The Presence of Providence
- Joyce West, Grace Fellowship Community Church
Stay put. Pay attention. Engage the folks in front of you. These are three characteristics, according to author Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, of a community that dwells together in God's presence, and mediates His presence to the world around them. We rejoiced to see a model of this in our city as a group of us from Grace Fellowship and Redeemer Community churches visited Providence Baptist Church during one of our summer Urban Adventures. Providence, a predominantly African-American congregation emphasizing lives rooted in scripture, has "stayed put" in its Bayview location for 65 years. "Paying attention" to demographic changes in recent years, as significant numbers of African-Americans have moved away to be replaced by Asian and immigrant populations, Providence is seeking to be known not as a "Black church", but as a church that desires to express God's love to all people. For them, this means caring for the community around them. To help with this endeavor of "engaging the folks in front of them", the church has established Providence Foundation, a non-profit organization that orchestrates much of the work in the community.
This work addresses a broad spectrum of concerns, as we learned from our host G.L. Hodge, Providence's church administrator. G.L. led us on a tour of the church facilities, describing the many ministries they house. In one room, we visited a summer camp serving children from the community. The camp's theme was "family" and children were invited, through stories, crafts and other activities to recognize the people who make up their families, and to see family as God's provision for their care. In addition to providing space for the camp, we learned that, at night, this room serves as shelter for 25 homeless women and their families. Similarly, the church's beautiful full court gymnasium shelters 150 homeless men, in addition to providing recreational space for the community's youth. We popped into a kitchen adjacent to the gym, which is used to prepare hot meals to community members who might otherwise go hungry. G.L. also took us to meet the Providence Foundation staff at their offices. There we learned about food distribution services, affordable senior housing, services for families in crisis, support for people rehabilitating from drug addiction, support for people who have been incarcerated, and job/leadership development for the community's youth.
Providence is dedicated to extending these services to all people in the community, regardless of background or personal history, as an expression of God's love for them. But this is not always a smooth operation. Noting a couple of instances where interracial tensions have arisen between African-American and Asian community members, G.L. was able to relate stories describing how Providence's housing and food distribution programs have turned out to be places where God's reconciliation is being worked out. Giving the credit to God's presence among them, G.L. told us how one Asian program participant dismissed media portrayals of the Bayview as a bad neighborhood that was unsafe for Asians, remarking, "I'd rather be here than lots of places in the city. I feel perfectly safe here because you take such good care of me".
While Providence seeks to stay put, pay attention, and care for the folks around them, they are aware that they can't do this alone. Providence invites other congregations to join them in expressing God's heart to their community. Redeemer Community Church, for example, regularly sends volunteers to prepare and serve meals as participants in Providence programs. Providence also invites volunteers from the community, many of whom have no other affiliation with the Church. G.L. explained that volunteers are trained to reject worldly values and serve with the same high standards of fairness, love and humility practiced within the church, "because when you volunteer, you're representing Providence, and Providence is representing God" to the community. In this way, many from outside the church are invited to "come and see" and participate in God's redemptive work in the community.
In a similar manner, much of Providence Foundation's work is done in very close partnerships with city government agencies. In fact, the City often seeks out Providence when it needs a venue to provide services in the Bayview because of the high caliber of their care for the community, and because of their fiscal integrity and transparency. As church administrator for Providence, G.L. plays a pivotal role in keeping the work of Providence Foundation tethered to the vision and mission of the church. And he seems to find great joy in seeing the church living out its mission is a way that invites the community to meet the risen Christ. It was a great privilege to see what God is doing and to pray with G.L. and the staff for the work that God will continue to do to bring hope and wholeness to the Bayview.
Just the beginning
Welcome to the GRIDD. Whether you want to learn more about the city, see how God is at work in and through His Church, or to simply catch up with what we’re up to and what we’re thinking about these days, we want the GRIDD to be of service.