I've spent the past six months on a leadership team for a new worship gathering at our church (www.fpcsd.org), and we have wrestled with the question of how/ where/ when to encounter the people who spend time downtown. We opened up the chapel for worship on Sunday nights. A few people wandered in, usually because they were looking for another church that they couldn't find. We tried to invite people in from the sidewalk, but most were on their way to somewhere else.
I should note that none of us leading this service actually lives downtown. Ironic, right? Most of us feel strongly that we are in our respective neighborhoods for a reason, and to be honest, we share some perplexity at why God has asked us to be involved in revitalization of a downtown congregation. But there we are, trying to figure out how to connect with people, and it dawns on us: we need to walk.
In our situation, the reasons are several-fold. We need to get outside the walls of church and stop assuming that people will come to us. We need to see who the people around the neighborhood really are. Sure, there's the assumption and perception that we're set up centrally as a resource for people who are homeless (the San Diego Rescue Mission is less than 3 blocks away). We could hope that some law students might drift in (Cal-Western law school, 2 blocks down the hill). But we don't really know until we get out there. Who else is walking around? Where are they going? What kind of time do they have?
But as I've thought about walking over the past few weeks, mulling on why we should do it this way, I usually come back to a very simple insight: Jesus walked. Jesus walked a lot. If he wasn't on a boat, many of his significant moments of ministry came on foot. He encountered people who needed him, people who interrupted his plans, people who caused him sorrow, and people who threw parties with him. That is what I hope and pray will happen as we walk in the coming weeks.
What I am NOT implying is that this is what everyone everywhere should do always. No. We discerned walking as a way for us to be present and learn God's heart in a neighborhood where we don't live day by day. (Though as much as some people are at the church, it could feel like living there! And I do highly recommend walking in the place where you do live. It is a crucial - and favorite - spiritual practice for me.) Who knows, after a month, or after 8 months, our task may change. Strategies should change as you become more familiar with a people and place. In other words, dwelling is a process, whether the context is a college campus, an urban neighborhood, life in Christ, or a forest grove. There are initial steps, often different from later ones. Sometimes those steps are literal ones, so we lace up our shoes, and ask Jesus to teach us how to walk.