wfn.org | Harrisburg ELCA Congregation Gives Building to Coptic Orthodox Church

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Title: Harrisburg ELCA Congregation Gives Building to Coptic Orthodox Church
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>December 31, 2009  

Harrisburg ELCA Congregation Gives Building to Coptic Orthodox Church
09-287-BM*

HARRISBURG, Pa. (ELCA) -- An Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) congregation here is breathing new life into its church building
by moving out and turning its facilities over to a congregation of
another denomination.

Following its worship service of carols and a celebration luncheon
Dec. 27, Memorial Evangelical Lutheran Church gave its building as a gift
to St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church.

This Sunday, Jan. 3, Memorial's members will worship at the James E.
Morecraft Christian Education Building, owned by the congregation and
directly across the street from the Memorial's former sanctuary.  The
congregation normally worships during the winter months at the Christian
education building to conserve energy.  However, it won't return to the
sanctuary on Palm Sunday, which has been Memorial's practice, said the
Rev. Rochelle E. Lewis, pastor.

Faced with declining membership and a large building to maintain,
members of Memorial voted in August to begin transition talks with St.
Mark Church.

"When we as a congregation began to speak about the choices we would
need to make in order to continue doing ministry on the corners of State
and 17th Street, we knew we did not have the resources, physical ability
or money to keep the sanctuary from becoming an albatross or a dying
weight," Lewis said.

Trustees of the congregation explored a number of options, including
merging with another Lutheran congregation. Ultimately, however, the
decision was made to give the building as a gift to St. Mark Church.

"We are still invited to celebrate our life passages in the
sanctuary of the church building where so many of Memorial's faithful
have begun in the waters of Baptism, shared in the love of Christ as a
bride and groom, and at the last, came home to begin the journey of
eternal life," said Lewis.

Following a luncheon hosted by members of St. Mark Church for
Memorial's members, the Rev. B. Penrose Hoover, bishop of the ELCA Lower
Susquehanna Synod, and Father Jacob Nadian, priest of St. Mark Church,
led a transition service Dec. 27.

"There will be a vibrant young and growing congregation of people of
faith ... in the church where so many faithful saints of the Lutheran
Church have started," said Lewis.

"The sanctuary will once again have the physical care (it) demands.
There will be babies in the nursery, children in the Sunday school rooms,
women and men in the social hall and kitchen, loving and sharing in the
communion of fellowship and hospitality in the church where so many of
the lives of faithful Lutherans began," she said.

Reflecting on the long-time members of Memorial, Lewis said she is
proud of the "valiant" members of the congregation.  "The difficult
decisions they have made is a testament of faith and living in God's
promise.  The strength to be able to let go of the brick and mortar they
had labored so fiercely over is beyond basic understanding," she said.

>---

* Barbara A. Myers is director for communication, ELCA Lower
Susquehanna Synod, Harrisburg, Pa.

For information contact:

John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news