After a performance, a young member of Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland offers roses to a member of the Watoto Children’s Choir from Uganda.
W.J. Mark Knutson, pastor of Augustana Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Portland, Ore., recalls a day when a man who had just been released from jail came to the church asking for a meal and a bus ticket home.
“We gave him what he needed,” says Mark. “But I asked him why he came to the church. The man replied, ‘The word on the street is that if you need help, go to the church with the big steeple on 15th Avenue.’”
“The fact that he would say that,” says Mark, is testimony to “how we’re known in the community. I can’t think of a better way to be known than to be seen as a place of healing and hope, as a place of welcome for all people.”
In fact, it’s on the church’s marquee: “All are welcome.”
“People long to be part of a community and seek to make a difference. We are a church that’s committed to walking with those who are hurting in society,” says Mark, “upholding our peace and justice values in the public forum.”
And it’s that kind of dedication that has produced significant growth in the congregation and recognition for Mark and Augustana.
Mark was named one of “The 50 Most Influential Portlanders” in the January 2012 issue of Portland Monthly magazine. The magazine also noted Augustana’s growth from 200 to 800 members and to being a multiethnic, multicultural congregation dedicated to justice and peacemaking.
While he is glad “to see faith leaders lifted up in the context of the wider community,” says Mark, “churches, synagogues, mosques and temples are all vital in weaving just and fair communities, where all have life. It’s why faith communities exist.”
Faith in action
Members of Augustana work hard at maintaining a strong presence in the community, whether it is organizing an anti-war march, hosting a Martin Luther King Jr. service or serving as a sanctuary for people living in the United States undocumented. It’s part of its historical roots.
In 1906, when the congregation was founded by Swedish immigrants, original church members put together a time capsule that was opened in 2006. The capsule included a letter to the present-day congregation, a newspaper and a few other things that reflected the concerns of their day. “Two primary concerns were discrimination against immigrants and women’s rights, which remain important themes for us today,” says Mark.
Today Augustana has more than 50 servant teams, standing committees and councils designed to take social action on immigration reform, hunger, advocacy and more.
There are six nonprofit organizations located at the church rent free, he says. Each organization — spanning from a society for Haitian art, culture and social support to an organization that promotes holistic family well-being for Latinos — does “millions of dollars worth of justice work. It is life-giving for us as a congregation and to the community.” Nearly 30,000 people visit Augustana’s ministries a year.
Augustana is also a gathering place for many other community groups, including the Native American Youth Association, a farm worker task force, a police accountability committee and more.
“People come here because they can see their faith connecting to the world. They want to do justice and peace work, transform systems that are unjust, and they want to lift up children and elders. The young adults who attend church want to be here, because they want to be part of a community that’s not afraid to live out their faith,” he says.
A rebirth
When Mark was called to Augustana in 1996, there were 233 members on record, “which was sort of a low point,” says Mark. The congregation then wondered if they should merge with another congregation a few blocks away.
“We decided to rebirth the congregation instead,” says Mark, which included mortgaging the property to refurnish the building.
“We became intentional about being multicultural, multinational. We became a servant congregation of justice seekers and peacemakers, welcoming and affirming every person who came through the door. We care for creation. We seek to be faithful friends working to weave our acceptance of people with the love of community. That’s what we want to be about as a congregation.”
When asked if there is an extensive evangelism program, Mark admits that there hasn’t been much of an emphasis there. He says a congregation must be intentional about mission, and just physically “opening doors. That alone will bring life.”
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