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06427 August 23, 2006
Building it so they will come
Staying focused on God's vision key for new church development
by Evan Silverstein
ST. PETERSBURG, FL * When it comes to planning a New Church Development (NCD), Bill Marsh has been there, done that. And the Presbyterian elder from Bethlehem, PA, knows all too well how difficult the process can be.
For parts of two decades, Marsh, 59, helped to organize and launch an NCD in northeastern Pennsylvania in a joint venture between Lehigh and Lackawanna presbyteries.
Planning for the fellowship in Mount Pocono, called New Life Presbyterian Church, started in the mid-1990s. A clergy couple eventually was brought onboard to lead the flock to its opening in 2001.
Initially things were good at New Life, which met in a school situated near the border of the two presbyteries, about 90 miles west of New York City. At one time, as many as 100 worshipers attended services on any given Sunday, with the number swelling to 125 churchgoers during holidays.
The congregation was intentionally multicultural with worshipers ranging from Hispanics, Asians, Africans, African Americans, and whites. "To see this group of people, I don't care what race or religion you came from," Marsh said. "When you walked in, you could see people like you. You could feel comfortable in that."
Then the core membership started to shrink, eventually dwindling to about 25 people. Few attended bible study and other church programs during the week. With church rolls and funds quickly drying up, the five-year-old NCD was forced to close its doors in January of this year, according to Marsh.
"That was a deep disappointment for me personally because I had been involved from the dreaming and the planning and the implementation, really over a 12-year period," he said.
But now, Lehigh Presbytery has fresh plans for developing two new church developments over the next five years. That's why Marsh, a member at First church in Bethlehem, came to the 2006 New Church Development Conference of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) "I'm here because I've learned some lessons from (planning) the first NCD," said Marsh, who attended the conference along with others from Lehigh Presbytery. "But I need, and the presbytery needs, to learn more lessons about how to really do it successfully * how to launch a NCD and how to sustain it. How to really give it the best chance for success."
The six-day conference, held here in late July, brought together more than 400 clergy and laity, representatives of middle governing bodies and others interested in or engaged in developing new churches. All gathered to exchange ideas, share experiences, attend workshops, listen to experts, network with colleagues and come together in worship.
The annual event, whose theme was "Building Faith, Building Churches," was sponsored by the Evangelism and Witness (http://www.pcusa.org/nmd/evangelismandwitness.htm) area of the PC(USA)'s National Ministries Division (NMD).
"It's really been excellent," Marsh said. "The information that's being supplied is excellent. The networking and the contact with people has really been outstanding."
Fervent preaching from the Rev. H. Beecher Hicks Jr. stirred the crowd during worship the first night. He waved his fist and stomped his feet to drive home the importance for new congregations to focus on God's mission and vision for the church and to be faithful to that vision.
"The issue here is whether or not you really know God for yourself," Hicks said. "I mean do you know Him? Do you know the Lord in the pardoning of your sins? Do you know the Lord like you don't know anybody else?"
Hicks, senior pastor at the 6,000-member historic Metropolitan Baptist Church in Washington, DC, said God crafts church leaders from "barren situations" to help spread his word * such as Amos, who was called by God while tending sycamore trees in Tekoa, and Ezekiel, called while sitting along the banks of the river of Chebar.
"Somehow God steps into our nothingness," Hicks said. "God steps into bareness and when it appears that nothing positive or purposeful can happen. God brings preachers out of barren situations."
But he said building a vibrant new church is about finding those who can come alongside to support the effort. Not just the pastor but the congregation, the community, and even other churches in the neighborhood.
"When God calls you, you cannot sleep through the process," Hicks said. "When God calls you to bring new ministry to birth, you cannot act as though you didn't hear it."
Speaker Brian McLaren, an author and pastor, emphasized that the business of new church development is "painful and it is hard." He urged NCD pastors to be "a friend to yourself" by refusing to be consumed by undue pressure and unrealistic expectations associated with starting up a new church.
