On Cross-Cultural Mission at Home, Part Two

I’m grateful for the many positive comments I received from my previous message about cross-cultural mission at home. So with your indulgence, I’d like to provide a second installment.

Last night I led the pre-game team devotions for the Pittsburgh Passion, a women’s full contact football team. They ended up extending their unbeaten streak to twenty games by dismantling the team from Columbus, 54-6. This is Pittsburgh, after all. Sure, Detroit can take the Stanley Cup away from us, and the Pirates struggle to stay out of the basement of their division. But when it comes to football, we mean business. But who knows? Maybe the players were inspired by my prayer and message with them.

According to the team website, game parking is permitted in a church parking lot beside the stadium. However, my wife and I discovered that this information is out of date. In fact, we were informed of this fact rather sternly by a woman from the church who marched over to our car when we parked. Parking is only for people coming to their church service, we were told. So, with a brief apology, we left.

Now, to this (non-Presbyterian) church’s defense, they are located in a Pittsburgh neighborhood that’s renowned for its lively nightlife. So they’ve probably experienced more than their share of grief at the hands of out-of-control revelers. At the same time, however, I wonder about the effectiveness of their presence in the community, if their response to two strangers pulling into their parking lot, just in time for the Saturday evening service, is to tell them that they’re not welcome. Have they ever considered the opportunities they have for mission, based on the fortune of their location? In addition to the Passion women’s team, Pittsburgh public school football games are played in the same stadium, right next door to their church. Do they do anything to welcome the students and fans before or after the games? Have they thought about how to interact with the people who clog their streets and sidewalks every weekend on their way between the theaters, clubs, bars and restaurants, other than to make sure none of them use their parking lot? Based on what we saw last night, I don’t think so. I wonder how many of our Presbyterian congregations in similar situations do much better.