By Brett Hetherington*

The building at the corner of W. 44^th and Bridge Avenue in what has come to be known as the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland has had several names in its 140 years. Today it is known as the Harbor and Bridge Community Center, and the people who work in it are continuing the tradition of serving the neighborhood.

North Coast District Superintendent Rev. Bruce Hitchcock offered some insight into the mission that has been driving this new United Methodist ministry.

“Harbor and Bridge is in a unique place where there is still a little bit of a mercy-type need – we still do some food distribution and some poverty ministries out of there. But the neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying, and you have a new set or a new population of people in those places that need as much attention and as much care, they just might not need it in terms of food. I think they need it in terms of bridging identity and social health to that neighborhood. I think that the door is wide open to possibility at Harbor and Bridge,” Hitchcock said.

The ministry of Harbor and Bridge continues growing to meet the needs of the community, adding a worshipping congregation in January of 2022.

“We have been operating as a space the community uses for any type of service that enhances the neighborhood,” said Pastor Matt Whisenhunt who serves as the program director at Harbor and Bridge. “Different groups use the space for yoga, there is a mindfulness group, there is another worshipping congregation who meets here. There was a cultural school here at one point, an eclectic dance group, and a sound bath group. Some come in waves, and some are steady, but the idea is that the space is for the neighborhood to put their fingerprints on so that it is a reflection of whatever it is that makes the neighborhood good. We didn’t intend for it to be like that, it’s just how everything popped up out of the pandemic.”

The COVID-19 pandemic was indeed the impetus for how Harbor and Bridge started in the current direction of outreach ministry. One woman in the neighborhood was looking for a space to hold yoga classes because her studio had closed due to health restrictions. Whisenhunt told the woman there was space available in the building and she started leading a class there.

“Someone else was looking to start a school and they needed internet connection and power ports for computers to teach adults how to use computers,” he said. “These things just kept popping up over the years and word of mouth spread that people could reach out here and start something or do something for very low cost or free and that’s just how it’s been operating ever since.”

Bike Ministry

Perhaps the most prominent program for which Harbor and Bridge is known is its bike ministry. A partnership with Rocky River United Methodist Church (North Coast District) and its Link-Up bike ministry outreach led to a huge benefit for the residents living in the neighborhood around the community center.

“We partnered with the Link-Up ministry a couple years ago and they already had their Free Store which had accepted requests through them so if kids or families needed bicycles, they would find out that way,” shared Whisenhunt. “But I had a number of connections in this neighborhood with other agencies and all these different places had clients and people who needed bicycles, so they referred their clients to us. We just filled out three or four requests for NEOC Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless – they seek us out for bicycles and summertime is a busy season for getting bikes in the hands of people. And neighbors know they can just knock on the door and see if Pastor Matt is there, and it takes a while, but I can get them on the list and in six to eight weeks we can get a bike in their hands.”

This ministry expanded to a regular class at a nearby recreation center that teaches kids how to repair bikes themselves. “They just get their hands on tools, they take a little instruction but they take all the initiative to take the bikes apart and fix them and they clean them and they love it. It’s a good time. I have a class set up with the MC STEM High School where I and a physics teacher teach bike repair and maintenance alongside physics. We’re going to do that in the fall,” said Whisenhunt.

Bicycles are not just important to the neighborhood’s residents, but to Whisenhunt himself. He shared that especially in the neighborhood around Harbor and Bridge cars have a very detrimental effect, and bicycles are an important part of the local infrastructure.

Collective Thoughts

Another standout ministry offered by Harbor and Bridge to the neighborhood is a regular time of discussion where safe space is offered to engage in sensitive, yet important topics that has been dubbed Collective Thoughts. This gathering takes place on the second and fourth Sunday of every month.

“The idea was to pull neighbors together to discuss challenging topics in a face-to-face forum,” shared Whisenhunt about the outreach that started in 2020. “We would talk about difficult things like gun control and Ohio law and local things like the mayoral race that was happening at the time. So, we invite people to be a part of these conversations. I would give people an article or a podcast or a video or something ahead of time to consume and we would come together.”

Other topics that have been discussed range from Supreme Court rulings, the rise of remote work and how that is impacting local economy, a proposed new highway interchange in Strongsville, and a youth drop-in center in the neighborhood that neighbors were divided on.

“With the hot button topics this is a more progressive neighborhood, so when gun rights and school shootings are talked about generally the consensus is that there needs to be more action taken for gun control,” said Whisenhunt. “But on the more hyper-local issues there is a lot more of a split. But even in the disparity of opinions the atmosphere is such that people are able to hold genuine conversation and engage, speaking with respect with each other, even with polar opposite representatives sitting side-by-side. You can feel the tension sometimes, but we talk about it and are able to do so with respect and authenticity. It is a testament to the people who show up.”

The Congregation

The congregation that meets at Harbor and Bridge is representative of the neighborhood that surrounds the Harbor and Bridge community center. Whisenhunt describes it as an eclectic group composed of both young and old from different education levels and different places in their spiritual walks.

“There is a core of about 12-14, and a number of people who are more transient. A number of unsheltered folks stop by and grab coffee and cookies and grab communion too. It’s great to see everybody side-by-side sharing pew space worshipping together. It is an uplifting feeling leaving that service every Sunday,” he said.

The congregation has also been participating in cooperative worship with other churches in the neighborhood during the summer of 2023, rotating through different sanctuaries on Sunday mornings.  

Sanctuary

Whisenhunt believes that of all the ministries and opportunities that Harbor and Bridge offers the community, what it brings that is most impactful is the sanctuary that it provides.

“The church as a building even, has a power to exude sacredness when people come into it. This is where marriages happen, baptisms happen, funerals happen, this is a sacred place. I think when people come in, they know they can curse, they know that they can feel strong emotion, but they also have this sense that there is something sacred around them. I always thought that’s the power of the church. As people question their beliefs and become more post-modern the church has the power to be a sacred space.”

Whisenhunt shared that for a time he and a few others considered what it would be like to modernize the old church building that houses Harbor and Bridge. To remove all the stained-glass windows, the crosses, the alter, all the pews and make it into a completely neutral space. But he reconsidered that thought.

“But no, that is the gift of this place in the neighborhood. This is a sacred space, this is a sanctuary, this is a place of faith. We aren’t going to masquerade as something we are not. This is a church, and we aren’t going to be anything but that. Granted we are a community center too, but we are a church.”

Hitchcock pointed out that with as new and as fresh as this expression of ministry is at Harbor and Bridge, it has its roots in the history of The United Methodist Church.

“To me it’s creative, it’s exciting, and it’s directly related to our heritage. It’s also in my mind directly related to who we want to be as The United Methodist Church,” Hitchcock said. “We’re reaching out to the neighborhood as it exists in the way God wants us to, to love these folks. It is what Wesley teaches us our mission is, what salvation is. If you read Wesley he’s constantly talking about holiness – both social holiness and that personable holiness. And he believes strongly that any faith that we have within, that interaction of God within us will lead to outward signs of that holiness.”

The Conference Communications team would like to share other stories that highlight ways that each of us is answering the call of Bishop Tracy S. Malone to reach out to our communities in creative ways. Please e-mail your ministry story to EOC Executive Director of Communications Rick Wolcott at wolcott@eocumc.com.

* Brett Hetherington is the Communications specialist for the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.