Subscribe
Community
‘Where two or three are gathered together ...'
Nontraditional spaces are home to hundreds of worshippers in region
Friday, May 14, 2010
 Click here to enlarge this photo Photo by MICHAEL SLATTERY
The Rev. Antione J. Hutchins Sr. leads a prayer for area bikers last month at the Christian Unity Baptist Church in Waldorf.
|
E-Mail This Article
Soaring ceilings, enormous audiences, elaborate means of communication and even celebrity affiliates have become common parts of the equation for some modern-day religions.
But not every faith-based organization has the history, money or members to compete with the world's largest altars and most pervasive beliefs. These nontraditional churches can face the challenges of startup, size and support not felt by the heavy hitters established over thousands of years.
The number of these nontraditional churches in Southern Maryland continues to increase; however, there is growing proof that there always will be a place and more than enough space for anyone seeking God.
Back to the basics
As the sun sets on a cool evening in Great Mills, a Tuesday night prayer group for the Lexington Park Foursquare Church is about to begin.
The handful of men and women gathers at the home of Charleen Laigle to chat about the day's news, but soon the discussion in the living room will turn to spiritual matters. Coffee mugs and empty plates with cheesecake crumbs will be set aside for well-worn Bibles, and political gossip will be exchanged for the reading of scripture passages as the small group starts its weekly meeting on matters of the heart, mind and soul.
"The home atmosphere really gives you an opportunity to grow. It's more personal," Linda Ward said. Ward's mother is Laigle, so along with a more intimate environment, the short commute is a familiar one. "To me it's just getting back to the basics of how the church used to be."
Established in Los Angeles during the early 1920s, the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel gets its name from the cornerstone belief that Jesus Christ is a savior, baptizer, healer and future ruler.
The St. Mary's branch began as a Bible study in 1993. As its members tell it, the church began to meet officially outside of private homes at the Esperanza Middle School in Lexington Park. During the years the congregation swelled to some 150 people and then shrank to roughly 25 or 30 members this past November.
Its current pastor is the Rev. Garth Dockstader, who now hosts Sunday worship services from his Lusby home. Along with Tuesday home worship, there is also worship service practice on Wednesday and a prayer intercession group on Thursday.
"[A church] is nice to have but it's just a building. Jesus is not coming back to take a building. He's coming back to take us," Ward said.
"We're not just a group of people just sitting and listening with one person talking. And it doesn't mean we're against that facility," Ben Johnston said. "Here it is nice, cozy and it makes me feel good."
But if there is only so much room in a person's home, how does the Foursquare Church grow? Its members say looking for outreach at any opportunity is the key.
"Sometimes it's frustrating when people you invite, they don't come," Johnston said. "But I just witness and let God deal with bringing people in."
New home, new hopes
While the Foursquare Church is leaving a portion of recruitment in the hands of the man upstairs, not all nontraditional missions have that luxury. That's not to say faith doesn't play a large part in their outreach, but for a group like the Anglican Mission of Southern Maryland there is a distinct balance that must be made among human, financial and spiritual resources.
"With people you do have a wealth of other resources to help you with the things you want to do. For some that means bringing your wallet, and that's bringing in members for the wrong reason," said Brookes Freegard, lay leader of the Anglican Mission. "That's not why we want more people. We want more people because I think it helps expand the ministry and our work. Hopefully we're reaching out to people without a church or who haven't been [to church] in a while."
Founded in 2005, the Anglican Mission is affiliated with the Anglican Church of North America, Anglican District of Virginia and the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. There are currently 15 people in the mission, Freegard said, most of whom are St. Mary's County residents and affiliated with Patuxent River Naval Air Station.
The mission is lay-led, which means a lay servant council — in this case five members — established the bylaws at the mission's outset and continues to help guide the congregation today.
"Originally I joined just because of my husband. I wanted to be going to the same church," said Pat Rauh, a three-year member and current treasurer of the Anglican Mission's Lay Servant Council. "Once I came here I was inspired by the Christian education programs. For the first time in all of my years of church I felt like there was a concern for growth and knowledge."
Jerry Brown said he began attending the early meetings on the suggestion of someone he knew. Originally a member of the Episcopal Church, Brown explained he felt betrayed by some of the recent less-than-traditional decisions made by the church, so he had stopped going for some time before joining with future Anglican Mission members.
"One of the things we realized early on, as a group we were not as knowledgeable about our beliefs as we should be," Freegard said. "But what we believe is if we can [grow spiritually], then we will come to that numeric growth."
Until recently the small group was meeting at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center in California each Sunday for a worship service. There, the mission only had a certain number of hours to use the building, as well as limited space. In fact, everything that was used in the service was packed in a box.
As of April, however, the Anglican Mission has a new home in the first floor of an office building a block from the Leonardtown main square.
"We're very happy with the simplicity of our worship area," Freegard said. "It's important to make sure the building doesn't replace the meaning of the people."
Pat Rauh said she envisions a lot of doors opening with the move to a permanent home. There will be a place for worship, a meeting room for the council and for studying and members will not have to rush out the door on Sunday mornings to stay within the allotted time.
Freegard said the mission is hoping to have a part-time priest return to St. Mary's every month and in time grow large enough to become a parish church with programs and a new name.
"People support what they find to have stability. We don't have a priest yet, but we're going on five years. We take pride in that," Freegard said.
Though aware it's a daunting task to grow a church from a small group of people, Freegard remains positive.
