THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9504030149
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 196 lines
A recent scene from the Park Place United Methodist Church:
Sam McGann, an Episcopalian retiree, and Donta Lamb, a 12-year-old Park Place boy, were taking turns reading aloud from a book of Chinese fairy tales written by a Jewish woman.
Meanwhile, the Rev. Charles Smith, the only Methodist in the room, anxiously glanced at his watch. He was waiting for two 12-year-old girls to arrive for their weekly confirmation class.
Which way toward the future for this aging inner-city church? A center for multicultural community outreach? Or, a revitalized bastion of traditional religious instruction?
``Yes. Both,'' said Smith, pastor since last June. ``They're both the same thing. It's involvement and commitment. It's what Christianity is about. . .
``It all fits together.''
For years, Park Place United Methodist has searched for the right fit. Membership, which peaked at 2,600 in the 1950s, had shrunk to about 575. Even fewer remained active, and much of the spacious building fell out of use.
The new outreach mission also fits with a national trend: neighborhoods taking more control of their destinies, not waiting for government to solve their problems.
``We realized that there were a lot of problems in the community - drugs, crime, alcohol and a lot of single-parent families that need extra support,'' said Smith, who often walks nearby streets. ``We wanted to come up with ways to help people help themselves.''
There are many churches that assist with neighborhood social problems. For example, First Baptist Church Lamberts Point houses a health clinic, after-school tutoring, a clothes bank and a food-assistance program.
Churches have ``a duty to do more than collect money from people and put on a pageant on Sunday,'' said the Rev. Anthony Paige, pastor of First Baptist. ``Churches have to be up and functioning every day of the week.''
But few congregations had as much to offer as Park Place United Methodist: several thousand square feet of classroom and meeting space, mostly unused for many years. The massive complex, a highly visible landmark, fills the block between 34th and 35th streets at Colonial Avenue.
Community groups now use much of the space. They offer pre- and after-school care, tutoring and literacy programs, none of which are sponsored by Park Place United Methodist. Two are affiliated with Christ & St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Ghent.
``Networking is one of the keys to make anything work in the community - civic, religious, social - whatever it takes,'' Smith said.
The church spent about $50,000 on renovation. A similar amount came in donated labor and materials from members with professional expertise and the outreach groups themselves. There's no rent, but some groups share utility costs with the congregation.
The new direction dovetailed with City Hall andneighborhood revitalization efforts, said Marvin Steffen, chairman of the congregation's administrative board.
The decline of Park Place United Methodist is a familiar story for many old urban churches where membership remained all white and largely affluent in neighborhoods that became increasingly black and poor. As older members died, younger families joined churches in newer neighborhoods closer to their suburban homes.
Five years ago, Park Place United Methodist's planning committee posed three recommendations: sell and build someplace else; merge with another congregation; or disband, with members joining other churches on their own.
On the day of the vote, a fourth alternative rose from the members: reinvest for the future.
``It got 90-something percent,'' said Henry Shriver, chairman of the board of trustees. ``There was no real equivocation on that, and it's been that way ever since.''
The church created the 2002 Committee to devise a plan to take the 93-year-old congregation into its second century. Under the Revs. George Neas and Ben Nelson, predecessors of Smith, the mission began expanding to include the Park Place neighborhood.
``There's no hidden agendas,'' such as recruiting neighbors to join the church or become Methodists, Smith said. ``They're welcome to join, but that's not necessarily our goal. Our goal is to work with them, and to help them and to be of service to them.''
Among the first community groups to participate was the Park Place Academy Enrichment Program, a child development center that offers day care, before- and after-school programs, homework help and a summer camp.
``I wrote to about 50 churches in the Park Place area for support,'' recalled director Linette Norfleet. ``We got no response until we heard from Rev. George Neas.''
This year, 38 children are enrolled and 28 attend regularly. Volunteers include education majors from Old Dominion and Norfolk State universities.
Gradually, other community groups moved in, attracting volunteers and partnerships with other institutions, such as nearby James Monroe Elementary School.
One of the latest is Urban Discovery Ministries, which uses computers to help children and adults with reading and math skills and assists neighbors with parenting and family skills.
