A Brief Overview of the Life & Ministry of

The Downtown Presbyterian Church

Presented to The Downtown Lions Club of

Nashville, TN, December 22, 2003

Rev. Kenneth M. Locke

“We are a downtown church. Some regard this as a handicap. I look upon it as an asset. Give me a church where life is densest, and human need is greatest – not a church in some sequestered sylvan retreat, not a temple in some lonely solitude far removed from the walks of life and attended only by the children of privilege and leisure, but give me a church whose doorstep is on the pavement, against whose walls beat and lap the tides of labor, whose hymns mingle with the rattle of cars and the groans of traffic, whose seats are within easy reach of men falling under heavy burdens, and whose altars are hallowed by the publican’s prayer. God grant that this old church on the busiest corner of town may increasingly be this kind of church!”

Rev. Dr. James I. Vance, on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the First Presbyterian Church of Nashville, 1914.

Those are the words of Rev. Dr. James I. Vance, former pastor of my church, spoken in 1914 on the occasion of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the First Presbyterian Church of Nashville. Under Dr. Vance’s leadership First Presbyterian became one of the largest and most powerful churches both in Nashville and in Presbyterianism. For many it was the church in town.

But barely 40 years later, in 1955, Dr. Walter Courtenay, then pastor of First Presbyterian, convinced the congregation that the future lay in the suburbs. And doubtless he was right. Downtown Nashville was about to enter a period of decline. The mass production and affordability of the automobile was hastening the growth of the suburbs, and church attendance, while still mandatory in most social circles, had more to do with convenience and preference than tradition. So in 1955 two-thirds of the congregation, about 600 souls, moved to the suburbs of Oak Hill on Franklin Rd.

But a remnant of the congregation, 300 of the 900 members, voted to stay and remain a downtown church. They bought the property, which had been slated to become a parking lot, and on Easter Sunday, 1956, constituted themselves as The Downtown Presbyterian Church.

And so the DPC continued being a Downtown Church. There were ministries for the poor. Some of the first integrated church meals and civic activities in Nashville were held there. During the Korean and Vietnam wars the church hosted servicemen, giving them a place to relax. Programs for men being released from prison were started. But Dr. Courtenay had been extremely farsighted. Parking became an issue. Convenience mattered more and more. Downtown Nashville saw increasing numbers of panhandlers and prostitutes and other forms of vice. I would like to say the church grew during these periods but it did not. In fact, membership declined precipitously during the 1970s and 80s before bottoming out and beginning a new period of growth in the 1990s.

Today, The Downtown Presbyterian Church is an active, vital congregation of about 150 members with 70-90 persons present on most Sundays. We are committed to being downtown and to ministering to the downtown community. That ministry is moving broadly along three fronts.

First and most visibly, and what we are most known for, is our ministry to the homeless. You may know that every Wednesday, 50 weeks out of the year, we have a free lunch for Nashville’s homeless and urban poor. Chapel is at 12:00 though it is not mandatory. Anyone can eat. Lunch usually starts about 12:20. Last Wednesday we hit a new record: 240 persons, about half of whom had seconds. How do we do it? Lots of volunteers, lots of money and lots of prayer. Some food comes from Nashville’s Tables but we generally spend close to $250 each week from our own funds for food and supplies.

Along with Wednesday lunch we also provide Sunday breakfast of grits, coffee and cinnamon toast from 8:30-9:30. We have been averaging 80-90 people on Sundays. Again, volunteers, money and prayer make it happen. We get the bread from Provence at the Nashville Public Library but the rest comes from our own funds.

Besides food we try to serve in other ways. In the last four weeks our Pastor’s Discretionary Fund wrote 28 checks for a total of $529.00. This money went for everything from ID cards to prescription drugs, from Greyhound tickets to special infant formula for a baby with AIDS.

But a lot of our homeless ministry is simply hospitality. Every week you will find homeless people in our worship service. Every week someone uses the church phone to call about a job or getting TennCare benefits. Sometimes I help them dial because their fingers are stiff and their glasses are weak. Every week someone just sits and tells me their story.

Food, assistance, compassion – this is all part of our ministry of hospitality to the homeless and urban poor.

Another one of our ministries is our arts ministry. If you’ve been inside the church you know it is an artistic marvel. What you may not know is on the third floor of our education wing we have studio space for six practicing artists. Some are members of the church. Some are not. Some are active in our life and ministry. Some are not. But that is not the point. The point is to give young artists an inexpensive place to work and find their legs. Their work has been featured at the Tennessee State Museum and various venues around town. And their simple presence is drawing more and more attention to us and is attracting like-minded persons to come and see what we are about.

Every year during Lent we hold an art show with a juried prize. Past winners are displayed on our walls. Last year the prize was $800 and one of the judges was the head of the Tennessee Arts Commission. The show not only featured art but two public lectures and a free concert.

Finally, we believe we are called to minister to the business community. Most people working in the high-rises around us are not sleeping under bridges or getting their food from a church kitchen, but addiction, poor relationships, despair and a need for meaning in life are not the sole province of the poor.

Our chapel is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at lunch for anyone wishing to sit and simply meditate. One of our regulars in this ministry plays a mean jazz piano and if you’re lucky you’ll catch him at it.

On Tuesdays we offer a brown-bag Bible study that is one of the most eclectic Bible studies I’ve ever had the pleasure of leading. Legal workers, state employees, money managers, even a few retired folks (among them a surgeon and a professional athlete) bring their lunches and join us for some of the most freewheeling Bible studies you are ever likely to find. All theologies, backgrounds and level of Bible knowledge are welcome. All that’s needed is an open mind and a willingness to challenge and be challenged.

Finally, there is our Taizé Tuesday service, a service of meditation and evening prayers. Come as you are, come when you can every Tuesday from 4:45–5:10 and join us in the chapel for soft music, soft lighting and lots of candles. If you’ve had a rough day or are looking at a difficult evening this time is designed for you. From 4:45-5:30 we have a formal service of evening prayers complete with Scripture, time for meditation and prayers from our Book of Common Worship.

So you see, The Downtown Presbyterian Church is more than an architectural marvel, it is more than a museum. It is a thriving, integral part of the life of Downtown Nashville. I could also mention the annual Waffle Shop, our support for The Downtown Partnership, the ministries we support in Nashville, the civic events we host, the Alcoholics Anonymous that meets in our building, the hundreds of school children who visit us every year and many other facets of our life but time precludes me. Instead, let me invite you to come and see the difference we are making downtown. Understand, I’m not asking you to leave your church and transfer your membership.

Instead, I’m inviting you to come to Bible study, come to Taizé Tuesday, spend a lunch hour sitting in the chapel relaxing. I’m challenging you as individuals and as organizations to support our homeless ministry. For $250 your company can buy a Wednesday lunch. We’ll let our parishioners know about your largesse. If you have enough people we’ll tell our volunteers to take the day off and you can come and serve. The Peanut Gallery in the Arcade does this annually and has found it tremendously rewarding.

In closing, let me say again we are indeed a downtown church. We are serving where life is densest and human need is greatest. Our doorstep is on the pavement, and against our walls beat and lap the tides of labor; our hymns mingle with the rattle of cars and the groans of traffic, and men and women of all walks of life are coming here and finding ease from their heavy burdens.

Our prayer is that God will continue to bless us as we continue serving this wonderful city.