Here's What Happened When Protesters Stormed Our Church

“I don’t think my evangelism efforts prepared me for something like this. It’s apples to oranges. In a situation like this, I couldn’t talk to the people. They were there to make a point and disrupt us and actively disrespect our worship.”

On the morning of January 18, Caleb Phillips, a 21-year-old Cities Church congregant and lifelong resident of the Twin Cities sat in the pews as anti-ICE protesters disrupted service.

“We had a fairly normal service. There had been some singing and time of confession. Pastor Jonathan (Parnell) got up to preach the sermon (on John 13:34), and was pretty immediately interrupted by the protest leader who stood up in the back of the sanctuary and yelled, ‘Excuse me, pastor.’”

Phillips has long had a passion for evangelism which began in college. As a recent graduate seeking to continue those opportunities, he was drawn to the anti-ICE protests that erupted in the Twin Cities in early January.

“I started trying to figure out different ways that I could evangelize to people, and I realized that one of those ways would be to target large gatherings of people. In this situation it’s a protest, but even something like a line to get into a concert venue. Throughout the summer I did that a couple different times, so when these protests started in Minneapolis, I saw it as a really great opportunity.”

What Phillips found at these protests was a group of people who expressed concerns about ICE and for human dignity, but lacked a consistent grounding principle. He found this a perfect chance to engage what he saw as spiritual confusion with the gospel of Christ.

“All of them seem to have this really deep respect for people, no matter their status in the world, and that was something that I came to respect because of course that in its purest form is a Christlike motivation. They genuinely have this concern for people who are seen as lower class in our society, and they feel that those people are being targeted by bullies. They want to be the voice of the voiceless and they think they are accomplishing that by being out in the streets.”

He built on this shared value, the inherent dignity of every person, to introduce conversations about Jesus.

“I would start a conversation with them using that and asking them their thoughts on the person of Jesus Christ. I think it always helps to start conversations about the gospel at their starting point, so that it sounds like you’re addressing their life with this thing you’ve found in your life.”

The protesters shared many theological claims centered on justice, and Phillips had many conversations that started by responding to his questions with: “Jesus would have been a socialist” or “He would never have supported ICE.” 

“I would tell them, ‘I see this is something that you’re very passionate about, and that’s great, but did you care about ICE last year? Or in 2012? What did you care about back then? I was then able to say, ‘I respect that you’re consistent with your reasoning, but this seems like a really inconsistent way to live your life, changing your signs every time the culture changes. My worldview is based on Jesus Christ who never changes.’”

The interruption during the church service was something that Phillips never expected. His prior street encounters hadn't readied him completely for this disruption in his own sanctuary. But the gospel truths he'd shared on the streets proved vital in the moment.

He credits a lifetime of spiritual grounding, from church teaching, a solid Christian college, and his parents' upbringing for steadying him.

“The teaching that this church has given me and that the other churches I’ve attended have given me throughout my life,” Phillips said, “everything spiritual in my life prepared me for moments like this where I would have to use the power of God’s Word and the power of prayer to combat evil.”

As Phillips recalls, the moment immediately after the protest leader interrupted the pastor left congregants feeling “surrounded” by chants of protesters who had deliberately planted themselves within the congregation. The congregants’ first priority was moving crying children to safety. Even so, those churchgoers remaining among the protestors were ready to face the reality of what they were experiencing.

“It really did come to us, I think that was providential. It’s easy to get caught up in ‘my rights are violated’ or whatever it may be. I think the real point is, people, most of whom don’t know Christ, came into the house of God and were able to see one of the clearest depictions of Christ that they could have found anywhere.”

John 13:35, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” characterized the response of the congregants of Cities Church that day, Phillips said. Those who remained reacted in love: praying, reading scripture, singing. 

“I stood up and read from the Psalms. The protesters wouldn’t stop. I wasn’t really fearing for my physical safety. There was fear there, because there is always fear in a spiritual battle. So when I was standing and reading scripture I could barely hold my bible, my hands were shaking so much, but it wasn’t so much fear for safety as it was a fear of what was happening very generally.”

Phillips says that his outlook on the situation is one driven by the reality of the lordship of Jesus. That Christ is not just his Lord, or his fellow congregants’ Lord, but the one Lord. The church’s efforts were to convey this reality to “people whose entire lives and worldview are controlled by the changing tides of political ideology.”

“I think in any conversation, there is a way to engage with people in a serious way. Even if people make a mockery, even if people don’t want to engage. There is a potential to make an impact on them. We keep proclaiming the gospel in general and we keep proclaiming the gospel to them, even if they don’t want to listen.”