‘Being Matthew 25’ features stories and testimony from across the country
Representatives from among the PC(USA)’s most diverse and innovative faith gatherings — its 1001 New Worshiping Communities — joined virtually Thursday during the “Being Matthew 25” monthly broadcast to celebrate the 10th year of the initiative. Watch the 42-minute conversation here.
Asked by “Being Matthew 25” host the Rev. DeEtte Decker what makes the organizers of new worshiping communities so special, the Rev. Nikki Collins, 1001 NWC coordinator, had a ready answer: “It’s an incredible loving group of leaders who love God, church, their neighbors and each other.”
The communities they lead are incredibly diverse in a denomination where 9 in 10 members are white: On any given Sunday, Presbyterians pray in at least 14 languages. Of the PC(USA)’s worshiping communities of color, 37% are Hispanic/Latinx, one-third are Asian, 14% are African, 6% are African American and 5% are Middle Eastern.
Thursday’s broadcast featured brief videos about worshiping communities gathering and serving in a variety of contexts. The first stop was New Hope Presbyterian Church in Anaheim, California, where its pastor, the Rev. Chineta Goodjoin, told Decker and Collins that God “worked through people who invited me to dream with them, that an African American church could be established in Orange County, California. Their dream became my dream, and they were dreaming God’s dream.”
In 1967, a white congregation in Compton, California, closed its doors. The church stipulated it wanted the sale of its church building to fund the opening of an African American church in Orange County, and the proceeds sat in an interest-bearing account for decades. Organizers worked for eight years, then called Goodjoin to be their pastor.
“I told God, ‘If you call me from this space, for the rest of my life I will commit to helping people see that they matter,’” Goodjoin said. “It has been the foundation and the authenticity of what we seek to create at New Hope, and it’s the heart of Matthew 25. We want to continue to build a sense of belonging.”
Original source can be found here.
