By: Luke Mongelli
Pastor Brian Evans began his sermon on a cold mid-January morning the same way as he did hundreds of others: with an anecdote from his own life that would pull his congregation towards a deeper connection with the message of his church and the word of God.
The 42-year-old New Kensington native has been the Senior Pastor of the First English Evangelical Lutheran Church for nearly a decade. The Victorian stone building nestled deep between the towering skyscrapers of Grant Street in downtown Pittsburgh has been serving the area since 1837.
During the second-morning service of the day on Sunday, January 22, 2023, Evans dove into a story about a fishing trip he took. As he traveled up the stream, he noticed the creek had been drying up in the August heat and a successful catch had been eluding him. Evans stayed persistent despite the less-than-ideal conditions and eventually caught two fish for himself.
The Senior Pastor analogized this experience to the arid community of Evangelicalism, and how staying true and hopeful during trying times can inspire the community to grow and keep the word of God alive in Pittsburgh.
“He is a genuine caring master of God,” said 67-year-old communicant John Harman.
The retired lawyer attends Sunday service every week and has been a member of the First Lutheran Church on Grant Street for 40 years. Hartman was on the pole committee that brought Evans to downtown Pittsburgh and has gotten to know him on a personal level.
“I’ve known him a long time, and he’s a good guy,” Hartman said. “He’s the sort of person you’d like to have a drink with, as well as being a fine Pastor.”
Brian Evans did not always know what he wanted to be, but as fate would have it, his true calling was revealed.
“I was baptized in the Catholic Church, but my family didn’t really attend for various reasons, and it wasn’t until I was like, 15 that I started going on my own to a little Lutheran church that was just a couple doors down from our house,” Evans said. “The pastor there told me, ‘I think you’re called to be a pastor.’”
Evans hit his religious stride while at Thiel College, attending Lutheran Camps with his colleagues, but it was attending church as an early teen that he discovered his passion for ministry.
“I really started wondering, maybe this is for me, and I found myself gravitating toward the spiritual aspects of what was going on around me which began to pique my interest in
studying theology,” Evans said. “It made me appreciate that everyone comes from a different place, from tradition or no tradition, everyone has their own spiritual journey.”
Evans has focused his time in the Lutheran Ministry working on missions to help the less fortunate, specifically honing in on urban communities.
“We’re facing a lot of difficulties being downtown,” Evans said. “Substance abuse and homelessness contribute to social problems that we’re facing, and we see that as our mission to be here for everybody. There used to be many churches along Grant Street, and many of them sold out to these corporations, but this one has held out for nearly 200 years, and we have continued to say our mission is here.”
To help aid these issues, Pastor Evans, along with countless volunteers from his Congregation, offers food, guidance to employment, housing, and transportation, to all that enter the church doors.
“We’re committed to being Downtown,” Evans said.
