Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly . INTERVIEW . Rev. Lance Eden . April 14, 2006

Read more of Kim Lawton's interview with the Reverend Lance Eden, pastor of First Street United Methodist Church in New Orleans:

Q: I know you haven't been in New Orleans very long, and you just graduated from seminary.

Photo of LANCE EDEN

A: I graduated from seminary [The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta] in June of 2005 and was appointed to the First Street United Methodist Church -- my first appointment, the youngest appointed pastor in the Louisiana conference, and Katrina hits. It has been an every-day adventure. It's the only way I can put it. I know what I've been called to do. You don't always know if you are prepared; you just step forward wherever you can help and make a difference. It's been chaos, and I always say that God called order out of chaos in the beginning.

Q: Tell me what the congregation was like when you came. How did you feel about coming to Louisiana?

A: It was a homecoming. I graduated from Dillard University and went away for seminary, got the training, was ready, eager to come back to duplicate the type of fivefold ministry that was happening in Atlanta and help the United Methodist Church in that way, with that type of leadership, if possible. It was very exciting coming to First Street. This was like the mother church, a historic church founded in 1833. They had on the records 900 members, and I remember, growing up, they would have two and three services a weekend, just packed. I was, like, how are they going to send a first-time pastor to this large of a church? But little did I know that things had changed over the years, and they had been on a slow decline. So, when I arrived it was approximately 75 active members, and many on the roll, but not active. I came in willing to work and excited about what could happen. That first Sunday they brought me in, in the old tradition of pastor, and I sat on the back row. I guess a pastor who had been around a while, who was in the United Methodist community, introduced me and called me to come forward, as if I had just arrived that day. The people were excited, my family was here, the church was packed, and it's been packed 'most every Sunday since. I think they just needed a rebirth, something new, a young person to come in and ignite that fire.

Q: How did Katrina affect that?

A: We were getting to a point where the planning, the vision for the next few years would start. We would have Bible study and have 45 to 65 persons on a Wednesday night. Persons were joining the church, approximately two every Sunday -- it was just constant, so that was making a big difference. The people were seeing the vitality. Katrina came and just disturbed, I guess, the flow of that. I can only talk about it as it happened, because looking back upon it, there are some blessings that came out of it. Just at that moment, we all thought we would be back in a few days, you know, and then this extended time just made such an impact and really caused many churches to have to fold and close, and we really thought this church would have suffered in that way. It impacted the community -- persons, you know, are still not coming back and have not been able to come back. So it's played a great role in the chaos, the continual spiral of that.

Q: The church wasn't really damaged during the storm.

A: It was barely damaged. We have some structural damage that we're looking at now. By its being such an old building, a historic building, there are some things that we are looking at that are going to be issues in the future. But, basically, we did not have the damage that other churches had. We did have water in our sanctuary, water in other places. But we had persons who stayed here during the storm, and they kept sweeping the water out, and so as soon as I could get back in, we used a shop vac and we tried to clean up the sanctuary and just make it presentable again, and October 16 we opened up for the first service again.

Q: But personally you suffered a lot of loss.

A: Yes. I lost my home, my grandparents' home, as well. I lived with my grandmother, and we just all lived in community together. My grandmother, my dad -- my grandfather passed away two years ago. With this church being so small, they didn't have the funds to have a parsonage or give me [an] adequate housing allowance, so I said, "Well, I'll just live with Grandma," and that was good. My grandparents had a big house, and it was exciting being there with them, and so that's where I was staying, and we lost everything, everything -- everything from cars to, you know, your personal items. There were a few suits that I was able to salvage, and pictures -- thankfully, my grandmother was the keeper of the family history. We date some 200 years here in Louisiana, so all that was safe, and we were glad about that. But, still in all, you have to deal with the loss, and it was described as like losing a loved one but not being able to bury them. You're just stuck with that loss and having to deal with it every day. For many people, it's just mind-boggling to deal with it. A lot of people, they just can't come back to it and face it. I really feel that you have to face it in order to get over it.

Q: So what are you doing?

