All God’s people
An influx of new members from Africa has revitalized one Maryland congregation
Sharing Peace: Mary Maximuangu greets fellow worshiper Thomas Nchinda on Sunday morning during the passing of the peace at Silver Spring Presbyterian Church. Photography by Rebecca J. Vander Meulen.
On Sunday mornings, worshipers at Silver Spring (Md.) Presbyterian Church often hear from two or three of the congregation’s 11 choirs or musical groups, the crowded sanctuary resounding in an abundance of praise. Most of the songs are sung in English. But some are sung in Douala, one of the primary languages in Cameroon. Women dressed in patterned West African skirts and brightly colored head wraps sway and sing along with the hymns. Church members unfamiliar with the language still join in with clapping.
For many years, this congregation was predominantly white. Like many churches, it also faced the challenge of a shrinking membership. Then, in the late 1980s, a Cameroonian diplomat came to the area to work at the embassy in nearby Washington, D.C. A Presbyterian in his home country, he sought out a congregation and settled in at Silver Spring Church. He brought along more visitors from West Africa, and the congregation’s numbers began to rise. When current pastor J. Currie Burris came to the church in 2000, the congregation numbered around 200. Today it has grown to 575 members and is one of the fastest growing congregations in the denomination.
Burris is not from West Africa. He’s a white pastor, originally from North Carolina, who grew up in southern Florida—and he was thrilled when called to lead this congregation. The growing number of Africans in particular attracted him to the church. Burris had traveled in Africa before, on sabbatical in Kenya and with a cultural immersion program in Zimbabwe for his doctorate of ministry. He wasted no time building partner relationships between the Silver Spring congregation and churches and communities in Cameroon.
“When I can say I’ve preached in
a church in Buea (a town in Cameroon where Silver Spring Church has a sister congregation), it makes all the difference to people here,” Burris says.
Biblical hospitality
A Lively liturgy: Pastor Currie Burris reflects the energy that new members from Africa have brought to the church’s worship. Photography by Rebecca J. Vander Meulen.
It is a great comfort to people far from their home to find a place of community like Silver Spring Church. Hanna Sonkey, one of the singers in the women’s musical group Shalom Voices, found people from her home village in Cameroon at the church, not even realizing they lived in the area.
“If you come here, you’ll meet people,” she says. “At the same time, we are a family. Everyone is equal. There’s no discrimination.”
Justine Njafuh felt the same way when she first visited the church 12 years ago. “I used to go to another church nearby,” she says. “But I came here and this was a very warm congregation. People talked to me and welcomed me. The preaching touched my heart. Everybody here are brothers and sisters, even when we have conflicts.”
Silver Spring Church has become a U.S. base for two African fellow-ship groups that originated in Presbyterian churches in Cameroon. The Christian Women’s Fellowship has grown to more than 100 members, and the Christian Men’s Fellowship now numbers more than 30. Members gather for Bible study, prayer and service. As a result of gatherings—called rallies—hosted by Silver Spring Church, these ministries now are spreading to other churches throughout the United States.
“The last women’s rally drew 700 to 800 people,” Burris says, clearly thrilled with the success and growth of these ministries.
Burris hopes people of many cultures will find a home in the congregation. “We’re not an ethnic immigrant church in the sense of a Swahili-speaking church with Kenyans, or a Korean-speaking church for Koreans. We are a multiracial, multilanguage church that seeks to be multicultural.”
When Wilson Gunn, general presbyter of National Capital Presbytery, preached at Silver Spring Church last year, he told the congregation: “One of the purposes of worship is to go out different than you came in. I already feel that, 15 minutes into our service here.”
The congregation offers a model of biblical hospitality, says Gunn. “Hospitality is discovering the voice of God in the radically different other.”
Challenges and blessings
A home for many cultures: Some worshipers wear traditional West African clothing; others dress in Western styles. Photography by Rebecca J. Vander Meulen.
In fact, God is sending more and more “others” into churches across the country. In the past several years, Africans have become the fastest growing immigrant group within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), says Angel Suárez-Valera, associate for new immigrant congregational support for the General Assembly Mission Council. Presbyterian churches have been strong in Africa for many years, he adds, and so new immigrants to the United States will often seek out a Presbyterian congregation here.
One complication that sometimes arises in welcoming immigrant populations revolves around worship style. “Presbyterian churches here (in the United States) have a white European interpretation of how to do liturgy,” Suárez-Valera says. “Africans will bring their own African theological interpretations to the liturgy.”
Congregations with both white and African members have two main options, he says. They can maintain separate liturgical celebrations—one church, one membership, but with two distinct worship experiences. Or they can combine the two traditions in a creative third approach, which is the path the Silver Spring congregation has traveled.
“There are always problems with adjustment in situations like this,” says Irma Stockton, a member of Silver Spring Church for 53 years whose husband sings tenor in the chancel choir. She says some longtime members have welcomed the more demonstrative and boisterous worship services, but others have fled.
A Global Fellowship: Dorothy Nchinda and others who gather for fellowship after worship find great comfort in the hospitality of this community far from their homes. Photography by Rebecca J. Vander Meulen.
“Those who stayed are glad we did,” Stockton says. “Now I find myself kind of squirming if I attend an all-white church, with only the standard hymns.”
“Those multiple views of church and worship are a challenge, even for those who are willing to be uncomfortable,” says another longtime member, Julia Schaeffer. But she thinks those who left Silver Spring because of the liturgical changes are missing out on some dynamic worship services. “I don’t usually feel this level of energy in most Presbyterian churches,” she says.
The African members have had to make adjustments as well. Along with the preponderance of Cameroonians, Silver Spring Church includes people from other African countries, including Ghana, Sierra Leone and Côte d’Ivoire, each with distinctive cultures.
“The assumption is that all Africans know and relate to one another. That’s just not true,” Burris says. “It’s a challenge to find ways for people to get to know one another, to share faith, to serve together in the missions of the church.”
A large immigrant population brings other challenges. One Sunday, during the Prayers of the People at Silver Spring Presbyterian, several people requested prayers for appointments and paperwork filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Both the local church and the presbytery must be aware of the needs of new immigrants and be ready to respond, says Gunn. “You may need to sponsor English as a second language lessons and help with the paperwork for citizenship. The presbytery also needs to be able to help pastors who are immigrants be able to stay here.”
Despite the challenges, Burris offers some simple advice for other churches whose congregations are beginning to look different: Celebrate that change.
“Open your doors. Open your hearts. Don’t be afraid to welcome all of God’s people.”
Kimberly Burge is a freelance writer who divides her time between Washington, D.C., and Cape Town, South Africa. She was formerly senior editor at Bread for the World.
SUPPORT for immigrant, multicultural congregations
For information about funding, leader training and other resources available to Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations:
New immigrant congregational support—www.pcusa.org/immigrant
Angel Suarez-Valera, angel.suarez-valera@pcusa.org; (800) 728-7228, x5135
Multicultural congregational support—www.pcusa.org/multicultural
Rafaat Girgis, rafaat.girgis@pcusa.org; (800) 728-7228, x5233
2012 National Multicultural Conference, April 25–29 in Charlotte, N.C.—www.pcusa.org/multicultural