Pastor Leads Church through Change in Wilkinsburg

Pastor Janet Hellner-Burris has spent the last 20 years witnessing a community and a congregation change, grow and shift, allowing her to take on problems and conflicts with faith as her biggest ally.

“I have grown so much in 20 years here,” Hellner-Burris said. “I have grown in my ability to trust God, I have grown in my love for people – especially for what Jesus calls the least of our brothers and sisters -- the people the rest of the culture wouldn’t give a second look -- but I have learned so much about the generosity of peoples' hearts and the depth of their compassion.”

As the pastor at the Christian Church of Wilkinsburg on Wallace Avenue, Hellner-Burris of Forest Hills has led the congregation from being an all-white community to a multi-cultural and economically diverse group of worshippers. People who appear to be homeless are praying with middle class families, while the mentally ill attend worship service next to those without similar obstacles.

It is a journey that hasn’t been easy, but it has made the congregation stronger and has allowed the pastor to do what she loves best – serve urban communities.

“When I arrived in 1990, there was some discussion over whether we should move like the other churches had into Penn Hills or Monroeville and I was very clear in my interview and said I wanted to do urban work,” Hellner-Burris said. “I said I can’t promise that we will survive and I can’t promise that we will grow, but I can promise you that we will do real ministry for Jesus as long as we are here and as long as the doors are open, so if that’s what you want, let’s do it.”

Hellner-Burris grew up in an urban congregation in Washington, D.C. She attended Princeton Seminary after college, then held two associates positions at a time when women were not getting parishes of their own in the church very easily. The regional minister in Pennsylvania at the time knew Hellner-Burris loved urban work and found the perfect fit for her in Wilkinsburg.

“He was the matchmaker that brought me here,” she said.

She said this church in particular has always been involved in the community, so she picked up and continued that connection, focusing on youth outreach and helping people who live in the area. Equipped with a gym, Hellner-Burris said the building is perfect for work with children. Basketball for teenagers is held every Saturday night.

“I am also taking the lead on something called the Sanctuary Project in light of four shootings that happened in the community last fall,” Hellner-Burris said. “The churches are banding together and looking at ways in which we can, as a faith community, address the increase of youth violence. This is all a part of who we are. We do this being a big part of the community.”

The church also houses a “New to You” shop, which is open every Thursday morning during the school year. People can buy clothes for a quarter or 50 cents at the church.

“We also help families who have been burned out. Other times, people are moving from welfare to work, so we help them get clothes for their new jobs,” she said.

Hellner-Burris said the biggest challenge facing Wilkinsburg, a community that has significantly changed over 20 years, is the perception that it is a violent place to work and live.

“As our chief of police often points out to us, there are more shootings in Shadyside and more cars being stolen from Monroeville and that perception makes it very difficult to do ministry and very difficult to invite people to come and be with us and that’s black and white,” Hellner-Burris. “That knows no color or bounds.”

Over the years, the pastor has noticed more abandoned houses and a decrease in businesses along Penn Avenue, but that doesn’t take away from the good people and work happening in the community.

“There’s no question that the community has very serious issues, but often what isn’t lifted up are the very passionate people who are working very hard to make a difference,” she said.

Over the years, Hellner-Burris said she has worked hard to unify the congregation and the community, while making it clear the church is in Wilkinsburg to stay.

“I have learned a lot about what it means to cross racial barriers and cross economic barriers and what it takes to be able to do that – to be humble enough to listen, to deal with conflict without anxiety, and knowing these things do have a way of resolving themselves if we could just hang in there long enough and stay in the same room together long enough.”

The pastor said a deep prayer life fuels the work of the church and gets the congregation through trials and tribulations.

“That’s at the root of everything that we do – deepening our relationship with the Lord through prayer. That gives us the faith and energy to do a lot of the hard work that we are called to do," she said.

Worship services at the Christian Church of Wilkinsburg are every Sunday at 10:30 a.m.