Special report: At one Decorah church, trips are "community immersions"

(decorahnews.com is continuing its series of stories about mission trips conducted by Decorah churches)

At the Decorah Congregational UCC Church, group trips by church members are conducted differently than at some other churches.

For instance, last year's trip to St. Louis attracted a group of church members ranging in age from 14 to 72.  And trips are aimed at giving church members an "immersion" in what it is like to live as a poor person.

For the trip to St. Louis, church members slept above a homeless shelter and took their meals with the homeless people.  Reverend Laura Arnold says the Decorah residents had to learn how to navigate the system that served the homeless and that gave the group a better understanding.  Such an approach, she believes, serves both groups--the homeless people in St. Louis and the "white Iowans" who might not have experienced such poverty before.

The approach is what she calls "both/and," and comes from the church's wish to establish relationships with other churches--"not being the drop in," as she puts it.

For instance, the church will head to Pine Ridge, South Dakota in July.  The trip is the result of research that one young Decorah UCC member did on Pine Ridge and will include a partnership with a UCC church in the area.

(Monday: Decorah Methodist Church takes a different approach to mission.)