Small change sparks San Antonio church revitalization

SAN ANTONIO—Despite a history spanning 102 years on the west side of San Antonio, St. Luke Baptist Church’s future had begun to look bleak.

But then God’s grace, diligence and one small change led to a remarkable 20 weeks of baptisms and renewed vibrancy for this historic, African American congregation.

When Joe Barber answered the call to pastor St. Luke 18 years ago, the demographics of the neighborhood around the church already were beginning to change. Members started noticing the shift, but they didn’t realize it was going to have as big an impact as it did, Barber said.

St. Luke was able to keep going until COVID-19, Barber said.

The church already was experiencing gradual decline, as members either died or quit coming to church like they used to. Even so, the congregation remained committed to being who they always had been—a traditional African American church.

Pandemic necessitated changes

But during the pandemic, the decline the church had been experiencing became so pronounced, making changes to meet the needs of its surrounding community was no longer optional.  

It became clear the congregation would have to find ways to meet the needs of the people near them to continue to be a church, Barber said. Post-pandemic attendance dwindled to only 20 to 25 members who regularly attended.

The majority of the members they once had did not live in the area anymore. 

“Why would they want to drive 45 minutes to go to church, when they could attend a church five minutes from where they are now?” Barber pointed out.

Barber had begun praying and seeking ways to support the ministry of St. Luke even before the losses brought on by the pandemic. 

He had resorted to seeking grants as a means to support the ministry of the church, when the number of bodies in the pews had shrunk too low to sustain them. And “that’s not a good place to be,” he said.

Unwilling to give up on St. Luke, Barber continued looking for support and guidance. He joined a cohort in the San Antonio Baptist Association, which helped him discern the best way to bridge the gap between the church and its community would be increasing its social ministries.

No matter how a community changes, “a meal is something that you can always reach people with,” Barber said. 

So, outreach began with feeding the community. Additionally, St. Luke began to host clinics, which are vital in an area with minimal access to medical resources.  

Fears stood in the way

Poverty, homelessness and substance abuse have become concentrated in the area around St. Luke, which led many church members to move away. The ones who remained became fearful of the changes taking place around them, Barber said. 

Not just fearful of increasing threats to safety, but nervous about potential threats to their identity as an African American congregation, he added. For 102 years their church has embodied the values, worship style and emphases characteristic of African American Baptists. 

The congregation wanted to know: Could they remain who they have been, retaining their hallowed identity, when the culture around them has grown more diverse. And that question stood in the way of change, Barber said.

It’s a concern for African American congregations any time they are part of a multicultural group, Barber said—the fear they will be cast aside or their way of doing things will be minimized, not respected or completely diminished. 

African American worship style is central to their identities because it belongs solely to them. It’s part of what makes them unique, Barber said. 

His congregation was concerned, initially, that reaching out to the community, which is no longer predominately African American, might cost them this identity.

If they ceased to be an African American church, it would be a loss not only to its members, but to long-term African American residents of the area around St. Luke, who remember all the church has meant to the community through the years.

While the area around the church historically had been predominately African American, as these residents moved out, they were replaced by a largely Hispanic population. 

But by January of 2023, Barber’s concern—that if the core group of elders in the congregation died, the church would have to shut its doors—led St. Paul to begin implementing change.

‘How do we turn this thing around?’

Barber talked to Oza Jones, director of Texas Baptists’ African American Ministries, about the condition of the church and asked, “How do we turn this thing around?” 

Jones suggested Barber participate in Pave, a Texas Baptist strategy designed to help pastors customize church revitalization for their congregation’s context.

Barber found a blueprint he could use right away. And the congregation “could do this while we learn the other stuff,” Barber said.

Pave gave him a model his congregation could use immediately, with minimal training and without pushing a lot of change on his traditional congregation. Other support he’d received was more long term in focus.

Barber keyed in on one piece of the Pave church revitalization strategy—moving baptisms to the middle of the worship service and videoing the testimony of the candidates for baptism to show the congregation.

This baptismal piece would provide a “shot in the arm” to be able to see improvements now. 

Once St. Luke had one baptism—the first one in years—videoed it and shared it in the way Pave recommended, the baptismal waters continued to be stirred for the next 20 weeks. 

Yet, the challenge now, with these 20 new members, is discipleship. To succeed, Barber said he needs to grow leaders to help with that responsibility. Barber is the only minister on staff right now, and he is bivocational.

But it’s a good problem to have, Barber said, remaining hopeful about the future of St. Luke—which now runs 50 to 75 in regular attendance.

St. Luke learned something else when the congregation began to welcome people from different cultural backgrounds into their still predominantly African American church. 

Members discovered they didn’t lose anything. They found that their new members have more in common with them in their daily struggles than they ever guessed.

They’re unique in their experiences, Barber said, but their stories are not that different. 

They could “hold onto their African American history and that struggle” and identify with the struggle of their new Hispanic members—celebrating together God’s continuing work on the west side of San Antonio and in their communities.