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Community
Churches combine to honor diversity of today's Charles
Congregations will celebrate Oct. 3
Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by EMILY BARNES
The Revs. Tony Love and Amanda Sayers of Covenant Point-Lakeside Cooperative Parish in Waldorf recently combined their United Methodist churches, one predominantly white and one predominantly black, both to foster a more diverse congregation and cut down on expenses.
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The leaders of two United Methodist churches in Waldorf are combining their parishes, one predominantly white and one predominantly black, to both foster a more diverse congregation and cut down on expenses.
The Rev. Tony Love of Covenant Point United Methodist Church and the Rev. Amanda Sayers of Lakeside United Methodist Church said the decision to combine the two churches to form Covenant Point-Lakeside Cooperative Parish came after more than a year of deliberation with leaders and parishioners of both congregations.
Covenant Point is an African-American church and Lakeside is predominately white, Love said, adding that the county's evolution into a multiracial and multicultural community cries out for the partnership.
According to 2009 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, of the 142,266 people living in Charles County, 54.1 percent are white, 40.1 percent are black, 3.9 percent are Hispanic and 2.6 percent are Asian.
In comparison, in 2000, of the 120,546 people living in the county, 70.2 percent were white, 27.1 were black, 2.4 were Asian and 2.3 were Hispanic, according to the Census Bureau.
The cooperative parish already has started holding a combined Sunday morning worship service and they plan on cementing the partnership in October when Covenant Point will permanently move to the Lakeside campus on Smallwood Drive, Love said. Covenant Point will vacate the space it now occupies at the Smallwood Village Center in St. Charles.
The project began when the Rev. Ken McDonald was Lakeside's pastor, Love said.
"We looked at having a United Methodist church in the Waldorf area that would be more reflective of the community and its changing demographics," he said. "We felt that we needed to address that."
There are five United Methodist churches in Waldorf that are within three miles of one another, Love said.
"None of them reflect the diversity in the community," he said. "Combining Covenant Point and Lakeside is a real attempt to bring together two churches that will be a model for the future."
There are strengths in each church that will blend to create a dynamic ministry, Sayers said. For example, Covenant Point has a thriving liturgical dance ministry and Lakeside has the "HOPEFOOLS" teen puppet ministry, which stands for Hands On People Experience For Our Only Lord and Savior, that brings God's word to parish youth in a very unique way, she said.
Lakeside's Camp Love, a missions and service camp, and Covenant Point's prison ministry also will gain momentum from the partnership, Sayers said.
"I'm excited about it," she said. "When people of different cultures come together it really reflects the kingdom of God."
Lakeside parishioner Michael Blakeley said he met the proposal with some skepticism when the subject first was broached to the parish.
"I was a little bit leery because it's a change," he said. "The two churches are coming from two different cultures, but once we got together you could feel the love of Christ flowing through the congregation."
Blakeley said the cooperative parish will meet many needs, including keeping the congregation strong financially and spiritually.
"We've experienced a decline in attendance, morale has been down," he said. "This is really going to put a new infusion of energy in the congregation."
Covenant Point parishioner Victor Turner said the cooperative parish will erase the differences among parishioners by bringing out the best in both ministries.
"It's a God thing," he said. "The parish will serve as a model. When we get to heaven there will be no division of races. This will be a powerful thing, something that Waldorf has never seen before."
Creating a cooperative parish is exactly what the county needs to foster better understanding among all races that live here, said the Rev. James Briscoe, president of the Ministers Alliance of Charles County and Vicinity and pastor of Free Gospel Church of Bryans Road.
"Heaven isn't going to be segregated," he said. "Churches should cater to all nations in the community. A cooperative parish is a great idea."
Many United Methodist churches across the country are combining to better serve diverse communities, said Shaun Lane, director of communication for the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church.
"Many times churches combine to build stronger congregations," he said, adding that Love and Sayers received approval for the union from the Baltimore-Washington Conference. "It strengthens the churches financially and it creates a larger base."
In the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., area, there are currently four cooperative United Methodist parishes and there are 63 across the country, according to the General Council on Finance and Administration of The United Methodist Church.
Love said that the cooperative parish will celebrate the union of the churches during a worship service Oct. 3.
"We're excited about what God is doing and where he is going to lead us," he said.
