February 10, 2009

CHICAGO – The Rev. Tom Hansen is the interim pastor of a Minnesota congregation with numerous members losing jobs and homes.

"I feel horrible for what people are going through," said Hansen, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, North Branch. "I also feel pretty helpless."

Other pastors are telling similar stories across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The economy is taking a toll on church members and congregations' ability to aid them.

"Everybody's dreams are dying and we don't have the resources to help them," said Hansen, adding that some laid-off members have exhausted the social service aid available to them.

For some people, "it feels like the world's coming down so hard that it blocks their ability to feel God's presence," he said.

"You pray for hope. You pray for a new day. But you don't let God off the hook either," he said. "After all, we believe in a God that has the ability to make changes. We believe in resurrection."

The Rev. Paul Wollner, a South Carolina pastor, says the economic downturn is reshaping his ministry. Many members of his congregation are enduring layoffs or mandatory furloughs without pay.

"Pastorally, I'm spending time listening to lots of people making major life changes," said Wollner, pastor of Mt. Pilgrim Lutheran Church, Prosperity. "One of the best things we can do is to simply be present to those who are hurting."

At the same time, "the church needs to allow the creative power of the Holy Spirit to inspire us to new ways of caring for one another as it did during the Great Depression," he said.

Mt. Pilgrim is scaling back budgets for Christian education, youth and social ministries to offset an anticipated reduction in giving.

"In Prosperity, we're not seeing the greatest prosperity right now," Wollner said. "We're doing the same amount of ministry with fewer resources."

On Valentine's Day, Maricopa Lutheran Church near Phoenix is giving a gift it says is better than roses or chocolates to people losing jobs and homes: a free financial seminar.

Arizona bears one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Maricopa Lutheran, a satellite mission begun last year, is in the heart of one of the hardest hit communities.

"When the economy is bad, it becomes an opportunity for the church," said the Rev. Cora Aguilar, pastor of the mission.

"People turn to God when they don't have anything," Aguilar said. "When they are in abundance, some people don't think they need God."

In Florida, the Rev. Travis Kern also sees the economic downturn as a time for the church to step up its evangelism. People undergoing severe losses can benefit by being around congregations providing hope, comfort and caring friends, he said.

"Inviting people to hear the gospel might be the very thing that gets them through the tough times," said Kern, pastor of First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Fort Lauderdale. "I'm not just talking about material goods. What we can bring to them is a relationship to God and a relationship to the church."

Job losses are hitting young adults in his congregation particularly hard, he said. Many are moving to less expensive cities, leaving them without their spiritual communities when they may need them the most.

"The people who need to hear our message of hope often aren't in the building on Sunday mornings," Kern said. "Churches need to figure out how to reach them."

Not every congregation is struggling. Offerings at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Brick, N.J., soared by 15 percent in 2008, according to the Rev. Stanley Ellison, the congregation's pastor.

Members also pledged an additional $240,000 in a capital campaign for the "work of ministry." Meanwhile, the 66-year-old pastor's pension plummeted. He says he may need to put off retirement.

That's an issue for many Americans.

"God gives whatever God gives," Ellison said.

ELCA News Service