Why Tab? Partners in the Gospel
Why Tab? Partners in the Gosple by Rev. L. John Gable
July 23, 2023
The past several weeks we have been exploring answers to the question I asked 15 years ago – the same question each of us must ask and answer for ourselves still today – Why Tab?
We began with the observation I first made about Tab: its ability to balance Christ-centered preaching and teaching from the pulpit and social engagement in the community, not an easy balance for most congregations to maintain. We then looked at Tab’s “deep keel” which has maintained and sustained us through the numerous changes of our 172 years of ministry: our location, the inter-generational character of our congregation, our generosity in support of this ministry and mission, the legacy programs we offer and our commitment to stay the course through traditions which continue to guide and sustain us.
The answer to the “Why Tab?” question I’d like for us to focus on this morning is our commitment to ministry in and to the community, particularly through and alongside our mission partners. Caring for the needs of our neighbors, service beyond ourselves, is part of our DNA. It is written into our mission statement and is perhaps the primary reason many of our new members say they were first attracted to Tab, because of our commitment to this neighborhood and the city. It pleases me that people see this and recognize it as being an important part of who we are because we have been doing it this way for a long, long time. Tab has its fingerprints on more programs and organizations than I can list.
This idea of partnering with others in the ministry of the Gospel is not unique in and of itself, this is what Paul was writing to the Romans about in the passage we read this morning, but our approach to ministry through partnerships is unique for several different reasons. Let me offer this illustration from nature.
It has generally been thought that trees in a forest are disconnected loners, competing with one another for water, nutrients and sunlight, with winners and losers, a kind of survival of the fittest. There is substantial scientific evidence, however, that shows that forest trees actually live in community with one another, cooperative, interdependent relationships maintained by communication and collective intelligence, similar to an insect colony. While our eyes are drawn up to the canopy above, the real action is taking place underground. Take for example the redwood which can grow 275 feet tall but has remarkably shallow roots, often only 5-6 feet deep. How do they withstand the weather and survive for hundreds, even thousands of years? The redwoods grow in thick groves which allow their shallow roots to become intertwined with those of other trees and over time they fuse together. They start out as individuals and become one with others as they mature and grow. Some are calling this (catch this) the “wood-wide web”, allowing the trees to share water and nutrients, and even communicating with one another by sending distress signals about drought and disease or insect attacks. Trees are not the competitors we once thought them to be at all, but companions and partners.
What does this have to do with churches, Tab specifically? Many view churches as lone rangers, independent contractors, perhaps some even seen as competitors, each working alone, doing their own thing, and regrettably too many churches function that way, but not Tab. We have a long history of partnerships in this community and an even more unique history of birthing, then launching separate 501c3, not for profit, organizations to better serve the community. I like to think of this as a shift from a model of “church building” to that of “Kingdom building.” Let’s start there by using two or three well known examples: the Raphael Health Center, the Neighborhood Christian Legal Center and the Oaks Academy.
Imagine if we had tried to keep any one of these “in house” as a sub-committee of Session? They would not, could not grow and expand to be the vibrant and vital ministries they are, but rather would find themselves continually struggling to find enough interested members to serve on their committees and arm wrestling for funds from an already in demand annual church budget. That is where great ideas go to die, but somewhere in our history someone came up with the idea of incubating these good ministry ideas and then launching them out as separate 5013c’s – independent, yes, but also inter-dependent. Like parents launching their young adult children, we continue to support our not-for-profit children with board members and funding, as well as our prayers, but we also set them free to make their own decisions as best they see fit. Brilliant!
These relationships allow us to maintain partnerships with others who are doing Gospel/Kingdom work in a variety of different ways. Several months ago our mission committee offered an evening of prayer for our mission partners. Members of the committee read a brief description of the work each of them is doing and then shared with us the prayer requests they had given us. Under Terri’s leadership the mission committee has worked hard to establish and re-establish our relationships with our partners, so that we can actually know them and better know what they are doing, so that we can better understand how we can best support them, not just send them a check every month.
