09241
March 24, 2009

Just because

Tampa Bay Presbytery’s REACH Initiative leads churches ‘outside ourselves’

by Toya Richards Hill
Special to Presbyterian News Service

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church hands out free car washes (and donuts) “just because” … they want to reach out and share Christ’s love.

Editor’s note: This is the tenth in a series of stories about congregations engaged in significant outreach and evangelism ministries, reflecting the General Assembly’s commitment to “Grow Christ’s Church Deep and Wide.” ― Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE – Folks in the central Florida gulf coast community of Dunedin have started to chatter about the members of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church located there.

After all, St. Andrews’ members are the ones who do things like hand out water bottles to passersby along a local trail for no apparent reason … just because. Or, you might find congregants holding a free car wash, with no donations accepted.

Their goals are simple: “To get outside ourselves” and “to reflect what God is doing for us,” said the Rev. John Fullerton, pastor of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregation.

Ultimately, he said, the church’s hope is that people will come to know Christ and join their fellowship, enabling St. Andrews to be “a vitalized church, spiritually alive.”   

“The church of Jesus Christ is on my watch and He asks fruitfulness,” Fullerton said. “The hope is that we would bear much fruit … reaching others and inviting them to come to know Christ.”

What’s happening at St Andrews is part of a larger effort under way within the Presbytery of Tampa Bay to help grow it and the denomination deep and wide. The project, called The REACH Initiative, is designed “to reach new disciples for Christ,” according to the Rev. Gerry Tyer, executive presbyter and stated clerk of the Presbytery of Tampa Bay.

“The REACH Initiative is an energetic, outward-focused effort to reverse the downward trend of church membership,” he said in information about the project. “We can learn from the successes of growing churches. We can share the expertise of presbytery staff. We can support each other and hold each other accountable for fruitfulness.”

A car gets a free wash by St. Andrews members as part of the community outreach and evangelism program of Tampa Bay Presbytery.

Using as its foundation the Great Commission outlined in Matthew 28:19 and Matthew 25:35-40, the REACH Initiative asks participating congregations to work in cluster groups through a multi-year process that includes a self-appraisal, strategic planning, focus groups, local and national speakers, evangelism training and other efforts.

Some of the features of the initiative are adapted from the book Hit the Bullseye: How Denominations Can Aim the Congregation At the Mission Field, by Paul Borden.

Churches that are growing are “outward oriented and not inward oriented,” Tyer said in a recent interview. “Growing churches are focused on the people who are not yet in the church.”

They ask, “How can we go to their turf and encounter folks where they are, rather than wait for them to be attracted to us,” he said.

Tyer said growing churches “design systems” in which programs, activities and worship are created to involve other people. Then, those systems are followed up on.

“I am hoping that we reach new disciples for Christ, and learn how to do that effectively,” he said.

St. Andrews, which has been around 51 years, is one of 10 congregations in the presbytery taking part in the initiative’s pilot effort, which began last year.

The congregation, which includes seasonal residents and retirees, had already recognized the need to adjust to the changing world around it, but felt The REACH Initiative was additional support toward that goal.

Attitudes and demographics are changing and there are a whole different group of retirees and others in the church’s midst, Fullerton said.

He said among the steps he’s taken to engage in “dynamic” ministry is first to raise awareness that it’s necessary. A large percentage of the sermons Fullerton preaches have something to do with connecting to the world outside St. Andrews, with evangelism, he said.
 
Also, “we are putting more resources into outreach ministries,” he said. “There are so many people out there,” and “we need to reach those people.”

Madison and Christina Fullerton hand out free water to passers-by as part of St. Andrews community outreach program. Photos by John Fullerton

So it’s the simple things the church has done to connect with people: holding free car washes and water bottle giveaways, redoing the church Web site to have more appropriate language, hiring an African-American as pastor for congregational care though the membership is virtually all white. 

Efforts also include providing free lunch to emergency workers and painting the home of a person in need, which the church has termed “Eternal Home Makeover.”

Their numbers are steadily growing, and at the end of 2008 St. Andrews had 516 members. Yet at the same time, Fullerton said they don’t want to lose sight of their mission, which is to bring people to Christ.

“There is some value to counting things,” he said. “But we’ve got to pay attention to conversion as your number one measure.”

“We want to go big for the right reasons,” Fullerton said.

Toya Richards Hill is a free-lance writer in Louisville.