906 to declare a church established there, prior to the Church of the Nazarene being the Church of the Nazarene. This was truly a church of the city, though the city of Hammond 1906 was vastly different than the city of Hammond 2014.
    That first church in Hammond grew and it planted a church on the southern side of the city called "Woodlawn Church of the Nazarene". The church was started in 1933 with the church building being built later. This is a picture of the Woodlawn church, located on the corner of Woodlawn and 171st in Hammond.





    Hammond First Church however, combined with the Woodlawn church in the late 80's due to crime in the City. Eventually this new church also moved joining another congregation. This leaving the city can be seen in multiple places throughout the country. The Church of the Nazarene went from a church of the city, to a church of the suburbs.
     There is much more to this history, closings, church plants, mergers, but at current there are 0 church of the Nazarene's in the City of Hammond, a city of nearly 80,000 people.
    A lot of speculation can be made for why churches move out of cities, a lot of blame and finger pointing can happen, and none of that is helpful or kingdom building. The reality we are faced with, is a city with great need. There is a city full of people in need of people to reveal where the Kingdom of God is at work, and the ways they can partner with that kingdom.
     You may have guessed this already, but the above "Woodlawn CotN" is now "The Mission Church of the Nazarene". It's gone through many facets, and many changes as a building. It's housed a variety of people and had multiple identities, but the truth is that a building is not what makes a church, people are.
     Walking through an empty old building with stained glass windows reminds us all the more, that this is not the church, God's people are the church. Buildings come and go, identities for that building come and go, but God has not abandoned the city. The prevenient grace of the Holy Spirit is moving. We can sense it, we can see it.
    Our prayer for The Mission Church, and how it got it's name, is that it would be a place for people to come and find healing, hope and grace, AND that we would be a people joining God on His mission to the world. That we would be a congregation who thinks outside of itself, that looks outward; that the walls of the church building are just a way to keep out the elements and not a barrier that would keep us contained, for we are the church, and wherever we go, the church goes too. We have a great mission for the people of the city of Hammond. We do not walk alone, we do not work alone, for we know that God has been on a mission for a long time, long before Hammond First Church ever met in 1906, God was seeking to reconcile His people to Himself.
    We seek to bring the Church of the Nazarene back to the city, but more than that, we seek to bring people back to the heart of God. There is no greater mission than to partner with the Missio Dei to bring about the redemption and reconciliation of all creation.
     May the Mission Church of the Nazarene partner well with the Missio Dei and may the prevenient grace of the Holy Spirit permeate the city of Hammond. This is our prayer.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2014. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.

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