ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, October 20, 1996 TAG: 9610180084
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: The Back Pew
SOURCE: CODY LOWE
How would you go about starting a new religious congregation?
There are numerous possibilities and endless variations, but historically, it's usually happened in one of two ways:
One birth scenario - perhaps the most common, today - is for an established congregation to split.
Sometimes that is by design, as when a congregation decides it has grown past some "optimum" size or when members from one geographic area become numerous enough to start their own congregation in a more convenient location.
More often, it seems, a split is more like a divorce. The congregation becomes divided over theology or personalities. Factions develop. One group leaves. Sometimes there is a nasty lawsuit over who gets to keep the real estate and the bank accounts and the hymnals.
The other example for starting a new congregation involves a preacher deciding he - or occasionally, she - had a "call" from God or from an existing denomination to organize a new congregation. The pastor-to-be would set out knocking on doors, perhaps hold a revival-type service in a tent or other public place, and draw followers.
A small but enthusiastic band of believers would then begin to invite a few more, and with a little luck, or divine blessing, the congregation slowly would grow from a few families into a "real" church. The process could take years, even decades, to realize the vision of its founders.
Though we might associate that latter example as one more common to 19th-century America, it's still happening today.
The methods have changed a bit, however.
Consider the Smith Mountain Lake Church of the Brethren.
A small group of Brethren started meeting one Sunday a month in June 1995 at the Lewis-Gale Clinic in Moneta. On Jan. 1, the congregation called the Rev. Judy Mills Reimer as pastor. And on Palm Sunday of this year, March 31, weekly services began on Sunday evenings.
The little congregation wanted to grow and sensed a potential for expansion. But how?
Modern times called for modern methods. In this case, that was a program called "The Phone's for You," started by a California church-growth company.
On Monday through Thursday nights for four weeks, members of the church - along with some friends from sister congregations - began calling every person with a listing in the Smith Mountain Lake phone directory.
After identifying themselves and the church, the caller asked if the person who answered was "actively involved in a church at the present time." If the answer was yes, the caller thanked the person for his or her time, and explained "that as a new church ... we are interested in those folks who do not have a church home," Reimer said.
If the answer to the question was no, the callers asked permission to send literature about the church. At the end of the campaign, 777 individuals and families gave that permission and were sent five mailings.
That included pamphlets on Brethren beliefs, and invitations to a "Celebration Sunday" service to welcome new inquirers on Oct. 6. Each household was called a second time just before the service with another invitation to worship in newly remodeled facilities in Lakewood Professional Center.
Though it's too early to know for sure just how effective the campaign was, it did attract a number of new people seeking to know more about Smith Mountain Lake Church of the Brethren.
And it is a technique that is being used elsewhere. In Roanoke, Community of Faith, a new congregation of the Brethren in Christ denomination, is using a similar technique.
Loine Hain, who coordinated the church's organization, said the "law of large numbers" is at work. Even if only 10 percent of the people who agree to receive literature actually turn out for a service, the effort will have been worth it, she said. In her case, she is hoping for 120 to 125 to participate in today's "Celebration Sunday" at North Cross School.
Hain began working on the project 11 months ago. Sixty-six people helped call more than 15,000 households in the Roanoke Valley, and 1,200 agreed to receive the mail-outs.
The Brethren in Christ, begun in Lancaster, Pa., in 1778, is not particularly well-known here. It weaves together Anabaptist, Wesleyan and Mennonite theological traditions, Hain said.
Once the churches attract new members, of course, the leadership of both congregations will have the somewhat more daunting task of retaining them.
At Smith Mountain Lake Church of the Brethren they are trying worship with praise music and drama, as well as an extensive program of Christian education for youth and adults. At Community of Faith, it means a combination of "traditional and contemporary" worship styles.
Both begin Sunday morning services at 10:30 a.m.
Somehow, that "nontraditional" time seems appropriate.
Additional information on Smith Mountain Lake Church of the Brethren is available by calling the church office at (540) 721-1816; on Community of Faith by calling 774-1816.
LENGTH: Medium: 92 linesby CNB