Worshippers discover faith in different places
By Kim Kimzey Staff Writer
Published in Spartanburg Herald,
Thursday, September 14, 2006, page A1
Little distinguishes New Destiny Outreach Center from the blur of businesses on Highway 9 in Boiling Springs.
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Pastor Steven Henderson of the New Destiny Outreach Center delivers a sermon to the congregation.
The nondescript building next to Buck Stop Gun and Pawn isn't crowned with a steeple; only the road sign in front proclaims it a house of worship.
Sunlight doesn't spill into the sanctuary through stained glass.
Bare fluorescent tubes light the purple walls where worshippers crowd into cushioned seats as worn as Pastor Steven Henderson's Bible.
"It's not about a building," the 31-year-old minister said recently. "My vision is people. If my vision becomes a building what do I do once I get the building?"
Like many Spartanburg residents, members of New Destiny Outreach are discovering and celebrating faith in churches quite different from the kinds of places where their parents worshipped.
Converted storefronts
Many congregations now meet in converted storefronts, including Friends of Faith Baptist, Legacy Outreach, Resurrection Bible Church and Springs of Grace Lutheran Church.
This trend is evident in Spartanburg County and across South Carolina, where storefront churches seem to flourish along the main arteries of towns small and large.
Pastors at these congregations say where you find God -- in a storefront or more traditional house of worship -- is unimportant.
A sanctuary is merely a meeting place. Feeling God's presence and connecting with that presence is most crucial.
"I knew it was it," Henderson said of the building that houses New Destiny Outreach. "I heard God say, 'It's yours.' I knew this was our starting point."
Henderson resists labeling New Destiny a "non-denominational" church. It's a "spirit-filled" congregation, and once the spirit starts to move, he said members forget they stand in a storefront.
Wofford religion professor and Perkins-Prothro Chaplain, the Rev. Dr. Ronald Robinson, said in an e-mail interview that there are reasons for the growing trend of storefront churches.
They are accessible, "placed in the flow of society," and more affordable than buying land and raising money for a building.
Megachurches began growing along Spartanburg area highways years ago.
Many Christians are now moving away from megachurches and traditional churches, searching for smaller and intimate environments free from denominational bureaucracy, Robinson said.
The 'emergent church'
"This phenomenon is often called the 'emergent church,' " he said.
"Rules and regulations and church bylaws are not going to change people's lives -- church can't change
lives," said Manning Strickland, pastor of Legacy Outreach. "It must be an encounter with the divine spirit, but you have to be in an environment where the divine spirit can operate."
"These churches seem to appeal across age, racial, gender and generational lines and across theological lines," Robinson said. "No two are the same. I have visited them in North Carolina, Minnesota, California and Washington, D.C., and each experience has been distinctive."
Spartanburg city and county building officials say storefront churches are difficult to monitor.
No exact figures or estimates for such congregations are available.
Some storefront churches open and close in a short span of time.
"It is a code concern for us," said Mike Padgett, head of the county's Building Codes Department.
Padgett said some of the small retail shops that have been turned into sanctuaries only have one bathroom, making them unsuitable for a large assembly of people.
Sometimes buildings have not been inspected for code compliance before churches move in.
For the congregations in storefronts, there are many advantages to leasing or buying a former commercial space.
Storefront churches allow fledgling congregations to establish themselves and build.
Free from the authority and structure of organized churches, worship services can be less formal, and thus more appealing to some Christians.
Folks are welcome to "come as you are."
"The Word never changes, but society does change. We have to adapt to what's going on outside these four walls," Henderson explained.
Many pastors in these contemporary churches believe churches must adapt to an ever-changing society, at a time when attendance at mainline churches continues to erode.
Legacy Outreach is a nondenominational church seeking to do just that.
Strickland and his wife and co-pastor, Ann, said the church sold its 15,000-square-foot Roebuck sanctuary in order to build a smaller one.
The congregation is temporarily meeting beside Thai Taste restaurant on Southport Road.
"The traditional concept of the past is build a big new building and people will come to see what's inside," Strickland said. "The bulk of ministry does not take place within the four walls of church. Ministry takes place outside the church. You don't catch fish at the bait shop. You catch fish at the lake."
The Stricklands said Legacy Outreach's contemporary worship services are tailored to meet modern lives rocked by social issues like abuse, addiction and divorce.
"The building is not the temple of God. We are," Strickland said. "I think people are far less interested in the expensive atmosphere and plush carpets than a real tangible presence of God in the midst of their problems."
Some people new to the Christian faith might find large, formal sanctuaries intimidating.
"We find a lot of folks are more comfortable coming into this smaller, intimate setting where there isn't so many formalities as some established churches," said the Rev. Dr. Boyd Cook of Springs of Grace Lutheran Church.
His congregation meets in a former Bargain Host store on Highway 9 in Inman.
The church's original meeting place was a former retail space on Giles Street.
After attendance began to dwindle, remaining church members met for worship in St. Margaret's Episcopal Church and later at Unity Presbyterian Church.
The congregation has held a couple services so far in their current location.
Cook said the biggest challenge for small, growing churches like Springs of Grace is establishing an identity.
"It's tough to do when you're a small group."
Another small group working to establish a presence in Spartanburg is Resurrection Bible Church.
Ministers Ken and Clarissa Merriman co-pastor the storefront church on East Main Street.
The Merrimans selected the building because it is centrally located in a growing area.
Resurrection Bible's first service was held Jan. 15.
"We are a church that loves all people -- not a particular group of people. That's why we're in this location," Ken said. "Being of service to people is what we're about."
People are also the focus at Friends of Faith Baptist Church in Pacolet.
Members arrived to their first Sunday service six years ago with lawn chairs, Bibles and a lot of faith, the Rev. Charlie Wilborn said.
Wilborn, also an instructor at Spartanburg Methodist College, has served about four years as pastor at the storefront church on West Main Street in Pacolet.
Wilborn said there is a keen understanding among Friends of Faith's congregation that "church is the people -- not the building."
Wilborn said the former dress shop is an affordable place for church members to meet.
"This was mostly out of necessity. The church needed a place to go," he explained.
'A blessing'
Wilborn has ministered at established, traditional churches and never thought he would be in a storefront church.
"The church has been a blessing to me, and I want to see the church grow. Ultimately we hope to buy land and build a building. That's the goal of the church, but in the meantime we will stay where we are."
Average attendance at Friends of Faith is only about 30 people.
"To survive, to keep the doors open, all must be involved. We're all involved. That gives it value, I believe," Wilborn said. "It takes everybody in the church to make it work."
Kim Kimzey can be reached at 562-7264 or kim.kimzey@shj.com.
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