Greenhouse in the Desert

By Jonathan Kindberg, Rev. William Beasley & Deacon Anne Beasley of the Greenhouse Movement

This year’s Anglican 1000 Church Planting Summit in Plano, Texas, linked Chicago to El Paso.  After attending William Beasley’s workshop, Bill Cobb, rector of the Church of St. Clement in El Paso, Texas, invited him to speak in El Paso.  William called together a team from the Greenhouse Regional Church Movement: his wife, Anne Beasley, and Lay Catechist Jonathan Kindberg, leader of a Spanish-speaking congregation and a bilingual outreach to Chicago area youth (among other occupations).  Less than a month later, the Chicagoans found themselves in the border town of El Paso to present a workshop on the Greenhouse model for the spontaneous expansion of the Church and how it might impact the El Paso/Juarez region.

As one of the largest bi-national metropolises in the world, El Paso/Juarez is a region of contrasts and contradictions. While El Paso is the safest city of its size in the United States, a mere stone’s throw across the dried-up Rio Grande border lay the most dangerous city on earth, Juarez. Last weekend alone, the Associated Press reported 53 murders in 72 hours in Juarez. Furthermore, while El Paso is a modern city of considerable wealth, many areas of Juarez remain without running water or waste collection.  How can the Church mobilize to bring the hope of the Gospel to Juarez?
Contrasted with traditional models of church planting that require large amounts of resources, the Greenhouse model mobilizes catechists (lay pastors), lay evangelists, and the resources in the people to initiate new works while emphasizing that “the whole church raises up the whole church,” as everyone uses their Spirit-given gifts and talents.
El Paso/Juarez is a region ripe for such spontaneous expansion of the church.  El Paso is approximately 80% Hispanic and a thoroughly bicultural and bilingual city. Spanglish is the lingua franca. This border city is a living example of what some sociologists see as the future of the United States. “We’re seeing the development of two populations groups in Texas: aging Anglos and young minorities. We’re seeing Hispanic growth not just deepen but become pervasive throughout the state. The Texas of today is the U.S. of tomorrow,” says Steve Murdock, Rice University sociology professor and former Census Bureau director (USA Today).

While St. Clement’s may be considered a wealthy congregation, some of the neighborhoods around the church and its school are not so prosperous.  Eight years ago, responding to the difficulties facing people from these impoverished neighborhoods, St. Clement’s started Ciudad Nueva (New City), a community development corporation directed by St. Clement’s member, Sami DiPasquale.  Ciudad Nueva currently serves over 200 at-risk children and youth through after school programs and community outreach.  It is a beautiful picture of the church at work in the “transformation of society,” one of the accountabilities that Archbishop Bob Duncan constantly reminds us of.

We North American Anglicans need to grapple with this demographic shift and the reality of poverty in our church planting efforts.  As a North American movement we can move into all types of socio-economic and ethnic communities.

Please pray with us that the love of Jesus will transform our movement with Jesus’ heart for all people.  May we as Anglicans learn to reach people and plant churches that reflect our changing society.  And may these churches deeply impact our communities and neighborhoods, following the example of St. Clement’s and Ciudad Nueva.  May God use the Anglican Church to unleash his Kingdom in El Paso/Juarez, for the conversion of souls as more and more congregations are planted that Jesus’ love would fill hearts and his peace would quell violence.