“By worshipping in our community, it becomes easier to share one another’s burdens. We become accountable one to another because we are seeing each other on a regular basis, and not just on Sunday morning.”

If reviving a parish model of church ministry is the goal, perhaps there is no greater testing ground than in the gritty exuberance of post-Katrina New Orleans — a city described as the best example of heaven on earth, and the best example of hell on earth. Here, the rate of evangelical church attendance is one-quarter that of New York City; crime, poverty, and corruption abound, and the city continues to experience significant challenges as it rebuilds after Hurricane Katrina.

Ray Cannata, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA), feels especially called to serve as the “parish pastor” within New Orleans’ Uptown neighborhood of 60,000 people. He seeks to serve his neighborhood in myriad ways to see schools improved, justice served, crime reduced, and lives transformed by the power of the gospel through the work of the church. “We want to be used by God to see this place look more like the kingdom,” he says.

Focusing on geographical community in this intensive way, referred to as a neighborhood model or parish model of church planting, is an old concept that is experiencing revival within the PCA and beyond — particularly within urban contexts.

This revival sparks several questions: Do smaller knots of believers living intentionally within their distinct neighborhoods reflect biblical teachings? Can it result in a church becoming a visible, distinctive part of the community, where neighbors are attracted to the faith and local institutions are enhanced?

Redefining the Parish Model

Whereas parish churches traditionally functioned as administrative units of the greater church body (one priest for one church for one district), today’s model focuses more specifically on close-in regional churches that have a passion to reach non-Christian neighbors through collaborative ministry. Frequently, such churches are planted in areas where the church is in decline, and that are underrepresented by traditional Christianity.

This is certainly true of New Song Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Salt Lake City, Utah, where Sam Wheatley serves as senior pastor. “We have a radical desire for pastoral ministry on a local level,” he explains, as he describes his church’s mission to serve a predominately Mormon population. “The people I pastor are those who live and work in my neighborhood, instead of those who just attend New Song.”

And this changes the way his church does ministry, according to Wheatley. “We focus less on starting new ministries and partner with existing institutions instead. We’re not competing or playing politics, but expanding the web of care for this neighborhood. Our common mission is for our neighborhood to thrive.”

The parish church seeks to be a part of God’s answer for the neighborhood, not the answer, he says. “That means that we raise the bar on involvement. We ask members to be very engaged in ministry. We ask, ‘Are you willing to make the neighborhood’s issues your issues by being salt and light here? By considering moving here?’”

In a culture fascinated with all things local — food, beer, live/play/work communities — it is not surprising that a new wave of church planters is interested in reviving and reinventing the parish philosophy of ministry.

Such an approach has its costs and benefits. Depending on their geographical home, some may feel excluded from the church. Others may lament the loss of structured programs.

“Pooled resources allow you to do bigger things,” said Paul Tripp, president of Paul Tripp Ministries, who has written extensively on the topic of community. “But you have to work harder to create intentionally-intrusive, grace-driven, gospel-driven, redemptive community in a large church.”

It is certainly harder to reach those who are not in your neighborhood, says Cannata, emphasizing the need to trust God. “It’s heartbreaking when I feel there are people being neglected who live 20 minutes away.”

But the parish model also provides a deep sense of purposefulness and camaraderie in ministry. “When a new Christian comes to faith,” says Wheatley, “dozens of people are rejoicing together in the body. We know God has used all of us in different ways [in this conversion]. It’s more obvious that new Christians are God’s blessing to us.”

Still, the parish model is not for everyone. “Churches are like an ecosystem,” said Wheatley. “There’s a need for different ones to serve in different ways to reach different parts of the body.”

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