Loading...An old suburban congregation in Louisville, Kentucky has grown both spiritually and numerically since welcoming 108 Karen and Karenni political refugees from Burma into its fold.
“Sometimes you do not find your mission, it finds you” says the Rev. Dr. Charles Hawkins, rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Louisville, Kentucky.
Before the refugees arrived in Louisville, St. Mark’s had undertaken an extensive long range planning exercise and the result of that process was a determination that the congregation needed new mission work. “After a great deal of conversation about what the nature of our mission might be, we suddenly find our mission on our doorstep,” Hawkins said.
The Karen and the Karenni -- political refugees from a hilly region in eastern Burma and western Thailand -- have increased the average Sunday attendance at St. Mark’s from 175 to 235. In 1999, St. Mark’s averaged 135 in worship on a typical Sunday. St. Mark’s added at third service targeting young adults in 2003. Now, the parish has added a fourth service to serve this community of refugees.
A minority in Burma, the Karen and the Karenni were victims of genocide. Five years ago, the State Department began resettling them in the United States. Someconceivable settled in Louisville, Kentucky.
Many Christian Karen are Anglican, a legacy from Britain’s 19th century involvement in Burma, a country many now call Myanmar.
The refugees, who had been farmers before settling in the United States, have had to adapt to urban living. The resettlement has meant change in almost every conceivable way for this people group. Being able to worship together, in a familiar style, brings some comfort in the midst of the changes and chances of the transition.
The new mission has also meant new partnerships. The Baptist congregation next door is the site of the major outreach effort in the community to this population group. Because of the work of the famous Baptist missionary, Adoniram Judson, many Karen are Baptists. St. Mark’s and Crescent Hill Baptist Church are working together to meet the needs of those who have found their way to Louisville. "We are, by the grace of God, a mission-focused congregation ," says Hawkins.
Each weekend, St. Mark’s holds four worship services: one of the Sunday morning services is multicultural and multilingual and family oriented. “The worship is sublime and heartwarming. It is our Holy Commotion service with lots of wonderful energy, movement, and sacred chaos. We come together, none of us fully understanding the other (in rather obvious ways), and we worship together. It is beautiful. We worship in three languages, two of which I don’t speak” said Hawkins.
Since beginning to worship at St. Mark’s two Anglican priests have held services for the new congregation. One traveled from Burma and has now returned to his ministry in the refugee camps. The second serves a refugee population in Smyrna, Tenneessee. The Rev. Thomas Bu Christ conducted the service in Sgaw Karen, using a prayer book translated from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer; the book used by the first Anglican missionaries to Burma. Hymns are sung in Sgaw Karen, Kayah Li, and English but set to tunes familiar to Anglicans around the world.
Three different service leaflets are prepared each week for the three language groups who worship together. Scripture, hymns and liturgy, when available in Sgaw Karen and Kayah Li, are made available for the worshipping community. The choir is composed of singers from all three language groups. Every Sunday is Pentecost at St. Mark’s.
The two most heavily attended services each weekend happen either before or after the fully integrated Sunday School program. Christian formation, appropriately, has become the focus of the two groups interacting. The way in which the non-refugee members are reaching out to the refugees is obvious, but Hawkins says not to miss the irony. Hawkins quotes Jesus, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” and then comments “Those who are truly being blessed by God are the third generation St. Markers, who have been given the opportunity to meet the Christ in a powerful way. The old timer’s are receiving so much more than they are giving, their faith is being formed in remarkable ways and they owe it all to the stranger they’ve been called to welcome.”
St. Mark’s is a once pastoral-size congregation, now suddenly program-size, on historic Frankfort Avenue in Crescent Hill, Kentucky; a once a suburban neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky but now urban in density and proximity to downtown. And now, thanks to their newest members, a very cosmopolitan place to be.
The multi-cultural, multi-lingual, family oriented service of worship is held on Sundays at 9:00 a.m., 2822 Frankfort Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky. A Christmas pageant, staged jointly by children from both communities, will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve. A special Christmas party, hosted by the Sgaw Karen and Karenni, will follow the 10:00 a.m. Christmas Day worship service.
###
If you would like more information, you may contact St. Mark’s at (502) 895-2429 or by email at parish.office@stmlky.org. You may contact the Rev. Dr. Charles Hawkins, Rector of St. Mark’s, at charles.hawkins@stmlky.org or on his cell phone (502) 396-8183. You may find more information about St. Mark’s at www.stmlky.org
