Becoming the leaven
Oregon congregation rises to
the challenge of transformation By Sandra Guy
A
mission startup in Portland, Ore., demolishes any notion that the ELCA is opening cookie-cutter, “fran- chise” churches.
The Leaven Project owns no building, holds no standard worship services and describes itself as “a motley mix of Lutherans, spiritual types, nonprofits and neighbors” (
www.leavenproject.org). It was born when members of 91-year-old Redeemer Lutheran Church—who still hold services and remain active in their community—agreed to cede their long-term future to the project by mid-2013. Redeemer averages 50 to 60 worshipers a week, and 75 percent of its annual $120,000 budget depends on members aged 60 and older, said Terry Allen Moe, its pastor for the last 30 years.
Melissa Reed, mission developer for the Leaven Project, said the community appreciates Redeemer’s history of ser- vice and congregation-based organizing. “But [newcomers to Redeemer’s services] would say, ‘This doesn’t speak to
Guy is an ELCA member and reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times.
MARK YLEN
me,’ ” she said. “Some didn’t want to join a church. Some used the analogy of try- ing to put new wine into old wineskins. It wasn’t working.” Leaven Project’s biggest success hap- pened Sept. 18, 2010, when people began closing their bank accounts and opening new ones at a credit union. The effort will create a shared lending pool with low- interest loans for community projects. It’s also aimed at taking money away from banks and financial institutions that contributed to the country’s financial crisis, expanding upon a 2009 idea called “Money Move.” So far 48 people (including 19 Redeemer members) have moved a total of $500,000 into the credit union. Reed said the credit union recognizes Leaven Project accounts as a collective, giving the group power it wouldn’t have in a bank.
Cheryl Lohrmann (left) and Ali Ippolito show some of the soap products their Leaven Project cre- ates to help residents with unemploy- ment and underemploy- ment.
‘Getting to the root’
Reed, 30, recognized her strengths in community- building while working at Lutheran summer camps and at a Lutheran-run home for teenage boys in the Northeast. At
16 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
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