THE CHURCH
The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama
THE CHALLENGE
Refugees and immigrants need English language instruction.
ONE BIG IDEA
Come together with other churches to provide ESL classes.
Almost two decades ago, The Church at Brook Hills’ pastor at the time, David Platt, preached sermons about spreading the gospel worldwide.
“It was already a missions-minded church, but from there, it became the heartbeat of the congregation,” explains Grace Thornton, Brook Hills’ English as a Second Language (ESL) director.
Then church member Marilyn Day, who ministered to international students at a local university, suggested to church leadership that Brook Hills should offer English language classes to its international congregants and others in the community. It was an idea that was fully supported, so in 2012, the church launched its free ESL program.
The program remained popular year after year, then the pandemic struck in 2020. Church and ESL class attendance dropped sharply. So, in 2022, the church began partnering with First Baptist Church of Hoover in Hoover, Alabama, and moved its Hispanic services, Iglesia La Conexión, and its evening ESL class to First Baptist to be closer to where many of its Hispanic congregants lived.
Today, the church holds a Thursday morning ESL class at The Church at Brook Hills consisting of nearly 50 women and preschoolers, including Spanish, Japanese, Arabic and Chinese speakers. At the Thursday night ESL class at First Baptist, many of the students, which include adults and youth, are refugees from Ukraine. Volunteer ESL instructors who attend The Church at Brook Hills teach alongside instructors from several other churches around Birmingham.
Brook Hills advertises its ESL program primarily through word of mouth, Day says. “People tell their friends, and that’s been a huge help.”
The program also is promoted through flyers sent to public schools, libraries, restaurants and to Birmingham Cross Cultural Connections, a local nonprofit that partners with churches to assist refugees.
Today, Senior Pastor Matt Mason says Brook Hills’ ESL program is, in its own way, reaching the world for Christ. In fact, the church recently baptized a student who came to faith through the morning ESL class.
According to Mason, “It’s been great to see the way God has started over the years integrating people into the church from the ESL program.”
