Winterim offered a course called Alternative Approaches to Urban Outreach. The goal of this course is to drop participants into an urban setting, research the neighborhood, and produce a plan for evangelistic outreach. What makes this project exciting is that the students do this research alongside the pastor and members of a WELS congregation. The final exam requires the students to present their various plans to the congregation at the conclusion of their time together.
This year, 12 students and Prof. E. Allen Sorum visited Living Savior Lutheran Church in Asheville, North Carolina. Perhaps Asheville does not sound like an urban setting. This community, however, allowed the students to do door-to-door research in an African-American neighborhood that is over 100 years old, in Latino neighborhoods that host first and second generation immigrants from Mexico and South America, and in suburban-like subdivisions that are full of new houses and new residents from across North America. The fact is, after knocking on over 3,000 doors, students actually spoke to very few people from the south. Asheville is a booming destination city for both young families and the retirement set.
Host Pastor John Qualmann and his members had planned an aggressive schedule that included both street work and phone surveys. Knocking on 3,000 doors resulted in nearly 200 ethnographic interviews, allowed students to give almost 200 evangelistic presentations, and produced almost 100 hot prospects for Pastor Qualmann, the vicar, Jeremy Cares, and the members of Living Savior to follow up on. At the conclusion of the course, approximately 50 members gathered around a potluck meal and discussed the recommendations that students had prepared. What the congregation does with these plans is totally up to them.
The membership expressed their appreciation for the students’ energy, faithfulness, and optimism in the power of God’s inviting Word. Our students expressed their gratitude for the love, partnership, and encouragement from committed WELS Christians. This was a wonderful marriage of real life training for our students and assistance for hard working WELS people.
