Case Study: First Church of the Brethren -
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Presenters:
Pastor Marisel Olivencia
Pastor Irvin Heishman

I. Introductions and Prayer

II. History - How We Got Together

A. A Latino Perspective
B. An Anglo Perspective

III. Working Relationship - Nuts and Bolts

A. Communication
B. Relationship of Grace
C. Finances
D. Latino/Anglo Youth Trip to Puerto Rico

IV. What We're Learning From Each Other

V. Stewardship Advantages of This Model

VI. Marriage of Pentecostalism and Anabaptism

A. Legalism vs. Open Minded Pentecostalism
B. The Socially Progressive Roots of Pentecostalism (Sojourner's Article)
C. Worship Issues

VII. Pastoral Training for Ethnic Leaders

VIII. Nuevo Amanacer (our "adopted" daughter church plant)

 

Background Information

Vision Statement (affirmed by the congregation in 1995)

"We are called to build a Christ-centered, multi-cultural community in the inner city sharing the love, healing, peace and justice of Christ."

Church and Neighborhood Information

In 1996, First Church celebrated its 100th anniversary. The church was started by rural German Brethren who were moving into the city for work. The city was much smaller then so the church was actually located on the edge of the city. At that time, the church neighborhood consisted of white, blue-collar workers.

By the 1950's, the city had grown to the point that First Church was clearly located in the inner city. A major crisis developed in the church as the neighborhood began to radically change, with a variety of ethnic minority persons moving in and racial tensions flaring. There was a strong feeling among many that the church should re-locate to the suburbs, as many of the church members were. However, the congregation's prophetic pastor helped support those who felt called to stay in the community to serve the new groups of people moving in. In the end, the congregation decided to assist in the development of a new church plant in the suburbs, forming the Ridgeway Community Church. At the same time, those choosing to stay with the congregation took on a major building project and added staffing to launch new and extensive community outreach programs.

The community outreach of the church has remained consistently strong. However, the focus of the vision formed in the 1960's was primarily on service, with little emphasis on evangelism. As a result, the congregation attracted a unique, wonderful, but mostly white membership with a high percentage of former volunteer service workers. The congregation has also suffered from several decades of gradual decline in membership and attendance.

This pattern of decline is beginning to dramatically change. Current leadership has been emphasizing the importance of balancing service and evangelism. The addition of a Spanish language worship service has been the most effective evangelistic effort to date.

Attendance Statistics

After decades of gradual decline, average worship attendance at First Church has increased 62% in just two years. In addition to this increase, our Latino worship group developed a relationship with a new church plant (averaging 75 in attendance) in Bethlehem, PA, which now wants to affiliate with the Church of the Brethren. We are now in the process of being "adopted" as the mother church for this new fellowship!!! If we count the Bethlehem group the two-year rate of growth would be 122%.

Statistical Summary
Year	Average Attendance
1985	157
1997	127*
1999	193
Month
Jan 2000	206** and growing!

* This low figure does not include attendance at a Saturday Evening worship service, a first attempt to start a second worship service. This effort did not thrive and has been discontinued. Unfortunately, most of the people who did come to this evening service are no longer with us. However, lessons learned from this experience have contributed to the success of current efforts.

** This monthly average excludes a winter weather Sunday when both services experienced unusually low attendance.

The period of decline from 1985 to 1997 reflects a pattern that actually extends back several decades. A significant part of this decline was due to the aging of the congregation. There were 12 deaths during one of those years. Losing a significant number of members to death will continue to be a drain on the membership strength of the congregation for some time.

However, in the two-year period ending in December of 1999, average worship attendance had dramatically increased to 193, due in large part to the addition of the Spanish language worship service. Most of the new attenders have been new believers. Some new attenders in the morning English language service were attracted to the church because they were impressed by the congregation's outreach to the Latino community even though they didn't speak Spanish themselves! On January 30, 2000, attendance at the Spanish worship service was 107, surpassing 100 for the first time. We may see the first Sunday in which attendance at the Spanish service is larger than that of the morning service sometime this year.

Our History of Sharing Our Building

First Church has a long and successful history of sharing its building with community groups and other worshipping groups. The congregation currently shares its building with a Cambodian Fellowship affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church. This group has been using our building free of charge for fifteen years (the fellowship is contributing to our building campaign).

In the past, the church shared its facilities with the Hispanic Mennonite Church as it was getting started. That congregation now has its own facilities and is located in another part of the city. Our Latino group and the Mennonites hold joint worship services and enjoy a positive and supportive relationship.

Community Ministries

Brethren Housing Association is now ten years old. This separately incorporated ministry has purchased and renovated six properties (on the same street as First Church) with a total of sixteen living units. These are used to provide transitional housing for homeless families. Case management services are provided in cooperation with a sister organization, DELTA Housing Inc. BHA currently has an annual budget of $140,000 and is supported by a network of eight member congregations, individuals, and grants.

A weekly food distribution takes place at First Church on Fridays. Over two hundred families come for supplemental food each week. This ministry is a cooperative ministry with Freedom Chapel, an independent congregation. To balance service with evangelism, families are invited, on a totally voluntary basis, to come early for a Bible study before receiving their food. The response has been surprisingly strong and several people have begun attending the church through this outreach.

A number of programs are offered for children including a computer club (in which children completing the class receive a free computer to take home with them), KIDS Church (a lively evening worship service for children), after school tutoring, and scholarships for children to attend summer camp.

First Church is experimenting with "income producing ministries" to see if its community outreach ministries can become self-funded. A thrift shop to sell used clothing and small furniture items is being operated out of the church basement. This is our first experiment with this concept. Free clothing is given from the shop to families in need. First Church is also making arrangements to rent its parking lots to downtown workers.

The building is heavily used by community groups such as Narcotics Anonymous.

Financial Statistics

First Church has enjoyed surprisingly strong financial support from its members. The congregation's 2000 budget (fully funded by congregational commitments and other income sources) is $290,143. In addition to this the congregation raised $361,000 in a capital improvements campaign. The Spanish worship service was started in the middle of the capital campaign.

Funds to bring our Latino pastoral team on staff were raised by preparing a budget for the ministry including the salary package. This budget was then projected five years into the future. Then the total budget was divided into pieces (like pieces of a pie). A variety of congregations, our district, and groups were invited to become funding partners, each covering a piece of the "pie." Over the five years, the new Spanish fellowship is projected to pick up more and more of the financial costs, with the group projected to be financially self-sufficient in six years. So far the projections are on target, except that attendance has grown faster than expected.

Future Dreams

During the past year the congregation has struggled with questions regarding how to reach out more effectively to our English-speaking neighbors. We have grown in our appreciation of the key role that worship style plays in this.

Experiments with blended worship styles have revealed the potential but frustrating limits of this approach. Therefore, plans are currently being laid for developing a new cell group based contemporary/black gospel English language worship service. At the same time we plan to keep the current traditional style worship service fresh and meaningful by continuing to slowly introduce gradual change and variety.

We hope to maintain the Anabaptist ideal of community by expanding the number of joint worship services involving people from all the worship groups, developing cross-cultural small groups, and supporting activities like the Anglo/Latino youth work camp in Puerto Rico.

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