Note #9139 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06096 Feb. 16, 2006
God can do, pastor says: Ours is not to wonder 'Y'
Indiana church moves into fitness facility, gives members a spiritual workout
by Toya Richards Hill
JEFFERSONVILLE, IN - In the midst of sweaty athletic workouts and fitness routines, God's presence can be felt on any Sunday morning at the Clark County YMCA.
That's where a small but faithful band of believers goes to worship at 10 a.m. And it's where Grace United Presbyterian Church is transforming itself from what it was to what it intends to be.
Back in Grace United's heyday - some 30 or 40 years ago - the folks who are now members of the church were part of a thriving congregation at 555 Eastern Boulevard in nearby Clarksville. They owned their own building and kept the doors open with a plethora of activities.
In the 1970s, "People spilled out of the church," said the Rev. Charlie Pye, Grace United's part-time pastor, a certified public accountant who maintains a practice in Louisville. He also is classified as a tentmaker within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
But times changed, and the kids grew up and left the congregation. The pews became ever emptier and the offering plates followed suit. An extra hit came in early 2004 when one of Grace United's major givers moved away.
It was time to make a change, and Pye was the person to help Grace United do it.
A third-year student at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary at the time, Pye came to the church in 2002 as a student supply pastor. That turned into a stated supply position after he was ordained in 2003.
"We really needed to do something," said Pye, whose congregation then had about 25 members. At the rate the church was going, its reserves wouldn't last more than three more years.
The session discussed various options, including merger with another congregation and selling or renting the church space. Ultimately, Grace First made a more radical move: It stayed on its own, sold its building and moved to the YMCA.
In February 2005, the congregation moved into rented space in the Y. Two months later, Grace United sold its building to an auction house. The sale netted more than $100,000.
The changes didn't suit everyone. Membership dropped even further, to about 20 people, Pye said.
The members who were willing to make the change, however, were pleased. And now, under Pye's leadership, they are patiently waiting for God to usher them into the next phase of their church life.
"I miss the building ... (but) I don't think the church is the building," said member John Trueblood, a lifelong member of Grace United who was baptized there. "It's the Holy Spirit that you feel."
"The church was very insulated for a long time," Trueblood said. "I think our attention now is to be more a part of the global community."
Pye is not concerned at the moment about where the church is or its still-small membership, or the fact that it is still operating at a deficit. He says the congregation is growing its faith and expanding its trust in God - something toward which it has made great strides simply by moving to the Y.
If you look at how Grace First is faring in those two areas, "we're doing well," he said, adding: "As our faith grows, we become infectious."
If the process ripples as Pye expects, people wanting "to feel God's presence" will join those already strong in their faith.
That sits well with Linda Norwood, who grew up in Grace United and is now the clerk of session.
"I envision the old with the new,"and creative ministry that includes different music and fresh ideas, she said. "Charlie has brought the challenge for new things and open-mindedness."
Pye, born and raised a Jew before joining the Presbyterian Church in the early 1990s, is so open-minded about his call to Grace United that he goes once a week to a coffee shop in Jeffersonville to "hang out," meet people and invite them to his church.
Grace United also has a Web site, www.GraceUnitedpc.org, and distributes flyers advertising "sermons that speak to today's problems in today's language!"
Pye also would love to tap the growing Asian and Hispanic populations of Southern Indiana.
If the congregation were to grow to about 50 families, he said, it probably would be time to transition out of the YMCA space to a new building.
"This model will work up to about 50," he said, but if it goes past that, "Something has to happen."
Clearly there's no rush. The uncertainly of the situation is what continues to energize Pye.
We don't know what will happen, he said with a smile, and "that's the great thing about God."
God's answer is always "far greater" than anything we could have imagined, he said.
"That's sort of what happened on Easter morning."
For more information about Grace United Presbyterian Church, call the Rev. Charlie Pye at (502) 727-9852, or email him at cpye@graceunitedpc.org. For more information about tentmaking, go to www.pcusa.org/ministers/types/tentmaking.htm
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