Concordia’s diversity heightens its Lutheran identity

By Janine Kudron-Penny, proud member of Concordia since 2001

One example of a diverse Lutheran congregation in the New England Synod is Concordia Lutheran Church, Worcester, Mass. While you may not be aware of just how “diverse” Concordia’s membership is, most of you probably have heard about us. Those of you who attended the Bishop’s Convocation Eucharist at Trinity heard Joseph Deranamie tell the dramatic story of his survival of the horrors of the civil war in Liberia, as well as his successful efforts to bring necessities such as shoes, clothing, food, and medicines to people who are still enduring unspeakable suffering in orphanages and camps there. Those efforts have been (and continue to be) successful because of you! Your generous gifts of supplies and your financial assistance have been truly heartwarming!

While the spirited Liberian community that has taken root at Concordia is the most visible and well-known component of our diversity, it is not the only component. Concordia serves an amazing mix of people from countless ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds. About a third of those who attend our worship service on any given Sunday are white, though many of them are not necessarily from ethnic backgrounds that we might identify as traditionally “Lutheran.” The rest include members from various Hispanic and African cultures, many of whom are newly-arrived refugees.

The diversity that we enjoy is the direct result of a dramatic rebirth that has taken place at Concordia during the past several years. This rebirth is quite a remarkable thing, especially considering the situation that Concordia and its members were facing just a few short years ago. Concordia is an inner-city congregation located in the Main South section of Worcester. Like many older, urban congregations, as Concordia aged, it lost many of its members to newer congregations in the suburbs. This decline was in full swing by the 1990’s, as Concordia struggled to hang on to the small, loyal remnant of its former membership that remained. Even some of its most dedicated members suggested that closing was the only option. They looked back with a sentimental sadness to a time when Concordia was an active and supportive part of the neighborhood around it (a neighborhood that was then largely German).

And then the inspiration came: To breathe life back into Concordia they needed to find not only hope for the future but also wisdom from the past. Concordia had been a success from the time of its founding onward because its members had lovingly reached out to the neighborhood around the church. It had extended itself in service to neighbors in need, many of whom were immigrants with no church home. The neighborhood around the church had again become a neighborhood of immigrants. The only difference now was that most of those immigrants were not German, but Hispanic.

With the help and grace of God, the members of Concordia decided to make the serious commitment to remaining in the neighborhood, knowing that because their neighbors were now from ethnic groups that were not traditionally Lutheran, their choice demanded an extremely large investment of time and effort, as well as a painful period of change and growth.

What did they do? They simply followed the example of those who founded Concordia in the first place. They set out to be Christ for others. They shared the mercy and grace of a loving God with their neighbors who had known only an angry Judge, and offered the joy and assurance of salvation to people who had never experienced it.

While their efforts were successful (to say the least), those efforts only explain the Hispanics among us. What about all the rest of us? As our pastor has often been quoted as saying, “God often has much more in mind for us than we have in mind for ourselves.” Truer words have never been spoken! As Concordia’s members became more comfortable sharing their faith with others, something remarkable happened. Gradually, it became more and more natural for them to invite “neighbors” who were not from the neighborhood to Concordia. They invited friends and customers, acquaintances and co-workers, people they met at the coffee shop, and fellow passengers on the bus. By reaching out to their neighbors in the neighborhood, Concordia’s members learned how to invite countless “neighbors” who were not from the neighborhood. Today, Concordia welcomes people from across town and newly-arriving immigrants from around the world!

Surprisingly, Concordia has not lost its German heritage. It has simply added countless other European heritages, as well as African and Hispanic. And even more importantly, Concordia has not lost its Lutheran identity. Just the opposite is true. Its lifelong members have come to fully recognize and experience the precious nature of that identity in a new way that they had not been able to before. They realize that their faith is something worth sharing as they meet new people who are struggling to find the grace of God that they may have taken for granted all along.

So, think carefully and think big – chances are God has so much more in mind for your congregation than you have for yourselves!