wfn.org | UMNS# 05044-Weekday ministries thrive at downtown churches

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Weekday ministries thrive at downtown churches

Jan. 18, 2005	 News media contact:   Matt  Carlisle * (615) 742-5470*
Nashville {05044}

NOTE: Related articles are available online at www.umc.org.

A UMC.org Feature
By Tamie Ross*

Not long ago, many Americans lived, worked, worshipped and shopped
downtown.

That changed as people moved to suburbia. Churches moved with them,
expanding in a way not possible with urban land constraints to meet the
needs of a changing population.

Still, downtown Methodist churches remain a vital part of many cities.
Members have overcome such obstacles as declining residential
populations, parking headaches and even - in the case of Oklahoma City -
terrorist activity, to continue serving their ever-changing
neighborhoods.

In doing so, the churches themselves have changed the way they do
ministry and worship.

Like the corporate world, these downtown churches are open for business
all week. Weekday ministries - everything from lunch-hour Bible studies
to support groups to other programs - keep the front doors revolving.
The historic, towering buildings, with their classrooms, sanctuaries and
halls, see much more use beyond the requisite Sundays.

"We joke that we're open more than most businesses," says the Rev.
Darrell Mount, senior minister at Trinity United Methodist Church. The
downtown Denver congregation's historic, 116-year-old home is on
Broadway at 18th Street.

With 25 groups meeting from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week, and
daily tours and weddings most weekends, the building is always busy, the
pastor says.

"We've counted, and on average, 3,500 people a week come to our church
outside regular services," Mount says. Just as interesting is another
figure: The church's average attendance is 750 at each of its three
Sunday services.

Drawing people in on nontraditional days and hours has allowed Trinity
to grow and change while maintaining its historical location, he says.

"I think we're recognized by those in Denver as a place to meet, a place
where people obviously see that ministry is going on," he says.

Temple United Methodist Church in San Francisco found its niche partly
through public education.

Tutoring 24 school-age children, adopted by the congregation for the
academic year, is one of Temple's most successful weekday ministries,
says Donna Decker, the church's office administrator.

Besides improving the students' grades, church members hope to provide
positive role models of all age groups and both sexes, Decker says.

First United Methodist of Oklahoma City has given a new dimension to the
concept of surviving as a downtown church.

The 115-year-old church attracts up to 400 office workers each week for
its ecumenical Loaves and Fishes lunch-hour Bible study. The program is
in its 20th year.

But in the last nine years, the congregation has become closely
identified with its location at Northwest 4th and Robinson streets in a
way that the Rev. Stan Cosby, senior minister, could never have
predicted.

The church is across from the site of the former Murrah Federal
Building, where 168 people died after a truck bomb exploded on April 19,
1995. Like many surrounding buildings, the church sustained extensive
damage in the blast - damage that took three years to fix.

Jana Mott attends First Church's Bible study each week. On a recent,
12-degree day, the church has fried chicken, hash brown casserole and
salad on the menu, but she pushes her plate aside and opens her Bible as
Cosby begins speaking about finding warmth in Christ.

"It's nice to be able to come here and really get fed, not just lunch,"
says Mott, a non-denominational Christian who works for the Oklahoma
City Chamber of Commerce. She started attending the study in 1984,
stopped briefly when a job change displaced her from downtown, and
returned 15 years ago.

"It helps me keep my priorities straight," Mott says. "I know the work
will be there when I get back, but if I miss this opportunity, I can't
get it back."

Although attendance at Loaves and Fishes has dropped since its pre-1995
peak, Cosby and Gus Alfonzo, its leader, are working on new ways to
market and expand its role within the business community.

"There's a renewed interest in looking at the work force as the harvest
field," Alfonzo says. "People spend one-third of their day, five days a
week at work. Church can, and should, be a consistent influence in their
lives, and a place where we can be a witness."
# # #
*Ross is a freelance journalist based in Dallas.

News media contact: Matt Carlisle, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5153 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service
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