Brian Habig, An Evening on Main Street

I'm presently serving as the minister of a church plant (actually, my presbytery would refer to me as an "evangelist" – oooh, aaah) in downtown

Greenville, South Carolina.

  Greenville is certainly not a major urban area, but it's the foremost city in the Upstate, and the downtown area has undergone a true revitalization over the last 15-20 years. Our hope is not only to be a church committed to this particular space called "downtown," but also to connect with some of downtown's new residents.

About a month ago, I tried something for the first time as a means of meeting folks who might not wander into our church plant of their own accord. The event was an "open forum" downtown, held in a local tea bar on Main Street, which has some really nice open space and whose owners were open to hosting something like this.

We did not announce this event in our church plant's worship service. The folks who would hear such an announcement were not the people I was hoping to see. Instead, we ran one print advertisement in The Beat (the local alternative newspaper), and I asked a few Downtown Pres. attendees – those who have shown themselves to be "bringers" – to invite some of their acquaintances.

We held the forum on a Wednesday night, and there were around 20-25 people in attendance, only half of whom I knew. I spoke on the topic of "Critiquing Religion," and tried to demonstrate that some of the most influential critics of religion actually got a lot of things right, but they didn't go far enough. (Full disclosure: I heard a recording of a similar event led by Rev. Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, and his treatment of the subject had a big impact on my own, although I tried not to copy shamelessly what he had done!)

Afterwards, we had a brief time of Q&A – probably too brief, since we dubbed the event a "forum," and one of the participants emailed me to say that was her one criticism (although she was otherwise very complimentary). I also gave everyone who attended a copy of Flannery O'Connor's short story "Revelation," which highlights a very religious Southern character who is shown the gospel by the story's end.

For even such a relatively small group (20-25), it has been interesting to see some of the things that have happened, very organically. One participant (who made it rather plain that she wasn't a traditional Christian but was "okay with Jesus") emailed me some fascinating thoughts, and we have had several follow-up emails. In fact, she may even be coming over for supper soon with a mutual friend. Another young man, who identified himself as a non-Christian, asked some of the best questions during the Q&A time.

Another man, who was very quiet during the forum, ended up reading the O'Connor story and loved it. When he called to tell his brother about it, the brother recommended one of O'Connor's novels, which he also read and loved. He called a mutual friend to get together and discuss O'Connor, and the friend called me to include me in their lunch together. That Sunday, this same man attended worship, and I was honored to see him return this last Sunday. Another woman who attended the forum has visited our church plant, too.

This was certainly a get-your-feet-wet, trial run, but we hope to do more of this sort of thing downtown. Throughout the process, one of our presuppositions as a church plant seemed very evident: God is at work.

© 2006, Brian Habig.

Comments

[Mark Upton]

Brian,
Thanks for sharing about this. I've been thinking about doing something very similar for years and just haven't gotten around to it. I think I was intimidated by the unknown nature of how it might go. I love the Flannery O'Connor decision. I plan on stealing shameless from you.

Thanks for breaking the ice for me.

Mark

[Serven]

I think the people listening in the picture look very unsure about you.

[GL]

Serven,
Perhaps they're walloped by hearing depravity from the pen of Flannery O'Connor. I think I looked like a few of Habig's guests when I read several of her (amazing) short stories.