A: I am staying between my office and the RV that two angels, two women from Ely, Minnesota, drove down for my family. They called the church, and they were asking if there was someone who needed an RV. They called my cell phone. I felt very strange about saying it was [for] me. I didn't know what else to say except I just felt the urge that says, "This is your opportunity. This is the time you better speak up. You might not get this opportunity again." So I said, "I could use one." And they said, "Well, no, we're looking for a family unit. Who is your family unit?" I said, "Well, my grandmother, my dad, myself, my brother's children." My brother was away in Iraq at that time. They said, "We weren't looking for a grandmother. We were looking for a husband and wife and two kids." I kept talking and something must have [clicked] with her and she said, "You're the one; then you're it." So they started the process of bringing it down, and that's where my family's been staying. My dad and my grandmother have been there. My brother's back now, and he's getting ready to go back again to Iraq, so we may have his kids again. The RV is the place I use to get away when I need time to get away.

Q: Is it difficult to deal with your own losses at the same time that you are trying to handle everything else?

A: It was difficult in the beginning. It's much easier now, because out of my experience I can relate. You have a lot of preachers who evacuated in their private jet, went to their other mansion, and have already built another mansion. I can relate to where the people are and where they've been. In the beginning, it was hard because I was trying to get the church established, trying to do what I needed to do at my own home, and I just could not balance it. It was just not happening. Then volunteers came and made a world of difference for my home and then the church. I was able to continue with the work here.

Q: What kinds of losses did the people in your congregation suffer?

A: Many like me -- home, jobs. So many of them now are about to lose their land. So many of them -- they've had the same type of loss. We had a distribution center here at the church for several months, from October to the end of January, and many of them came needing food, clothes, those types of necessities. They lost a lot, they lost a lot, and each day we hear story after story of them still losing things, as FEMA has not responded or the Red Cross has not helped them or the insurance has not come through.

Q: What spiritual issues are they dealing with?

A: "How would God allow this to happen to me?" People are dealing with theology that they are getting from television and other places on prosperity that they have internalized -- you know, "I should have plenty" and "I should get much more; I will be blessed." They are trying to balance that [with] what has happened. I really feel that they are dealing with those issues of where is it that I stand with God? When is God going to come in with his sword and his shield and handle the situation?

Q: What do you tell them?

A: Bad things happen, storms come, destruction comes, devastating things happen in life, but God gives us the strength to make it through. Often I refer back to those who came through slavery and through civil rights. Injustices happened, but they made it through, and we are at a brighter and better day today. Here we are with this storm, and if we were able to come through those storms, we can make it through this and survive. We have a God that helps us to endure, that sustains us. It's not like the candy store that just keeps giving and giving and giving out so much. We have to wrestle with this God that allows these things to happen, but recovers us as well.

Q: Tell me about the volunteers and what you have to do now.

A: This church said they wanted to be an outreaching mission church, and it has come to pass through the storm. Originally we started off with the distribution center, just to meet the needs of those in the community, and as that usefulness wore out, we realized that it was time to get more volunteers in to help persons gut their homes and reclaim the things they would like to salvage. Now we have volunteers who are here, living in the church, working out of the church in the form of a hands-on network. They have been a great blessing for us. Some are Americorps alums, and those members of a hands-on network working out of the church and helping persons in their homes. Prior to their being here, volunteer teams would come that were [making an impact on] the community. Now we have a structure in place where we can gut a home in one day. Before, right after Katrina, it would take us almost three to five days to gut one home. So it's been a blessing. That's what we are doing. That's where we are. We're approximately able to house 100 volunteers a day. We just thought if we had 100 volunteers on the ground a day doing this work, what an impact it would have in the communities.

Q: And you are still gutting houses, six and a half months after the hurricane?

A: We are still gutting houses. It's an ever-going process and work. The problem is the government is not doing it; the city's not doing it. The only organized group that's doing it is the churches and these community groups that are making it happen, that are working so effectively to do this. We are there on the forefront.

Q: What additional responsibilities does that give you?

A: Besides being a pastor and having many more members than I had before the storm -- because we were the only African-American United Methodist church open for a long time, so everyone was coming here and I was the only pastor -- besides the everyday being a pastor, I also had to take on the role of directing the volunteers, making arrangements for them to come here to stay, making arrangements for them to have places to work and get them out into the community. The roles have become numerous and multitasked.

Q: After Katrina, you were also called on to preach at the funerals of people who had died. What was that like?

