Transforming Ministries
By Cristina Bolling

It was lunchtime during the first week of Ben Alexander’s summer field education placement in Charlotte, N.C. As he finished his plate of fried chicken at Trinity’s Table, a free-lunch program at South Tryon Community Church, he asked the man seated next to him how his day was going.

On a busy Sunday morning in July, Ben Alexander (left) and Robert Ewusie Moses leave Myers Park United Methodist Church for South Tryon Community Church. Moses had preached at Myers Park earlier that morning, and Alexander was to preach later that day at South Tryon. It would be the second sermon of Alexander's life.

“I’m having a hard time,” the man said. His problems spilled out.

His name was Ronnie and he had been in prison. Now that he was out, he was scared he might land himself back there again. He was ashamed.

Alexander asked Ronnie if he wanted to talk in the quiet sanctuary. There, the two talked about Ronnie’s troubles and discussed a passage from Mark. Then Alexander asked Ronnie to close in prayer.

Ronnie looked at him with surprise, as though nobody had ever asked him to contribute in that way. With tears streaming down his face, he offered one of the most beautiful prayers Alexander had ever heard.

Walking out, Alexander promised to pray for Ronnie, and he asked Ronnie to pray for him.

This became one of the summer’s biggest challenges for Alexander and fellow student Robert Ewusie Moses: to convince members of South Tryon Community Church, located in one of the poorest African-American neighborhoods in Charlotte, that they had valuable gifts worthy of giving.

A study in contrasts

Alexander and Moses, both master of divinity students in the class of 2008, spent 12 weeks in an unusual internship-one that blended work in one of the city’s richest neighborhoods and one of the poorest.

Both were assigned to the wealthy Myers Park United Methodist Church, as well as to South Tryon Community Church, located in the midst of three public housing projects. This arrangement was one of more than 200 summer placements organized by The Divinity School’s Office of Field Education. Putting classroom theory into practice in churches or other ministry placements-whether a prison, homeless shelter or hospital-is an essential part of the curriculum. Two placements are required for the master of divinity; one for the master of church ministry degree.

In 2001, the congregation at Myers Park United Methodist purchased a vacant church building on South Tryon Street with the hope of reviving a congregation in the neighborhood. It worked.

Ben Alexander joins hands and prays with members of South Tryon Community Church after worship.

Charlie Rivens, the frank-talking and spirited pastor who leads South Tryon, welcomes about 100 worshippers at 11 a.m. each Sunday. The church provides community programs including camps for neighborhood children, prisoner re-entry support, and free hot lunches three days a week.

It usually takes 15 years to forge close bonds between two congregations, says Kathy Mansfield, a Myers Park member who leads the advisory board of trustees for South Tryon Community Church. While work remains to be done, she says Alexander’s and Moses’ efforts have made the relationship “stronger than it was before.”

“When I see people like Ben and Robert, I feel very hopeful for the future of the church,” says James Howell, who is the senior pastor at Myers Park and mentored the students during their internships. “They have such humility, a kindness, a real quiet strength.”

Miles apart, worlds away

Less than four miles apart, the Myers Park and South Tryon neighborhoods seem worlds away. Mercedes and BMWs are common in Myers Park, where the average house costs more than $500,000. In the South Tryon neighborhood, many residents are lucky to own a car.

Moses challenges youth from South Tryon Community Church and Myers Park UMC at a youth revival. The week-long event at Tryon Community Church culminated in a Saturday gathering at a local park that drew more than 100 people.

Myers Park continues to contribute most of the funding for South Tryon. A mentoring program pairs high school students from Myers Park with younger South Tryon congregants. The two churches have joined forces for mission trips.

But Moses and Alexander wanted the relationship to be closer.

They started a Monday lunchtime Bible study at South Tryon and invited adults from both congregations to attend.

Moses led teens from both churches on two mission trips during the summer; one to Biloxi, Miss., the other to Houston, Texas.

He organized and led a four-day revival in July for youth from both churches, and he oversaw a camp for children featuring local artists and musicians.

Moses worries about the South Tryon kids, some of whom he fears feel they have nothing to contribute to society. He worries they’ll end up like so many others in their neighborhood, on drugs or in jail.

