Holy Ghost church is located at Eighth and Concordia in a beautiful old Lutheran church surrounded with urban violence and decay. Sermons are preached and a message of hope is being spread by Pastor Elijah Ndon, a Nigerian pastor with a solid grasp of the theology of grace and an African flair for delivery. Week after week he proclaims the truths of God’s precious Word. African Americans from the community have found a church that proclaims God’s Word clearly. This is a church reaching into its neighborhood and bringing people in to hear the Gospel. Baptisms, adult confirmations, and guests invited by friends are found at Holy Ghost.
This paraphrase is from the Bold Witness of the SWD which goes on to describe what they found when they visited Holy Ghost on a Wednesday morning.
“ Food pantry, clothing pantry and Bible study. Come for food and clothing, stay for the Word! And they stay! More than 25 gathered around Pastor Ndon, Bibles at the ready, as the group talked about the sinful woman who anointed Jesus (Luke 7:36-50). Some great discussion (“Do we really have to forgive every time?” “Aren’t we like those Pharisees so often?”) was punctuated with prayer and an invitation to a prayer service that evening and worship on Sundays at 9 a.m.
Pastor Ndon is one of those guys who give Lutheran pastors a good name. He labors without the full-time salary that most of us have come to expect. The resources for his church don’t come close to what most of us enjoy. The District helps out some, and faithful members – some of them longtime, faithful members – still give of their tithes and offerings. And Pastor Ndon just labors on. Preaching, teaching, reaching. Holding out the gifts of God for the people of God. And the same Holy Spirit that was active at the turn of the 20th century is active today…calling people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
What’s the future for Holy Ghost? Hard to say. The challenges are real. But this church by God’s grace isn’t shrinking into a shell wishing for the good old days that aren’t coming back. It’s facing its neighborhood’s need for Jesus head-on.”