"It is intimidating to realize what we're trying to do and it's a little bit frustrating, too, since the numbers are not sufficient for turning to other resources," Freegard said. "So many small groups are successful because they are doing what God wants them to do. If you don't have the right purpose behind you, you're not going to be successful. We're hoping this turns out to be a good decision."
Environment versus tradition
Renee Carr, a charter member of Living Water Ministries of Waldorf, knows that feeling of hope and anticipation of success.
What started as a small storefront church along Old Washington Road in Charles County today sprawls throughout an office building along Industrial Park Drive.
"It was a good place, but we knew … we saw [the church] grow before it even grew," Carr said. "We knew it was a good place to be. It's got great leadership and it's all about family."
Even before you open the glass doors to step inside, you can hear the soaring voices of the choir and lively music produced by worshippers happy to be there.
"I visited the previous location when I was transitioning from one church to another," said Billy Ellis, a Living Water music ministry member since January 2008. "It's family oriented. It's all about the word [of God] and it's not sugar-coated. You can see and feel the love."
That feeling, said the Rev. Corine Merritt, co-pastor of Living Water Ministries, in her opinion is why churches like her husband Bishop Nathan Merritt's tend to be successful. While a storefront location might not be the most aesthetically pleasing from the outside, what the church has to offer spiritually more than makes up for appearances.
"Having been at a large church as well … people tend to get lost in the crowd. People don't want to be a number. They want the pastor to know them by their name," Corine Merritt said. "Personally, I don't want to be a megachurch. If its God's blessing [so be it], but we like being hands on, [with a] down-to-earth feeling and knowing what needs there are."
Nathan Merritt, senior pastor at Living Water Ministry, said that while the group doesn't consider itself denominational, it does have a focus on family, which is something anyone can relate to.
"We believe strong families build strong churches. Our vision is to remodel the foundation of society by perfecting family relationships based on Christian principles," he said.
Because of the emphasis on families, Living Water Ministries has a wide age range among its 100 or so members. In fact, additional space across the parking lot of the main ministry building just recently was acquired by the church for teaching its Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed clubs for students from second grade through high school.
When asked about how his ministry draws in members despite not having a large billboard or tall spire to catch the eyes of potential members, Nathan Merritt chalks up its success to the feeling people get when they step inside.
"They're looking for an environment that's loving, with people that care about one another. I think it's the loving atmosphere," he said.
Another Charles County church that's learned to understand the importance of atmosphere over environment is the Christian Unity Baptist Church. Led by the Rev. Antione J. Hutchins Sr., the church occupies a storefront space in a shopping center along Crain Highway.
Though the church started with about three dozen people, that number has jumped close to 200 today, Hutchins said.
Hutchins' approach to teaching his congregation is a combination of back-to-basics and modern-day expectations and there is a strong emphasis on teaching younger members of the church.
"What I strive to do is create a kind of church where if I was not the pastor, I'd want to be a member," he said.
But for those looking for a spiritual home, is a church that shares a roof with other businesses and is located around the corner from restaurants and pubs what people are looking for?
"Perception is real to the perceiver," Hutchins said. "Your perception as you're driving past here is you wouldn't see a major church."
While Hutchins works to keep the focus of the Christian Unity Baptist Church on the lessons rather than location, there are a few curveballs to deal with. At the end of April, the church hosted a blessing for local bikers and their motorcycles. Prior to the Sunday event, Hutchins said there were some 100 confirmed guests on the Facebook invite and his worry was that there wouldn't be enough space out front for the visiting cyclists.
"This is the challenge of a nontraditional church: Our parking lot can overflow," Hutchins said.
From trailer to triumph
The five original families that started the nondenominational Church by the Chesapeake know a thing or two about overflow themselves.
Today, the white trailer that formerly housed the equipment and supplies for the worship services in various empty Calvert County school classrooms sits in a distant parking slot on a 24-acre parcel of land. Covering up a sizable chunk of that property is the current home of the some 150 members, which is an attractive 14,000-square-foot facility complete with welcoming sitting area, multiple classrooms and a large multifunction hall.
"Everything about this building was designed to reach the community," the Rev. Rick Barrick said. "We'd certainly like a worship area but the next idea is an education center … or a kitchen."
While the Church by the Chesapeake is first and foremost a church, as Barrick and his wife, Tracey, explain it, the way to grow a congregation — both in size and spirituality — takes an open mind and open doors.
"This is a place where you can just worship God and not have to meet people's expectations," Rick Barrick said. "Everything is a ministry. Everything that you do is preaching the gospel. Faith and action are the arms and legs of Christ. There still has to be a reverence for the Lord, but what applied in B.C. times applies today. But you have to help people make that connection. That's my job; that's where I come in."
When Sunday morning church service isn't taking up the main hall of the building, any number of activities or events could be going on under the roof. Tracey Barrick said the Church by the Chesapeake hosts weddings, youth nights, Scout meetings, dances and Special Olympics sporting events throughout the course of the work week and weekends. The church also hosts parenting classes and supports 10 missionaries currently serving around the globe.
It might seem like a full schedule, Tracey Barrick said, but it's not such a stretch from the role of churches decades ago. These places used to be an "integral part" of the community, rather than just open for several hours on Sunday mornings.
"It used to be people ran to the church. Now they run to the government," Rick Barrick said.
"There are a lot of needs we can meet. This place is beautiful but simple. Some people do not like worshipping in a gymnasium. But once they have a home, they seem to stay there."
