Stories of transformation
Westminster Presbyterian Church
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
by Steve Boots
Five years ago Westminster Presbyterian Church in Sioux Falls,
South Dakota, had ninety-five members and averaged 40 persons
attending worship. Today they have a membership of 422 and
average 300 in worship.
The first step was to bring their church
and a Korean church, together as one, to build a multicultural
congregation with a strong Korean influence. But God had
other plans. They actually grew more diverse in an African
American and Native American context with Koreans as well
as other diverse cultures. Val Putnam, Co-Pastor of Westminster
stated, “Our sign in
front of the church indicated a worship time for Koreans, which
drew a response from persons that were looking for a church
open to something different. They felt invited.”
We asked Val “What has your congregation
done to grow spiritually?” “The center part of
the church has been its diverse worship style that was open
to diversity. The congregation spends a lot of time on these
services and it is continually different. We have an African
American and Korean children’s choir and some of the
college age students have done worship dance that is part of
the Korean church culture. We hold a quarterly healing service
in addition to the regular service. At the installation service
for the Korean pastor we were able to use a Serbian Orthodox
dance group, that is part of a local congregation that used
Westminster as their home while they were finding a new building.”
This
congregation has seen something happening in their congregation
and they want to be involved. It is an exciting time for them.
They have a ministry with a group home for disabled adults
not far from the church. This has been one their greatest challenges
and accomplishments. Many of the members assist these adults
in wheelchairs into the church from the group home located
just down the street from the church.
An elder was recently quoted as saying: “You know if
you join Westminster Presbyterian Church, that you are going
to be “tapped on the shoulder” to do some kind
of ministry very quickly.” This initial “tap on
the shoulder” has been a strengthening for them. They
are very intentional to connect to those visitors and new members
and to help them make their fit. For example there were 60
congregants who helped in planning a special homecoming service
together.
Val Putnam believes that evangelism
begins at the front door. Visitors are welcomed warmly from
greeters, ushers and leaders. A lot of visitors have come
simply from word of mouth, from other members. A greeter
or usher will visit a prospective visitor at their home with
a loaf of bread. The Rev. Putnam visits after someone has joined
the church and then is able to “tap
them on the shoulder” and place them in a direction of
ministry in which they will fit or be comfortable.
The key to the success of this congregation is empowerment
of the lay leaders. There is no micro management of the leadership
and they are able to go beyond the norm with a lot of support.
Rev. Putnam stated that one of the
most exciting things for her has been the spiritual growth
of the lay leadership. The congregation has stepped up and
been open to the diversity of the community. The congregation
found out that the Korean pastor was earning a very small
wage in his ministry and it became a social justice issue
for them. They took some ownership in that. They wanted to
hire him as an evangelist. “When
the stranger had a face and became a person, they were more
open to the diversity.”
A significant element to their success has
been an MDRC grant to help them in a time of transformation.
The Rev. Putnam has also attended some congregational transformation
training including the Churchwide National Transformation Conference.
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