A: I don't even think all of the persons are on record, from Houston to Atlanta, who died, from senior assisted-living places who -- just the stress of the travel -- they couldn't make it. So, coming back, funeral homes would just call and say, "Look, we have a family, they need a pastor. We don't know who else to call. You're here in the community." I would go and meet with the family before the service a little bit, just to get some information and try to say some words about the person, and then when all else would fail, I would just preach Jesus and, by the grace of God, many times they would say, "You were right there, like you knew my brother." I just knew that was God, because there it was no way for me to know. We did that for at least seven funerals at funeral homes and not including funerals we housed here at the church -- persons I did not know, but they came in and asked if they could use the church, or a pastor would call and say, "I'm displaced. Can you do this for me?" We did many of those here, as well as members. We've had about four members pass, so we've had both [types of] services, and then since Katrina we've had several funerals. I've had three since the New Year here. I didn't realize I was going to do so many funerals in my first six months of being a pastor. I did not wish that, but those times have come, and I've just tried to be present.

Q: For a young pastor, that's an incredible challenge.

A: It is. I am just thankful for my upbringing and thankful for the education that I received at ITC that helped to prepare me for this moment. I don't how else you can be there except to just show up and let God do the rest.

Q: Do you think seminary prepared you for what you have to deal with here?

A: I do, I do. A lot of people say seminary does not prepare you for the everyday church stuff, and I agree; that's true. But the teaching about being with the people, being a leader, showing up and being present in their need -- ITC just gave that to us wholeheartedly. The last sermon I heard while I was at ITC, at the baccalaureate service, Dr. Carolyn Ann Knight preached on "You're Built for the Road Ahead." I talked to her some weeks after the storm and I said, "Did you know that was for me? Because you impressed [on us] all that we were trained, all that we were taught, the knowledge that we gained would help us on the next journey and the next road." It really has been a blessing, my seminary training, and I just recall so many classes, so many things that the professors spoke into our ears to hear, and that has helped, that has helped. Yes.

Q: What's an average day like for you?

A: An average day starts off about 5:30 a.m. I try to work out every day to keep my sanity, and so I could continue the marathon and not just sprint. I will get up and try to do that. Then I'm here at the office. Before I get to the office, which is normally about 9:30, sometimes 10:00, I've been hit with calls, need to make a run to the hospital. "Can you come visit this member or come visit this person in the community?" "Can we meet quickly for coffee? We need to talk to you about this" -- from some community leader. I'll get to the church, and then you're hit with everything here. The secretary rattles off this one called, that one called; you need this, you need that; run here, run there. Then we're out and going, and the majority of the day I will visit the sites that our volunteers are working, just to see how the progress is going, meet with different community leaders to plan what our next moves are. We've been working with ACT -- All Congregations Together. That's ongoing and continuing. When 5:30 p.m. comes, 6:00 p.m., I'm trying to head home and will have things packed, and then 30 minutes later I'm still at the office and it's going toward 7:00 p.m. I'm going down the stairs, and I get down the stairs, and someone catches me: "Oh, we need to [catch] you up on what happened today," and before the end of the day it's 9:00 p.m., and I'm tired, and I don't feel like driving, so I end up staying in my office, and the day rolls over to the next day, and I roll up out of my bed from my office to my desk, start typing, answer e-mails, those things I missed the day before, and try to catch up.

Q: How do you keep your own spiritual strength up?

A: The church has been my life from childhood. It was the center of the community, so being here is not always stressful to me. They say, you know, "Don't become a workaholic; go home." But it feels like home, in a sense, so I'm used to it. It feels like the place I'm supposed to be, and so equaling that out with those times I know I need a break and I need to retreat -- it's those times I have to say, "Look, see you. Hit the door. Y'all call me in the morning. I just can't take any more," and I'll be headed home. Being home with my grandmother helps to center me spiritually. My grandmother is just such a strong, spiritual woman in her age and her demeanor. It just calms me and brings me back -- and my dad, in his comedic way of talking about the church and all that's happened. I do that and center myself, pray a lot, try to stay focused on the goal, and that's to help the people in the community and remember that's the work we should be doing.

Q: Are there particular scriptural passages or other readings that have meant a lot to you during this time?