The diversity of ministries we support is tremendous. Do you want to assist our neighbors in need? We can help you do that through the Open Door Café, Tab Community Cares, Fresh Stop, Circles, Mozel Sanders Thanksgiving meal, and the Mid North Food Pantry. Or is your interest more in children and youth? We can help with that as well through the Oaks Academy, Tab Tutoring, Free Wheelin’ Bikes, Horizons at St. Richard’s, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Perhaps you are more concerned about some of the systemic issues facing our community, like legal services, health care, housing, poverty relief, prison ministry, community development. Yes, we have partners in each of those areas as well. Or maybe your heart is to reach the global community? We’ve got partners in Thailand, Mongolia, Colombia, Romania, Asia and Kenya. In response to Jesus’ parting words to His disciples to “be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”, we have ministry partners in Indianapolis, the state, the region, the country and the world.
Years ago I heard a speaker say, “You can measure the impact and influence of your organization by measuring the void that would be left if your organization wasn’t there.” The void that would be left if Tab were not here would be enormous.
One day, several years ago, I was told that one of the workers who was laying carpeting downstairs wanted to see me. I walked down to meet him assuming he was going to ask me if we could help him in some way. To the contrary, he introduced himself, shook my hand and handed me a $20 bill. He said, “Walking in here today I remembered that my mom brought us here for lunch when we were kids because we didn’t have any food in the house. This church helped keep our family together. It isn’t much, but I just want to say “thank you.” That story, or some variation of it, has been repeated in a myriad of different ways as those we’ve helped through the years have returned to say “thank you.”
In my files I have an editorial from the Indianapolis Star from December 5, 1997, written I believe by Russ Pulliam. It is titled, “Worth of the Church”, and it opens, “Walk by the corner of 34th and Central any hour of the day and you’ll find kids playing basketball, pregnant moms getting checkups and retired folks tutoring teens. None of it happens due to government policy or taxpayer funds, but through the good will and social convictions of the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, which has occupied the corner for most of the century.”
He goes on to cite a study conducted by Partners for Sacred Places in Philadelphia and funded by the Lilly Endowment identifying the enormous worth of religious buildings to their cities. For example:
“The average congregation supports at least four permanent programs that serve people in need, from food pantries to parent support groups, from youth recreation to Habitat for Humanity chapters. Ninety one percent of congregations offer their buildings to community outreach programs.” I can’t begin to list the number of programs we host, they are many.
“Among those who benefit from community programs housed in religious buildings, those who are not members of the congregation outnumber members by 4 to 1.” I began to think about that ratio in our programs. In the Open Door Café, each day 10 or so volunteers serve between 70-90 guests. In Tab Rec, we have 2 full time staff members, and a host of volunteer coaches, who serve 1500 children playing on our fields through our programs. How could we even begin to calculate the impact of Raphael, the Legal Clinic, the Oaks Academy?
I heard once about a headline in a small town newspaper that read, “The tornado that destroyed the Presbyterian Church did no damage to the city.” That would not be true if such were to happen to Tab.
I hope you know, I tell you these stories not in any way to boast but to encourage because these are the ministries we believe God has given us to do, so do them we must.
Given that, let me be clear: these relationships are not self-sustaining. These ministries of outreach and caring and compassion do not run themselves. Each and every one of them require support: financial and spiritual, and individuals who will do the hands on parts of the ministry and service. I was visiting with one of our members a year or so ago who was helping with our Tab Community Cares program. He was waiting for one of our neighbors who was coming in to ask for assistance with her utility bill or some other need. I thanked him for what he was doing and said, “I hope you enjoy it.” He looked me in the eye and said, “I really don’t, but I know it is an important ministry and I believe God has called me to do it and given me this opportunity.” Not the answer I was expecting, but it was honest and true. Some of the ministries we are called to do in Jesus’ name are exactly that ministries we are called to do in Jesus’ name…and Tab and Tab folks have been doing these kinds of ministries for a long, long time.
Let me close with this story. I have a friend who was serving as pastor of a Presbyterian, not unlike Tab, which was 100 years old. They decided to honor all of the members of the various building committees who had served and cared for their church through the years. A wonderful idea, but one week before the celebration one man, Howard Beckworth, a man who had served on nearly every one of those committees through the years, died. Talking with his son before the funeral service, my friend said, “We really wanted to honor your dad, not just this building.” The fellow, who happened to be a geneticist, responded, “You know, people go to the Grand Canyon and say, ‘Look how old these rocks are without realizing their own genes are many times older.’ The history of this old church is not in the stones, but in its DNA.”
Tab’s commitment to ministry and mission in this place and around the globe, in partnership with others, is not in these stones; it is part of our DNA and may it ever be so. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. L. John Gable
Tabernacle Presbyterian Church
Indianapolis, IN