The program goes door to door to reach people who do not attend community meetings or PTAs, said Michael V. Fariss, director.
Fariss promotes outreach as a partnership. He said inner-city residents should not be treated as ``people you're coming to do things to. . . . If you have that kind of mentality, then you don't see the person there as a potential solution.''
The outcome of Park Place's expanded church mission is far from settled.
Congregation leaders say they need more young members like Kathy Stark, 40, of nearby Colonial Place, who likes the community programs. ``It's one of the things that keeps a church viable,'' Stark said. ``If you're not happy with the way the world is going, you have to get involved.''
The congregation also hopes to draw more volunteers. A recent open house showcased the changes to other Methodists.
Park Place residents also were invited. Only two adults attended, but both were pleased.
One, Thelma Harrison, an 80-year-old former president of the Park Place Civic League, was surprised. ``It's been going to waste all these years,'' she said, ``but this is beautiful.''
B.J. Stancel, the league's current president, said she was not aware of the outreach and wants to meet with the pastor. She noted that communication problems often fuel ``skepticism or distrust about people willing to flock to Park Place to offer help. . . . Why are they doing this now? Why not before?''
Other residents and church members are feeling their way toward one another.
Norfleet, an African American, said she felt an icy distance from congregation members when she moved her child-development program into the church in 1991.
``These people in this church are fairly older people. The way they acted was from something they were taught to believe for so long,'' Norfleet said. ``For me to come in here, even though this is an all-black community, this is their church, their territory.''
Norfleet says she now feels welcome at Park Place United Methodist and is one of the few blacks who occasionally attend worship services there.
She also takes curious Park Place residents on tours of the church. ``There are black people who were raised up in this community who don't even know what it looks like inside,'' Norfleet said.
Mildred Holloway, a 30-year resident of the area, said people associated with her program, the Park Place Academy, have learned to feel good about the church.
``You want me to be honest? The concern in our neighborhood was that these folks were trying to take over the black children, '' Holloway said.
``The concern was that we shouldn't even meet there. But too many positive things were happening for us over there for us to listen to that. . . . We weren't being coerced into anything. We were being welcomed.''
Holloway said Park Place United Methodist is setting an example for breaking through racial barriers. ``The church is getting a feeling for what the community needs and how it can help, and the community is getting a feeling that a white church is helping them,'' she said. ``The longer this goes on, the better our relationships will grow.''
Some pastors of mostly black churches, such as the Rev. Frank Guns, of the nearby Abyssinia Baptist Church and a member of the nonprofit Park Place Community Development Corp., also applaud Park Place United Methodist's efforts.
``I wish all the other churches would catch on fire and start getting a vision like that,'' Guns said.
Back at Park Place United Methodist, Smith, the pastor, said ``sometimes you wonder, `How in the world can I make an impact?' This is a way to start. In our little corner of the world, here in Norfolk, we can make an impact.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
TAMARA VONINSKI/Staff
Sam McGann helps Donta Lamb, 12, with his homework at a tutoring
program based at Park Place United Methodist Church.
The Rev. Charles Smith wants his congregation at Park Place United
Methodist to reach out and support the community.
Photo
TAMARA VONINSKI/Staff
Christopher Thomas, 8, enjoys a game of checkers during an afternoon
spent with the Park Place Academy Enrichment Program, which is based
at Park Place United Methodist Church.
Graphic
OUTREACH PROGRAM
These are some of the community outreach programs that operate
from the Park Place United Methodist Church at 500 W. 34th St.,
Norfolk:
Project Light, a Bible-based literacy and learning center. It
also hosts conferences to help organize similar programs in other
cities and states.
Urban Discovery Ministries, which helps inner-city residents with
social problems that impede education. Programs include tutoring for
children and adults, turning some adults into mentors for others.
Park Place Academy, which provides tutoring and youth jobs
programs including the ``Homework Club.''
Park Place Academy Enrichment Program, which offers day care,
before- and after-school programs and homework assistance. It
formerly was known as the Park Place United Methodist Child
Development Center.
Park Place Youth Council, a support group for youth.
Park Place Summer Camp, which operates in July and August.
by CNB