Saturday, October 25, 1997

"Remodeled Religion:" Churches meeting in buildings not originally meant for worship

By LORETTA FULTON Senior Staff Writer

Step into Spring Brooke Church, which meets in the historic Paramount Theater on Sunday mornings, and you can still smell the popcorn from Saturday's movie.

Visit Wylie United Methodist Church and you might have to dodge a golf ball.

Visit Fellowship Baptist Church on South Seventh and you can find "blessed insurance" in the same building with "Blessed Assurance."

They are just a few of many churches in Abilene and nationwide that are meeting in buildings not built to be a church, sometimes sharing the space with another business or organization.

And many people believe these storefront churches may some day be the norm rather than a novelty.

"I'm not sure that storefront churches aren't the wave of the future," said the Rev. Floy Kelly, minister of Unity Church of Christianity, which meets in a remodeled restaurant in Brookhollow Shopping Center at South 23rd and Barrow.

She's not alone in her thinking. Tom Ehrich is an Episcopal priest who left the ministry two years ago and now is an author. He writes a weekly column for Religion News Service and recently commented about how church buildings can distort the message.

"The word 'church' has become so linked with physical property that if you said, 'There's a church ahead,' people would look for a steeple, not a gathering of believers," Ehrich wrote.

Pastors of storefront churches cite finances and image as the overriding reasons for their choice. Many agree with Ehrich that "church" should be defined as a gathering of believers, not a building with a steeple.

For some congregations, the storefront location is temporary until money can be saved to build. Others plan to stay where they are.

Four years ago Wylie UMC had outgrown its building on Buffalo Gap Road and found to its surprise that the old LaJet oil company headquarters on the golf course at Fairway Oaks was available at a reasonable cost.

"It was a lot lower than they expected," said the Rev. David Ray, pastor of the church for two years.

Crossroads Community Church moved in May 1996 from its cramped quarters in the YMCA building in Redbud Park to its spacious present location at 221 Oak. You wouldn't recognize the building as a church unless you walked all the way up to the small sign on the door, the one next to a larger State of Texas sign.

The building at 221 Oak used to be the home to Southwestern Bell but Crossroads bought it and now uses much of it for its own purposes and rents the remainder to several entities, including the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

One of the main reasons for buying the phone company building was the cost versus building a new church, said the Rev. Kevin York, pastor.

"The cost per square foot becomes a major issue," he said.

While some congregations yearn to save enough money to build a "real" church, York's group is different.

"That's not a plan of ours," he said. In fact York's church prides itself on its non-traditional approach from its storefront building to its music and casual dress.

Many churches meeting in storefront sanctuaries are non-traditional, if not non-denominational. Although SpringBrooke, by design, doesn't use the word "Baptist" in its title, it was started as a mission of Southwest Park Baptist Church, said the Rev. Kelly Pigott, pastor.

Like Crossroads Community Church, SpringBrooke features contemporary Christian music with amplified instruments, drama, multi-media presentations, casual dress and even coffee and doughnuts.

"Our intention is to try and reach people who don't attend church," Pigott said.

The Paramount is an ideal location, he said, because many people have been there for other reasons and don't associate it with "church."

"They've already seen a movie there or a play," he said.

Like others in the same situation, Pigott cited finances as one of the draws of meeting in the Paramount and renting office space.

"We don't have to worry about utilities, janitor service, insurance or anything like that," he said. "It's more cost effective for a young church."

Even if meeting in a storefront church is the wave of the future, it has its disadvantages.

"In Abilene it carries a little bit of a stigma with it," Pigott said. "They think we're charismatic or some kind of a cult."

Unity church's pastor, Floy Kelly, can identify with that and said she is always careful in telling people about her denomination.

The church has met at its present site for seven years and houses a unique bookstore devoted to metaphysics, "a system of study about Being which transcends the physical," Kelly said.

Even though some congregations meeting in storefront property are pleased with their location, some can't wait to move into "the real thing."

Fellowship Baptist Church meets in an office building on South Seventh, its fourth location, and shares the facility with an insurance company. However, plans are in the works to build a permanent site on Texas Avenue.

he congregation is anxious to have a home of its own, said the Rev. Paul Hull, pastor. The members are tired of moving and "a lot of time people do not consider you to be permanent" if you meet in rented space, he said.

A lack of church atmosphere is both an advantage and disadvantage to the storefront church. Some strive for that different feel. For others it might take some getting used to.

Although there were plenty of jokes when Wylie UMC moved to its building overlooking the golf course, its pastor said now the church has taken on the atmosphere of worship.

"It feels like a church, just not a traditional church," Ray said.

In fact, if the congregation decides to build a new building, it would probably incorporate some of the features of the old LaJet building, Ray said, such as the central foyer and dominant use of glass.

"We have clear windows that overlook the golf course and lake," he said, and members have grown to love that.

The view isn't a distraction because the congregation has its back to the golf course during the service. But Ray has a clear view of the course and the Sunday morning golfing activity.

"There's not as much as you'd think," he said.