Urban Church,Global City: Iglesia Evangelica Presbiteriana en Chile

5/23

Leaders of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Chile

The Evangelical Church in Chile had its origins in a church schism that grew in the Chilean Presbyterian Church as some members began to feel the church  as an institution was not only not resisting the Pinochet junta, but had actually entered into  collaboration with its dreaded security apparatus. Perhaps not just out of fear, but out of a theological perspective regarding authority and order. (And perhaps even economic privilege.) Kind of like a Chilean version of the schism in the US Presbyterian Church over slavery on the eve of the Civil War. 

Out of that schism came a "creed" that reads like a southern hemisphere Barmen declaration.  In similar fashion, it declares allegiance  only to the authority of Jesus Christ. (I fear we are in a day and time when we need to pay close attention to such confessional statements.) The emerging IEPeCh found itself without a great store of money or property. There were no funds to pay full time pastors and few buildings. There were however, hardworking people. Mine managers, engineers and miners. Educators, musicians, health care workers. Like the Iglesia Jesus Fuente de Esperanza  in Vallerna,

Iglesia Jesus Fuente de Esperanza, Vallenar

they would build a future cement block by cement block.

Pastor Charles Escobar

Pastor Charles Escobar

is a classic example of an IEPeCh pastor. With a long career in mining, he came to his call to ministry through the discernment of his congregation. He became a second career "tent maker" in addition to his "day job". His calling was confirmed  through his wife's miraculous recovery from a life threatening health crisis. Their testimonies are profoundly moving stories of faith and healing. He has a quiet pride in the steady growth of his church with  a new education wing, fellowship area and expanding sanctuary. All built themselves with their own hands and resources. 

Vallenar itself is nestled in the heart of the Atacama Desert, it's Mars like landscape the driest place on earth. The most impressive buildings in town are the mine headquarters, the mine workers health, recreation and cultural facilities and the new hospital.  There are surprisingly few international franchise restaurants, only  a Subway. Also, no visible signs of homeless people living on the street. The city closes early on a Saturday night. On an overlook leading to the middle/working class barrio above el centro, the lights of new condos for the business and professional class sparkle and dance in the night.

It is to Vallenar the leaders of the IEPeCh have travelled from south of Santiago to close to the Peruvian border, some traveling  overnight as much as eleven hours to spend a day in a workshop on urban ministry. The workshop had been billed as urban evangelism and as much as faithful witness is a form of evangelism, that specific expression of ministry is not my calling. I am able to fairly quickly finesse that, however.

Ready for the workshop

We began by speaking of the importance of context, how every theology comes from a context. How faithful ministry responds to our context, seeking to transform the individual and society. We spoke of the current trends in global urban ministry, including:

* The movement of people from the country to the city.
* Rapidly growing income inequality and its corollaries
- Gentrification
- The growth of shanty towns on the margins of cities
* The impact of migration and resulting tension around multi-cultural and multi-religious concerns. We noted that in South America, migration is primarily an internal issue, that is most migrants come from other South American countries.
* The increasing globalization of the economy.

Each of these in their own way impact the Chilean context, but to these the IEPeCh leaders added the ongoing exodus of their youth. 

A primary focus of the conversation was seeking to discern the unique role of an historic church in the reformed tradition  in a  (still) Roman Catholic dominated culture with a rapidly growing Pentecostal presence. There was a strong feeling that our greatest gift is in a word, democracy. Meaning how our way of understanding the world and our ecclesiastical polity plus our sense of stewardship makes us unique witnesses for democracy in civil society. 

We worked on unique aspects of a theology for the city,

Hard at work

including a sense that more work needs to be done in the area of theology of built environment, what we build, where and how. How we exegete a city visually. How church steeples were once the tallest points of the city, now replaced by towers of business and commerce. 

We concluded with working on methods of determining what we wanted to do in response to what we had discovered. We used techniques drawn from classic community organizing, relationship based, built on intentional conversations. The different Presbytery groups each worked on their own commitments. 

Some congregations have already been involved with ministries of compassion and there has been (successful) coalitional work on issues of safe water in the mining region. There is also a sense that the current crisis in the Roman Catholic Church, about abuse and silence, opens up new opportunities for witness.

One woman elder, however, was very insistent on wanting to know how we, the historic protestant denominations, had failed. As we reflected on this question, we concluded that it had to do with making survival more important than faithfulness. Finances and risk management more important than risking leaps of faith.

The IEPeCh has not been, nor will be, a radical church. It is, however, a faithful church that takes following Jesus seriously. They are evangelical classic as opposed to neoEvangelical. While gently pietist, they are also aware of their calling as stewards. It is such communities  that have the strength to resist tyranny and oppression. It is such communities we need today.

The good Deacons of the host congregation provided us with good food and hospitality all day long. A true tribute to Pastor Escobar and the congregation. As dinner came to a close, there was music and song,

playing for the people

traditional songs, songs of faith, songs of Violeta Parra.

sharing music

One by one the groups would prepare to leave and make the long journey home. For a day, the far flung family had been together ...working, worshipping, sharing in fellowship.  What it means to be church.