Identity - Who Are We - Who Is LaSalle Called To Be?

This past Sunday, I left church and drove up Lake Shore Drive with the fam in search of a brunch spot and space to rest and celebrate after a full and beautiful first in-person worship service. Over eggs and cinnamon rolls (thank you, Ann Sather!), we talked about how fun it was to meet you all, how we all enjoyed the creative and meaningful elements of worship, and our renewed appreciation for shaved ice on a sunny afternoon! I left worship feeling so thankful, and also feeling deeply aware that we are starting a new relationship between us, you and I church; me as the senior pastor who, yes, has definitely gotten to know our staff and our lay leaders over this summer, sharing my vision and a sense of where God is at work - but yet in a newer place of getting to know many of you in the wider congregation, some who are new and some who have poured into this church for decades. And while there is important practical information that we will keep sharing in this season (schedules and timing and details), I left on Sunday aware that what I most deeply want to share with you is more of my authentic self, more of my deep love for (and also frustration with) the church, and more of how I keep seeing the heartbeat of LaSalle in my own story and in the vision of how I sense God is at work reimagining, restoring, and rebuilding the church for us all.

I am a recovering overachiever, Midwesterner, youth group leader who grew up with the church as my second family. As a kid, church was a place I could count on that gave me structure, organized our family’s weeks, and gave me community, belief, belonging, as well as a space to lead and learn. I was rooted in a love for the Word, and memorized verses for Bible Quizzing, I led worship and figured out how to sing harmony to “I Love You Lord,” and I felt a deep pull to bring my friends to camp and to always stick up for those no one else stuck up for at school. And for all the beauty and gifts I received from my home church, camps, and other ministries of my youth, they also failed me in significant ways. I was taught women could not preach or lead men; I was taught a fairly rigid way to see faithfulness, understand the Bible, and trust my own needs and feelings; and when I sensed the Spirit moving and speaking, people wanted an argument about it, not an experience with it. I felt the impact of Western, white, and patriarchal leadership in who was asked to leave when a church couple divorced, who was shamed when someone got pregnant, who was always elected Church Chair, what language we always sang worship songs in, what verses we always preached on, and who was always the hero of the story in those verses. Much of this I saw more clearly when I moved from Minnesota to Chicago to attend North Park University and began deconstructing, rebuilding, assessing, and adapting the huge place that church, faith, and being faithful had always held in my life.

What emerged for me as I grew up and grew into my own faith and sense of calling within the church was a deeper, more authentic, more layered faith. I became more rooted in my relationship with Jesus, whose very life challenged the status quo in places of worship; in the Bible, that addressed culture and race and gender all over the place; in the power of the Holy Spirit, that was active all the time and was liberating and surprising in her possibility; and in the power of the Living God, who was holy, just, and also good, gracious, generous, and for us - not against us. I also re-found my faith within Black worship services, in immigrant communities, among courageous white leaders who taught me the whole history of the white church, from strong women pioneers in ministry and leadership, among leaders from the margins whose relationship with Christ was life-changing, in seminary and doctoral studies, in community development and church work, and even in my own Minnesota youth group history, with fresh eyes to see it.

I sense that many of us at LaSalle have had some kind of a similar journey; people of faith who felt called to a new, or more, or deeper faith. Maybe your roots are at Moody, or Wheaton, or in a COGIC church or an immigrant community; maybe you grew up hearing only men preach or only being around those in your same cultural background; maybe you heard of an angry God from the pulpit or a God who didn’t welcome all sexualities and all gender expressions; maybe you learned to fight and argue and analyze theology but are growing into how to live, worship, pray, and rest in God’s presence and delight in you. Or maybe you’ve just been hurt by the church, or disappointed, or are not sure why faith is even needed, or why church people sometimes seem to make things harder, not better. Or maybe you know others on this kind of journey that gave up on church, or may need an invitation to a new kind of church, to rebuilding or re-finding faith - who could you help invite into this story of God at work at LaSalle?

LaSalle has a rich history of being a generous place with people that welcome all on the journey of faith, and who also help rebuild, restore, and reframe a more expansive, Jesus-centered, faith in each of us. LaSalle has always been a place of innovation that’s willing to try new big things; it’s been a bridge for people literally in between two neighborhoods, and also for those moving from struggle or disbelief toward hope and having faith again. LaSalle has long been a place that invests in justice, acting on beliefs to provide education, childcare, legal aid, tutoring, food and shelter, housing and policy support, jobs and training, right alongside prayer, worship, and the Word being preached on Sundays. LaSalle has, in short, always been a place for those of us rebuilding and deepening our faith, and ready to act out that faith in community.

Our treasurer shared with me a report from LaSalle’s 2010 Congregational Business meeting; read here these older, but so familiar, words again today:

As a congregation we have already committed to throwing wide open our doors, so that all may come, wherever they are spiritually. Now that the doors are open, what do we do next? Everyone who walks through our doors must find a seat at the table. Everyone must be spiritually fed.

Our mission calls us to authenticity in our worship, our relationships, and our service. We cannot be authentic without a sense of belonging, without meeting people where they are. Throwing open the doors is only the first step. The next step requires that we create a place where people will stay, not for the sake of the church, but for their own sake (and I would add, “for the sake of our whole diverse community, and the growing kin-dom of God.”)

These words from over a decade ago still ring true today - we’re setting a banquet table where all can find a seat! We’re throwing open the doors of the church so that all are invited to belong, to bring all of who they are, and will be invited to stay! We’re highlighting our authentic belief that God is at work in the world, and within the racial reconciliation team and multicultural worship, within prayer and worship, as we serve and as we sabbath! It’s a new call but an old call, a reminder of identity and an invitation to discipleship. We might adjust the details, the schedules, and we might hear from you the need to even adjust our plans - and all of that is ok, and good, and part of the necessary details; but at the core, our call from God is what moves us, our identity in Jesus is what defines us, and our power in the Holy Spirit is what animates us.

So as we walk into this fall, know that I am listening to you, learning from you, and listening with the staff and our lay leaders to the Holy Spirit’s direction for this Body. Know that I feel deep in my bones this resonance with LaSalle’s identity and my own, and with the ways that this church can keep inviting others to rebuild faith, deepen our lives of justice, and throw open the doors wide to belonging in a generous community. Keep sharing your questions, your excitement, and your lives with me - and with each other in this Body - and I will do the same. I am so excited for this journey together into what God is doing at the corners of LaSalle and Elm and within each of our stories.

Who are we?

Expansive Faith. Generous Community. Invested in God’s Justice. LaSalle Street Church.

So grateful - RevDoc Liz