wfn.org | Redevelopment Gathering is Fountain of Youth

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

26-January-2000 
00035 
 
    Redevelopment Gathering is Fountain of Youth 
    for Pastors of `Frail Elderly' Congregations 
 
    Embracing rather than fighting change produces revitalization for many 
 
    by Evan Silverstein 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Every Sunday morning, the Rev. Charles Smith leaves his 
home near Baton Rouge, La., and drives through the instep of the state's 
boot-shaped eastern region to lead worship at two small Presbyterian 
churches. 
 
    Both congregations - one in Clinton, La., the other in Norwood, La. - 
are about 35 miles from Smith's residence in St. Francisville, La. But 
that's about all they have in common. 
 
    Clinton Presbyterian Church, which averages 25 to 30 worshipers on 
Sundays, is a prime example of a once-floundering congregation snatched 
from the brink of death by redevelopment. It's now flourishing, with 
enthusiastic members who crave new and innovative programs that put new 
people in the pews. It's a congregation that makes the best of its 
leadership gifts and is willing to take matters into its own hands to bring 
about growth and transformation. 
 
    Meanwhile, Norwood Presbyterian Church, with an average turnout of 12 
to 20 Sunday worshipers, is a prime example of a "frail elderly" 
congregation awaiting its death - faltering, unwilling to change, confused, 
unable to make decisions about its future. 
 
    "In one of them, it caught fire, and almost exploded," Smith said, 
referring to the redevelopment effort at Clinton Presbyterian. "It's an 
ongoing thing." 
 
    But he said the Norwood congregation "seems to have kind of hardened 
its attitude that they really don't want to do anything." 
 
    "So it looks like one is going to grow and prosper, if you will," Smith 
concluded. "The other has seemingly decided to die. It says it's tired and 
old, and is ready to die." 
 
    If struggling churches like Norwood Presbyterian are to survive, they 
must accept the need to make fundamental changes in the way they do 
ministry, become spiritually energized and find capable and willing lay 
leaders. That was the message conveyed to 545 church members, clergy and 
presbytery and synod officials who gathered here Jan. 20-23 for the Fourth 
National Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Church-wide Redevelopment Conference. 
 
    With "Change" as this year's theme, the three-day conference here 
provided an opportunity for participants to see how other congregations, 
large and small, urban, rural and suburban, in big cities and small towns, 
are reinventing themselves. That was the focus of workshops, worship 
services, keynote speeches and field trips during the conference, which was 
co-sponsored by the denomination's Church-wide Redevelopment Training 
Network and Evangelism and Church Development area. 
 
    Among the keys for congregations needing redevelopment, according to 
conference participants: overcoming the fear of change; rediscovering 
spiritual energy; coming to terms with the past, present and future; 
building a ministry team of leaders; developing a plan to discern a path to 
the future; building new ministry by identifying and nurturing lay leaders. 
 
    "There are, I think, an appalling number of congregations in our 
denomination who do not have anyone to help them with the hard task that is 
required of them," General Assembly Moderator Freda Gardner said during the 
opening ceremonies. "I have come to think of those kinds of congregations 
as the `frail elderly.'" 
 
    The Rev. Steve Boots, the PC(USA)'s associate for congregational 
redevelopment and one of the conference planners, agreed, saying: "The 
churches are changing, and there is leadership that is needed to help the 
church go through change. And the planning committee feels like the 
conference is one of those leadership opportunities for change, and a way 
to help congregations change. And we're willing to go first, provide the 
way." 
 
    Boots wore a conference baseball cap with "Change" embroidered on the 
front and "I'll go first" stamped on the back. 
 
    In Clinton, a community of about 20,000 people, the transition from 
dying church to living congregation happened smoothly and naturally. 
 
    "Members had ideas of what they wanted to see, and were willing to 
commit themselves and invest themselves in doing it," said Smith, who 
completed a doctorate of ministry last year in church redevelopment and has 
served both PC(USA) churches for eight years. "They have started reaching 
out. They do not expect me to be the one to go out and grab people. They 
know they have to get them, and that's bringing new people in." 
 
    What a change for Clinton Presbyterian. Three years ago it had never 
elected a female elder to its session. Now the governing board is comprised 
of only women. A fledgling Sunday School for 3- and 4-year-old children was 
opened recently after a 15- to 20-year-long hiatus. Church officials hope 
soon to launch a babysitting program called Mothers of Preschoolers (MOP). 
 
    "That's simply life-giving within itself," said Smith, who was ordained 
in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. "Just to see the kids." 
 
    Redevelopment has taken a different course at 260-member Lewes 
Presbyterian Church in Lewes, Del., whose congregation has added more 
contemporary worship services, complete with a digital piano, and Bible 
lessons for adults. 
 
    "People were ready to do things differently for a change, and so we've 
been able to introduce a lot of things," said the Rev. Harry "Buz" Hughes, 
pastor of the Lewes church for eight years. 
 
    Increased activity by members - average attendance at Sunday worship 
has doubled to 200 over the past seven years -  has led to the construction 
of an addition to the small church and prompted plans for multi-cultural 
music, possibly featuring Hispanic and African-American riffs, and 
multi-media presentations. 
 
    "It will be more rock (`n' roll), much more lively then we have, even 
in our contemporary service," said Hughes. "We're trying to reach different 
people. We're letting mission come from the people who are getting changed 
and excited and bringing their gifts. So it's (about) seeing what God is 
doing among our people, and then what passion they have, and then working 
to elicit and encourage their passion to help lead the ministry of the 
church." 
 
    Redevelopment meets Mother Nature at First United Presbyterian Church 
of Leetsdale, Pa., near Pittsburgh. Members gather at a nearby community 
park during the summer months for a "little bit different setting and 
style" of worship service, according to the Rev. Walter Pietschmann, the 
church's pastor. 
 
    "It's a way of getting outside the walls of our church," said 
Pietschmann, who said his congregation has grown from 71 members to 87 
during his two years there. "It's to open up worship so people who wouldn't 
necessarily want to come indoors to worship can join us outside. 
 
    The congregation also has started a Sunday youth program for 7th- to 
12th-graders and become active in Habitat for Humanity programs. Members 
also hold a community luncheon once a month, drawing about 40 people. 
 
     "I don't know if it has directly increased our membership, but I think 
it has increased peoples' identity to the church," said Pietschmann, "and 
their willingness to become part of the church, because they're seeing our 
church doing things like that." 
 
    But many obstacles can stand in the way of getting a congregation 
started down the road of redevelopment. 
 
    "I'm just doing whatever I can to help out with the outreach," said 
Kerin Conklin-Freitas, a newly inducted elder at Bethel Presbyterian 
Church, a congregation of about 100 members in San Leandro, Calif. "That's 
kind of my stint right now - just trying to embrace our older congregation 
that is dealing with the difficulties of the issue of change ... trying to 
kind of re-educate them." 
 
    Since the mid-1990s, when Evangelism and Church Development Program 
Area officials pioneered a redevelopment program, the model of church-based 
community organization has spread rapidly across the nation. In late 1995, 
about 40 people representing presbyteries that were considering or actively 
sponsoring redevelopment clusters came together in Denver to form the 
Church-wide Redevelopment Training Network. The first national 
redevelopment conference was held in San Antonio, Texas, in January 1997, 
drawing about 300 participants. 
 
    The benefits have been inspiring, according to Smith, the Louisiana 
pastor. 
 
    "I think what this has done for me, it has given me hope, where Norwood 
sometimes would beat me down and I felt like I just didn't know what do 
next," he said. "This conference has been extraordinary." 

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