CHURCH BEYOND CHURCH

Rev. Andi Voinovich creates a community sanctuary

For centuries, churches were the center of communities—the lifeblood that connected people to their neighbors. After the ’50s and ’60s in the West, that began to change, and the decline in church membership directly stems from churches moving toward the periphery of civic life. Rev. Andi Voinovich (G-ETS 2018), associate pastor at Downers Grove United Methodist Church outside of Chicago, is trying to change that. If the church is going to experience a twenty-first century rebirth, it will be from the kinds of visionary leadership Voinovich brings to ministry.

While they do the youth work, confirmation, preaching, and programming that is typical in an associate call, they also run a drop-in center for LGBTQ youth, which has recently exploded in popularity. “Every Thursday we open up the youth room,” Voinovich says, “to LGBTQ+ youth and their allies, ages 12–20.” This program isn’t part of the official church ministry, and the goal isn’t evangelism, but it has created exactly the kind of vibrant community that helps fill churches.

“Right now we have a very large group of first-years in high school,” Voinovich notes. “Most of them started last year as eighth graders and kind of grew into that role. We’ve got a few middle schoolers and even a college student, who’s kind of the mother hen of the group.” Voinovich thinks the young people gravitate toward the church because they know it’s a safe space—something they don’t always get elsewhere. “Our library made national news for receiving antiLGBTQ+ hatred,” Voinovich says solemnly, “and that message makes it to our youth. They hear, ‘I am not welcome here.’” But the drop-in center is different. Instead of being talked about, they get to be protagonists in their own lives. “My youth are super cool and awesome, and have great leadership skills,” Voinovich explains, “when they come here it’s the coolest space in the whole world.”

Sometimes, Voinovich runs trainings on concepts like gender identity, safe sex, or asexuality, but often they just facilitate joyful space where youth can hang out with friends. “For Halloween, we did drag pumpkins,” they laugh, “the latest ask has been for a mini renaissance fair, so we’re figuring out what that looks like in our space.” While the purpose is not to make these youth come to church, it’s exactly the kind of community-building evangelism experts suggest leads people back through the doors on Sunday morning.

Voinovich attributes their preparedness for this transformational ministry to their seminary training. “Garrett-Evangelical had a sense of community that I didn’t experience when I was looking at other schools,” Voinovich says, “It felt like joy—it’s expansive. You feel yourself being able to take up space that in other spaces you don’t always feel.” And that nurturing spirit was deepened through theological education. “Learning to read scripture in liberative ways,” they confess, “I found that to be so freeing. The Bible became alive, not just something to memorize and throw quotes around. Our stories are in those stories.”

Now, Voinovich gets to embody that ethos in ministry—even when it takes them beyond the traditional church. “The same care and compassion that we talk about in the church is here, too.” Voinovich explains, “It’s just different. But this is where Jesus spent time. Jesus’ people were always on the margins; it’s a place where deep spirituality happens.” And the young folks who show up at the drop-in center receive a gift, too. “Going into ministry as a queer and trans person, part of my understanding was that it’s important for people like us to see people like us in those roles,” Voinovich says. “It’s the kind of ministry that helps faith come alive.”

Michael Carson (G-ETS 1987) was awarded the Faith and Community in Action Award at the Mayor’s Prayer and Action Breakfast in Kokomo, IN. Carson serves as pastor of First Friends Church in Kokomo.

Victoria Rebeck (G-ETS 1989) has been appointed Director of Communications for the Northern Illinois Conference of The United Methodist Church.

Mickey Havener (G-ETS 1990) has been a practicing end of life doula since 2019.

Jane Eesley (G-ETS 1996) has been appointed by the General Board of Global Ministries to serve as Methodist Liaison Advocacy Coordinator in Jerusalem, Israel.

Daniel Doty (G-ETS 1998) has been called as Senior Minister of First Congregational Church of Tallmadge in Tallmadge, OH.

Katara Washington-Patton (G-ETS 2003) has been promoted to Executive Editor for the Voices Collection for Our Daily Bread Publishing.

Shay Craig (G-ETS 2012) has become the 19th Dean of Christ Cathedral in Salinas, KS. She is the first woman to serve in the role.

Taylor Webster MacPherson (G-ETS 2019) has started a new position as Estate Management Supervisor at Midwest Care Management Services, Inc. in Chicago, IL.

Jordan Aspiras (G-ETS 2022) illustrated the children’s book You Come from Love (Motz Books 2022), a story of love that will suit any family and all ages, especially families formed through surrogacy.

D’ana Downing (G-ETS 2022) was ordained Itinerant Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church during the 184th Session of the Indiana Annual Conference. Downing serves as the first Black woman and AME pastor in the role of Assistant University Chaplain at Northwestern University.