The Stack Of Pancakes Just Keeps Growing!
by Ardie Senft, Diaconal Minister

Grace Lutheran Church with its beautiful Gothic architecture sits in a declining area of downtown Phoenix. Much has changed since the congregation was first organized in 1914, shortly after Arizona became the 48th state.

During its early years the congregation watched the city of Phoenix grow at a phenomenal rate. Young families joined the congregation and one building after another was built - a large sanctuary, a fellowship hall, Sunday School rooms and a pre-school center. Every time the congregation grew to 1000 members it would send a group of its members to a new site to start a daughter congregation. Grace, the oldest Lutheran church in Arizona, is the mother church of five congregations in Phoenix.
By the 1980's the folks at Grace looked around and noticed changes. The young families were moving to the suburbs of Phoenix and the downtown areas were declining. The older members remained faithful, but their numbers were decreasing.

By the early 1990's worship attendance was still declining and only a handful of children remained. Grace was beginning to face the reality of being a dying inner-city church. It was at this time the council came up with a wonderful idea. "Why not invite our neighbors in for a Sunday morning breakfast once a month? This will be a way for us to get to know new people in the community and invite them to worship with us."
So a breakfast of pancakes, sausages, coffee and orange juice was planned. A large sign was made for outside and all waited with anticipation to see how many would come to that first breakfast. Those who were involved in the planning can now laugh about their surprise when the breakfast guests arrived - about fifty homeless from the neighboring park and area around the church.

This didn't quite turn out the way the council or congregation had anticipated, but even then God had a plan! For six years, as the number of homeless and people in poverty in our neighborhood grew, the once a month breakfast also grew from 50 to over 100 by 2000. However, it remained a "feeding program" and only a few of the congregation members ever got to meet the breakfast guests.

In the summer of 2000 the council and the new pastor, Roger Thompson, both with a better understanding of how to be a congregation that is "In the City for Good", challenged the congregation to move the breakfast to a weekly schedule in the fall. It was time to move beyond being a program that fed only the physical hunger of the guests. A worship experience was planned that gave guests an opportunity to be spiritually fed as well. The Sunday schedule expanded to two worship opportunities, a traditional worship in the sanctuary and a contemporary worship immediately following the breakfast in the fellowship hall where the breakfast was served. This urban congregation was beginning to look beyond charity to transformational ministry - the transformation of lives, community, and an aging congregation. Some asked how Grace would ever be able to afford to do this on a weekly basis, but the new vision was cast and the members stepped out in faith.

Letters were sent to suburban congregations asking them to be partners with Grace in this expanding outreach ministry. Over 30 congregations were asked to bring $150 and eight volunteers to Grace to help serve at the pancake breakfast every Sunday of the month but one. Grace continued to support the breakfast once a month as it always had done. It was hoped that enough congregations would respond to get the first few months scheduled. What a surprise when in only a few weeks, so many congregations volunteered that the schedule was filled through July 2001.

That year the numbers at breakfast grew steadily and peaked at 275 guests on Easter Sunday. With this astounding increase of breakfast guests a request was sent to our partner congregations to increase their commitment to twelve volunteers and a donation to $200. The congregations responded positively and the ministry continued to grow! We now serve an average of 400 plates of pancakes and sausages, cups of coffee, and juice each Sunday. With three pancakes per plate that's 1200 pancakes a week! Now that's a BIG stack!

Since expanding the breakfast to every week and adding a contemporary worship, God has richly blessed Grace. The worship service that follows the breakfast has grown from only a few of our breakfast guests to a core group of about forty. In addition, more of our own members are choosing this to be their regular worshipping time. We have built relationships with our regular breakfast guests as we got to know them by name, listened to their stories, heard about their needs and recognized the gifts they bring to us. Yet, once again this was only the beginning for just listening to the stories and becoming aware of their needs proved to not be enough. There was more that God had planned!

One cold Sunday last winter (yes, we do get cold days in Phoenix), shortly after I was called to Grace, Jim one of the regular breakfast guests introduced me to a young man dressed in jeans and a thin short sleeved shirt. Jim asked if we had a jacket we could give to his friend. We didn't keep clothing on hand, but I told the young man I had a coat at home that he could have if he stopped by the church office in the morning. He thanked me and said that would be fine since he wasn't starting his new job until Tuesday.

Early the next morning the young man was at the office door. I invited him in and handed him the warm jacket. He slipped it on and said, "This is really a nice coat. God is so good! Last night I found place to stay so I'm off the street, I have a new job starting tomorrow, and now I have a warm coat!"

It was after this experience that a hygiene/clothing room became part of the growing ministry. We provide toiletries, clean socks, warm jackets, sweatshirts, and blankets for our guests. We rely on our partners to help us maintain this expanded ministry. Our two Lutheran Thrift stores supply clothing and towels while sister congregations supply toiletries to fill bags with much needed hygiene supplies. Close to 1000 hygiene bags were given out this past year.

Does a ministry like the "Pancake Breakfast" ever stop expanding and changing? No, because new needs and avenues of service continue to emerge. Recently through grant moneys we were able to add a social worker to the staff on Sunday mornings. Jeff Jirak acts as a case manager for our guests who need help beyond what Grace is able to provide. On Sunday mornings Jeff works the crowd and meets individually with guests to help them access the assistance and services they need. Jeff's expertise has added yet another dimension to our Sunday morning pancake ministry.

Who would have thought that out of an idea to bring in some new members to a declining inner-city church a completely new vision for mission and ministry would emerge? Grace Lutheran is a now a growing and exciting place to be not just on Sunday morning, but every day of the week! But it didn't happen overnight. It took lots of prayer, work and a congregation that was willing to risk letting God be in control. Having enough money to support the pancake ministry has not been a problem - the people of Grace know money always follows mission. You have to be willing to get out there and find as many partners as you can who are able to catch your vision for ministry.

One last word of warning! When you let God be in the "driver's seat" you need to hold on tightly. You are in for some exciting changes and by the way there is no turning back. What is happening at Grace is not just about growing stacks of pancakes! It is about the power of God's grace and transforming love that touches the lives of all of us who are involved with this outreach ministry to our urban neighbors!