Rachel Boehm Van Harmelen
July 2005
Mention the word "retreat" and people usually conjure up images of lakeside cottages, a lodge in the woods, babbling brooks and wind through trees. Retreats are usually about city people heading to the country. When members of the Urban Ministry in the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) Peer Learning Group leave for a retreat, however, their destination may be a little surprising. Instead of heading out past the suburbs, they lodge themselves in the heart of a big city.
Now in its second year, this peer learning group received its start-up funding from the CRC's Sustaining Pastoral Excellence program, made possible through a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. The group's initial goals were ambitious, including organizing a major conference for urban churches. "It took us awhile to work through which of our goals we could accomplish," says group leader Rev. John Algera, pastor of Madison Avenue CRC in Paterson, New Jersey. "It quickly became evident that all of us have all we can do to carve out 24 hours (plus travel) to meet together and trying to keep records and plan a large conference was beyond our reach."
Instead, the group decided to focus on learning and building relationships. "We have grown closer and learned from each other's failures and successes. We minister to each other, share God's word, pray for each other and connect to one another. Some of our group have felt more disconnected to other urban pastors in the CRC than others and, for them, this has provided a significant encouragement and connection."
Their city-centre retreats represent times of spiritual growth, worship and prayer. "We retreat to the city to hear from God," Algera says. "We pray over the cities from the 'high places.'" In fact, Algera and his group have prayed from the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Empire State Building in New York City and the CN Tower in Toronto. "We pray walking together in each city," says Algera. "Our goal is to deepen our awareness of God's presence in the city."
From left to right: John A. Algera, James LaGrand, Sheila Holmes, Tim Douma, Fred Witteveen, DA Crushson. Not pictured: Emmett Harrison and Anthony Van Zanten.
Algera and his team-eight urban pastors from New York, Chicago, Toronto and Cleveland-also use their time in the cities to learn from seasoned urban pastors. In New York they spent time with Rev. Eugene Callender, the first African American pastor ordained in the CRC. Now in his eighties, Callender is pastoring a Presbyterian church in Harlem.
In Chicago, they met with Rev. Pedro Aviles, pastor of Grace & Peace Fellowship, reflecting on the changing demographics of urban communities, where many of the poor are being pushed out of the city's downtown core to the suburbs. "What does this mean for a local church?" says Algera. "Does the church move with the poor or plant a new church and change its focus to the middle class who is moving in?"
Asking tough questions is on this group's agenda-and for a good reason. Urban ministry has changed, and urban pastors must respond to these new realities. "There is no longer any one model for urban ministry but a limitless menu of creative and ever growing models," explains Algera. "There is no longer one economic or ethnic focus. Urban ministry crosses all ethnic and economic lines."
The group is heading into its second year with a clearer focus and a better appreciation for the support they get-and need-from each other. "I am a better person and pastor because of the interaction I have had with others in my peer group," Algera says. "Proverbs 27:17 says that, as iron sharpens iron, so we sharpen one another. In our peer group, we have sharpened each other and that affects what kind of parents, husbands and pastors we are."
Algera also notes that the benefits of the peer group extend beyond the pastors themselves to their churches-and the entire denomination. "My council is glad that I am able to be part of a group like this and willing to learn from others as well as them learning from me," Algera says. What these pastors learn about urban ministry will no doubt shape urban ministry in the years to come, preparing leaders to take on the challenges of ministry in some of North America's biggest cities.
