This story originally appeared in Spirit.NET, a publication of the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church.
What do you do when the ministry of the church is growing but the expense of the building is out of control with the rising heating costs? With increasing attendance especially among children and youth, Faith United Parish, a cooperative parish of the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, faced just such a problem. The church budget for 2008 included $28,000 for heat and hot water and $22,500 for property and liability insurance. That was before the dramatic increase in oil costs! The leadership of the congregation realized they would need to get creative in order maintain active ministry with a full-time pastor.
The main source of the high heating expense was the 650-seat sanctuary built in 1897 in the Richardsonian Romanesque style with its beautiful Tiffany stained glass windows and high ceiling. The space is heated by an oil steam boiler with a natural gas furnace helping out on very cold days. Every winter Sunday these systems begin the process of heating the sanctuary eight to ten hours before anyone enters the building. But replacing such systems with more energy efficient boilers carries a high cost, one the congregation would be unlikely to afford.
In order for the church to afford heat this winter it would be forced to worship in the Parish Hall as it did during the energy crises of the 1970’s and 1980’s. But no one liked doing that. Some pastors even said it was what a dying church would do. Why would you go into that room when you have a beautiful sanctuary?
Enter the new young pastor, Rev. Justin Hildebrand and one of the most senior members of the church, Carleton (“Zeke”) Finch. Hildebrandt had been envisioning a way to weave contemporary elements such as projection and contemporary music into a traditional service to give worship more life. However in the large sanctuary proper projection equipment would cost far too much. Then Finch handed his pastor an article focused on the high tech aspects of the new chapel at Andover Newton Theological Seminary before a meeting in the Parish Hall with the words, “We could do that here.” From that moment Hildebrandt and the church leadership focused on creating something new and exciting rather than moving worship grudgingly to that room turning a challenge into an opportunity. Using the skills and professional connections of members, they remodeled the Parish Hall by restoring the hardwood, painting the ceiling and walls, and installing a projection system with two ceiling-mounted LCD projectors.
The worship service was launched in its new location on Rally Day, not because they couldn’t afford the heat but because they were excited for a new experience. Along with the new space, the congregation celebrated the expansion of their ministry with children and youth. The Sunday school time moved to before the worship service allowing more time for study as well as weekly worship for the children, youth, and Sunday school teachers. The newly created position of children and youth ministry leader had been filled by a highly-qualified candidate. And the worship…well it was wonderful to worship nearly filling the seats. One member sent an email to Hildebrandt that evening, “I just wanted to let you know that I think today's service was an A+. It felt like we were part of a huge group. The responses, Lord's Prayer and singing sounded and more importantly felt alive.”
Having embraced the challenge of building and heating issues as opportunities, the congregation is looking forward to the next challenge. What happens when all 120 seats are filled?
