Christ in the Heights
Rev. Dr. Tony Lin talks to Rev. Mickey Correa about pastoring in Washington Heights, preparing the next generation of clergy, and never forgetting the "humanity of ministry”
Christ Church Washington Heights served as the point of departure for the 16th Annual Gladys Ricard and Victims of Domestic Violence Memorial Walk/Brides' March, New York City, 26 September 2016. Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
In this episode of OP Talks, Rev. Dr. Tony Lin talks to friend and colleague Rev. Mickey Correa about his work as a pastor in Washington Heights, preparing the next generation of clergy, and never forgetting about the "humanity of ministry." Rev. Correa is the Chief Program Officer at Blanton-Peale Institute & Counseling Center in New York City and serves as the pastor of Christ Church NYC Washington Heights ("Christ in the Heights"), one of the hardest-hit neighborhoods at the beginning of the pandemic. He leads bilingual worship, spiritual formation, and pastoral care at the small, multiethnic parish, where most of his parishioners are older. One of them, he says, joked, "A tí te mandaron a un asilo de ancianos [They sent you to a nursing home].” At the start of the pandemic, Rev. Correa felt pessimistic and worried about how his older congregation would navigate the crisis. But in big and small ways, he was reminded of the Latino spirit: "Even if you don't have all of the resources, everyone has a little something to contribute and, together, you can make a fiesta, together, you can make a feast." As time wore on, however, fatigue nevertheless set in.
"That enthusiasm to make community happen, that's part of our performative role as pastors,” says Rev. Correa. “You have to make sure that things run smoothly, but the performative aspect has moved into ‘this is now part of our professionalism.’" He adds that under-resourced congregations are now expected to do more; online services are now the norm, for example. "I have some clergy friends who have resigned or are in the process of leaving their church appointments because they are physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted.”
As a trained social worker, Rev. Correa was taught not to think "in a linear fashion but to think about the multiple things that form the ecology of someone." So what advice and resources might he offer practical theologians and seminary professors preparing the next generation of clergy? asks Rev. Dr. Lin.
"Jesus was a practical theologian,” Rev. Correa explains. “He was about thinking, 'How do we use the loaves and the fishes to make sure everyone is fed?'…One of the most important things that often may get lost in seminary training is thinking from a macro-social system perspective that is not just going to be the local parish—again, I'm talking as a Methodist and from a Wesleyan theological perspective; Wesley would say, ‘the world is my parish.’ We are not called to just serve our little church or our big church in the corner of so and so. We are called to the world. That means we are not going to have the world's resources to be able to be pastors of the whole world, but we need to think from a very macro-social systems perspective. For me, I would [it means] being aware of the places [in which] you are going to be situated. If you are sent to work in a specific community, that you start thinking about what are some of the practical things that the entire human being needs: food, shelter, psychological resources, and mental health resources, healthcare - how are we thinking about those resources?”
Rev. Correa emphasizes the need to think, “from an ecosystemic perspective, [about] how pastors are not just going to serve the building—which unfortunately is what pastors often end up utilizing their resources and energy in, and that ends up sometimes moving them out from ministry.” Instead, Rev. Correa encourages us “to really think about the humanity of ministry. The humanity of ministry goes back to the face of Christ. The face of Christ is Mathew 25…the poor, the broken, the sick, the imprisoned."