A: It's been A PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE. I know a lot of people talk about that book. I refer back to having purpose in life, [knowing] where you're going. Also, Dr. Jeremiah Wright has a book called WHAT MAKES YOU SO STRONG? SERMONS OF JOY AND STRENGTH (Judson Press). I read that a good bit. And passages of Scripture: "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?" [Psalm 27:1]. Knowing that "we are more than conquerors through Christ" [Romans 8:37]. "We can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us" [Philippians 4:13]. Those things I reflect back upon, and they encourage me. I love Dr. Wright, I love Michael Eric Dyson. He has a new book out called COME HELL OR HIGH WATER (Perseus Books). Those things keep me going. I listen to a lot of preaching. I can buy tapes of someone preaching; I just listen to that. And gospel music -- when I am riding in my car I'm playing that, my head is bopping, you would think I was one of the hip-hoppers with other music going. But gospel music inspires me in a way that no other music does. I listen to other music, but there's something about the inspiration. It just lifts you up and helps you to carry on.

Q: Do Good Friday themes, Resurrection themes, and the seasonal themes of Easter have new meaning for you this year because of everything you've been going through?

A: Definitely, definitely. Being able to understand on Good Friday how Jesus suffered and understood our suffering, knowing that if Jesus suffered and we're followers of Christ, there's going to be some suffering we're going to face and go through. I feel now and still feel that I'm in between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. We are that Saturday, that day those old preachers say Jesus went down to the gates of hell and took the keys, and everybody was waiting on what was to happen next. We're in that waiting moment, to see what's going to happen. But this year, Easter will be a true celebration of resurrection, of rebirth. Like the phoenix, we can come back and come alive, and we're going to celebrate that resurrection here in New Orleans, and that rebirth and new life will happen.

Q: How hard is it to have a Resurrection faith when you are dealing with bureaucratic red tape and insurance agencies that aren't responding and people who feel they have been forgotten?

A: It's difficult, and I say that as a preacher. It's difficult, so I know for the people it is. I preach through it. They don't have the opportunity to preach through it, and so for me it's that trust, knowing that my resources don't come from man. If God didn't wake any of us up this morning, then we would not have what we have, we would not be what we are. It's that trust that God is providing and that God is going to make a way. We get the testimonies of persons saying, "Hey, someone took me in, someone gave me this. I have more than I had before the storm, pastor." You get these stories, and I say, "Hey, look at God. God provided." So to the persons I look at and see every day, I say, "You are still here, and now that's a blessing in itself." We're still here, because so many persons are not. So those who remain, the remnant -- we can celebrate that we're here. That's how I deal with it -- that trust and that faith that God will see us through, and that he allowed us to be here for a reason.

Q: This was a poor neighborhood before Katrina hit. Are you seeing new opportunities for rebirth here?

A: Definitely. New opportunities, because when you take a Katrina and you put it on top of an already poor community, the devastation is even that much greater. There is great opportunity, and we're jumping at it every moment. Prior to the storm, this community was one of the high crime areas of the city and, literally, I would be dressed in blue jeans and tennis shoes every day, except when I had meetings or that sort of thing, because we would run and dodge. One moment I would be at one corner, dealing with a family who just had a relative that was shot, and they would call me within the next moment [and] a block away someone else was just shot. That was my experience coming here. Now there's an opportunity. We're starting to see those same patterns slowly come back, but we have persons in place who are trying to get a hold of that again, and it's not like what it was. So we're glad that crime is low, and it's down. We have great opportunity here, a great opportunity. It's my desire, now that things are established and that the church is back, for me to be able to walk door to door in this community and see what individual household needs are, if they have a church home, if they have a spiritual covering.

Q: What are some of the biggest spiritual lessons you learned over the last year?

A: I've learned that people want a Jesus, a Christ that is real. I've learned that people, the world -- they are looking for a Jesus that we preach about and teach about, they are looking for a Jesus that is very real, very present with them. When you preach and you teach "God will provide," are you opening up your doors as a church and providing and saying, "This is the Christ that will feed you," "This is the Christ that will bring healing in a way that you need"? Showing that, being that will be an example of Christ's love -- [that] is the greatest spiritual lesson that I've gained and learned. People just want you to be real. Just be real.

Q: Have there been moments in the past year that caused you to ask, is this where I am supposed to be?

A: There have been times. But every time there's a thought, there's something that counters it and lets you know, "You am right where I want you to be. See what I'm doing? See how this is happening?" It makes me know that I couldn't do anything else.