THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 30, 1994 TAG: 9409280113
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBYNE R. COOKE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
EACH HAD something to offer the other. Each needed something from the other.
The recent ``marriage'' of two Chesapeake churches benefited all members, explained Mark Bailey, the pastor of the new congregation.
Covenant Christian Fellowship on Nautilus Avenue and Congregational Pentecostal Freewill Baptist Church on Sparrow Road officially merged on Sept. 4, when their first joint service was held.
``It was like a marriage. We filled in the gaps for each other,'' said Bailey.
Covenant Christian offered a solid young adult membership and Bailey as pastor. Congregational Pentecostal hadn't had a permanent pastor since May, but offered a large senior and teenage membership. They also had a well-developed administrative policy with a board of deacons, something Covenant lacked, said Bailey.
``They had a structure we weren't able to create,'' he said.
Covenant lacked a choir so some of its members who enjoy singing were pleased to learn that Congregational had a very active choir.
``We got the best of both worlds. If this was supposed to happen, you have to walk by faith. The Lord spoke to me,'' said Bailey.
Bailey, who describes himself as a progressive Pentecostal, filled out the necessary paperwork to become the pastor of Congregational Pentecostal. Since the two denominations were so similar in views and beliefs, the process was not difficult, he said.
Since Congregational Pentecostal has a large facility, complete with Sunday school classrooms, a kitchen, a meeting hall and a worship center that seats about 250, the decision was made to move the members of Covenant. All 40 members who regularly attend services moved to Congregational, which had about 80 regular members.
Though Bailey thinks that some members of Congregational may have initially had some reservations about him becoming pastor, he said that members have blended successfully. He had preached to the members of Congregational four times before their members voted him as the new pastor.
``We had some tremendous services,'' he said.
``There's more excitement on Sundays. Mark is a deep, spiritual man. We're just thrilled with the merger. They have a lot of young families with children,'' said Bill Wiggins, who was a founding member of Congregational Pentecostal Freewill Baptist.
``A church is a living organism, so there will be changes,'' he added.
The churches are located only about half a mile from each other. Congregational Pentecostal Freewill Baptist began in a community center on July 1, 1962.
Covenant Christian Fellowship began in a basement in the 1950s, and constructed its first building in the 1960s. It was initially referred to as the ``cellar church,'' said Bailey, who has been the pastor there for the past four years.
``We've been so similar. We bridged two churches. There's a lot of small churches that are struggling.''
Bailey's goals for the new church are simple. ``We want to be a relevant church for the '90s. We want to be a community-minded church. We want to bridge gaps between the community and the church, between parents and children and between traditional Pentecostal and modern Pentecostal.
``We want to be real, not just an institution,'' he said, emphasizing the word ``real.''
The combined church now has another goal - to reach a membership of 200 by the end of 1994. ``We've got plenty of room to grow,'' Bailey said.
Congregational Pentecostal Freewill Baptist Church is located at 1514 Sparrow Road in Chesapeake. Sunday School is at 9:45. Sunday services are at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Bible study is at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
A merger of two similar churches means that Mark Bailey is now
pastor to about 120 members.
by CNB