"Becoming a friend to yourself involves not letting your morale go extinct and not letting the best parts of you be destroyed as you're trying to do something important and worthwhile," said McLaren, who is not a Presbyterian but has been active in networking and mentoring church planters and pastors from a range of denominations since the mid-1980's. He has also assisted in the development of several new churches.
Over the last 10 years, 432 new church developments have sprouted up across the PC(USA), according to the denomination's NCD office (http://www.pcusa.org/newchurch/).
Many attending the conference, such as the Rev. Philip Lotspeich, agreed that establishing new churches is more vital than ever for the PC(USA) to survive, especially amid an ongoing downward membership trend. In the 1950s and early 1960s * when the PC(USA) was growing * hundreds of new churches were started annually.
"I hate to say that it's because our denomination is declining, that shouldn't be the reason that we actually want to start new churches," said Lotspeich, pastor of Faithbridge Presbyterian Church outside Dallas, TX. "We have a mandate to make new disciples and grow the Kingdom of God, not just shuffle them around by transferring membership."
The conference started with a one-day multicultural and immigrant NCD program, attended by scores of Africans, Koreans and other Asians, Brazilians and Puerto Ricans. Some showing up said there can be no new church development without considering multicultural ministry.
Program officials said multicultural and immigrant new church development is increasingly essential because by the year 2050 the majority of the U.S. population is predicted to be non-European and non-white. Countless churches in the cities and suburbs (and increasingly in rural areas) are located in the midst of very diverse racial-ethnic communities.
Those attending concurred that the Presbyterian Church must step up efforts to keep pace with society's rapidly changing demographics. According to figures released in June by the Office of the General Assembly, the PC(USA) is currently 92.95 percent white. Asians comprise 2.33 percent of the church's members; Blacks are 3.09 percent; Hispanics are 1.17 percent and Native Americans are .20 percent.
"I think the way to go are new churches, especially racial-ethnic and immigrant congregations," said Silvana Franca, a native Brazilian who's been involved in church ministry for 23 years. "If we want to have a future in our denomination we need to invest in new churches, and it is very important to work together."
Franca, attending her third national NCD conference, said the symposiums have been invaluable in helping her prepare to lead a Brazilian NCD in Naples, FL.
"My first NCD conference I came, I didn't know a lot and I wanted to know how does it work and how to have the tools to do this work because it is a challenge," Franca said of organizing a NCD. "Sometimes it is frustrating and sometimes we are lost because we don't know. There are no rules that you can follow because in each case, especially the immigrant church, you have to find out which way to go."
With about 30 followers, the Naples Brazilian Fellowship officially became an NCD about four months ago after meeting informally since last year, Franca said. She said exchanging experiences with other conference-goers concerning the hurdles and successes of building a new church was among the most helpful aspects of the program.
"You can sit together and can share with each other and we can help each other," Franca said. "I think it's about encouraging others and also helping each other with new ideas or new ways do it. This is something that I really like about the conference."
The event certainly made a positive impact on Ghanaian-born Margaret Asabea-Aboagye, an ordained minister currently working as a hospital chaplain in Ohio. She mirrored Franca's comments about gaining support and direction from conference programming and by networking with others.
"The presentations, the workshops, all have been very meaningful," she said. "Generally speaking it's been informing, it's been affirming, it's been challenging, and it's also opening my eyes."
The additional insight is big these days for Asabea-Aboagye since her husband, the Rev. Andrew Aboagye, is pastor of a mostly Ghanaian fellowship in Columbus, OH, which became a fully chartered church in June.
The couple said Sunday services at Ramseyer Presbyterian Church typically attracts 105-135 worshippers. Most turning out are originally from Ghana in West Africa with some parishioners from Zimbabwe and Sarah Leone.
"We attended this conference looking forward to learning and hearing other people's stories so that we can be more equipped and also be strengthened," Asabea-Aboagye said. "Sometimes you wonder is this what God really wants me to do. But when you hear other people's stories, I think it's very affirming. I think it gives a sense of future for new church development."
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