“For the most part, Myers Park has been on the giving end. They donate, they fund,” Moses says. “It is very difficult (for South Tryon) to always be on the receiving end.

“Part of my struggle was to get folks from Myers Park to feel they can receive things from South Tryon.”

At first, Moses couldn’t get past the disparities during the seven-minute drive between the two churches.

“It sometimes leads to feelings of bitterness and depression,” he wrote family and friends. Later, he came to a realization.

“It doesn’t help to complain,” says Moses. “You just have to get out there and work.”

Learning by Doing

Robert Moses leads young people at the youth revival he organized at South Tryon. The revival gave youth from both churches a chance to pray and sing together over five nights in July.

At Myers Park, Ben Alexander learned the roles and ministries of 30-some staff members. He made home visits with the parish nurse, attended finance committee meetings, and learned the behind-the-scenes details of planning a worship service.

Because he may one day work at a small church where he will have to do maintenance in addition to pastoral work, he asked to work on the custodial staff for a few days-even wearing the blue uniform.

James Howell was struck by the request, which Alexander made quietly.

“That perfectly mirrors everything Christianity is all about,” Howell says. “If Jesus came to work here, where would he go? Would he sit in my office making commands and sending out e-mails? He would put on the uniform of the custodial staff.”

Alexander, who is 29, had worked in the non-profit sector before his call to ministry.

“Last summer was very confirming for me,” says the Chapel Hill native. “In divinity school, you spend so much time talking about the theories behind things. I had never truly practiced ministry before.”

Moses says the internship in Charlotte taught him about leading a small church. As Rivens’ right hand, he assumed the role of assistant pastor. A native of Ghana, Moses came to this country in 2001 as a high school exchange student. He became active in his host family’s church in Detroit and soon discovered he had a gift for preaching.

The greatest gift Moses brought to South Tryon, says Charlie Rivens, was attracting more youth. With a handful of teen church members, Moses canvassed neighboring housing projects, inviting teens to participate.

“We went from a virtually dead program to having 20 to 30 teens,” Rivens says. Especially popular was a Friday-night program Moses organized called “Souled Out,” which offered South Tryon youth an opportunity to visit the Myers Park church campus to play basketball or watch a movie.

“Robert was consistent, and you have to be consistent in a marginalized community where kids have had so many disappointments,” says Rivens.

“Most people say they’re going to do something, but they don’t follow through,” says Keyera Jackson, 17. “He made us come out more.”

Isheme Gause, 13, says the youth revival Moses led changed her life. “Robert is not like most preachers,” she says. “He brings in examples that kids like us can relate to.”

A Preacher Exchange

Ben Alexander shares smiles with teens from South Tryon Community Church after the revival.

On a steamy Sunday morning three weeks before their internships ended, Moses and Alexander preached at each other’s home bases: Moses at Myers Park United Methodist, Alexander at South Tryon Community Church.

Moses, a veteran preacher who feels comfortable speaking in front of large audiences without notes, chose his message from Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

In the comfortable worship hall with soaring ceilings, plush carpet and padded chairs, he talked about how God often becomes personal only when we are in the midst of a crisis.

He described returning to Ghana and meeting a man who had a remarkable grasp of the difference between the way many Americans and Ghanaians view the Lord.

“He said, ‘Americans believe in God, but we depend on God.’”

The worship style at Myers Park was quiet and polite, but the crowd seemed touched by Moses’ words. E-mails poured in the next day thanking him for his inspirational message.

For Alexander, that Sunday morning’s sermon at South Tryon was the second he’d ever preached. And the environment was far different than it was at Myers Park a few weeks before, when he’d preached his first sermon.

In the humble church with institutional tile floors, simple wooden pews and a sometimes shaky sound system, he spoke about the need for congregants to share their talents, time and tithes with the church and their community.

He talked frankly about the problems that plagued the neighborhood, the drugs and poverty, but urged worshippers to help make things better.

“Sometimes we’re called by God and we’re afraid,” he told the South Tryon congregation, who responded with forceful “Amens.”

“It’s not about changing the world with one fell swoop ..” said Alexander. “If we give our lives over to God, we just have to be obedient. God will take care of the rest.”

Cristina Bolling is a freelance writer living in Charlotte, N.C.