Difficulties do not define the future

By the Rev. Sara White

What if a long hard look presents first potential and possibilities, then challenges?

A few months ago, I shared the stories of Good Samaritan and Ashley Ridge new church plants. That particular article focused on the Good Samaritan history as a “reboot” and those implications as the congregation moved forward as a conference project. Both Good Samaritan and Ashley Ridge were in the process of starting second worship services and that was the shared dynamic for the congregations.

I promised a fuller word on Ashley Ridge, and I’d like to fulfill that promise.

Ashley Ridge began as a “mother-daughter” project of Bethany UMC in Summerville. It’s located in the Ashley Ridge High School and literally is in the middle of the piney woods—that is, if the piney woods had scattered neighborhoods and the infrastructure in place to support many others. The area will probably reach full growth in the next few years, but the faith community of Ashley Ridge has taken the church to the new residents rather than wait for the new residents to find its doors. It was helpful that the meeting place was a high school, for when you look around the gathering on Sunday morning, there is a distinct feel of energy and anticipation that feels very young adult. The potential for numerical growth is very strong for this new church plant.

The first ministries of the young church plant were mission in the local community and student ministries across the educational age range spectrum. The group still meets in the high school, but they have long rented space for a student center to house the smaller gatherings of teenagers and younger students. The pastor of Ashley Ridge, the Rev. Jenn Williams, describes the plan for the student ministries as “big to small”—basically calling for larger gatherings that break into smaller, more intense opportunities for connection.

The possibilities for making a difference in the community are huge when you connect teenagers and then offer them the chance to go deeper.

This fall Ashley Ridge, after a long period of prayer and discernment, moved to two worship services a Sunday. It was not an easy decision to make but was necessary for reaching the community in the way the group envisioned.

What made it difficult? Did they really need more space? They were close to the 80 percent rule, which states that when newcomers enter a space that is more than 80 percent full, they feel there is no room for them. So more space would be good, but you don’t build a building or add a service just to add numbers.

And that’s what made it difficult: You have to have an overriding reason that makes it possible to embrace adding more work to volunteers; that makes it possible to consider the adjustments that will be necessary if you fill up another service with the same number as the first. After all, there is a big difference in how you do ministry with 260 and 550.

What changes will happen naturally and what changes will be planned is a huge question for groups working with growth issues. Ultimately for Ashley Ridge and other congregations, the final answer seems to be that a new place must be created for the people who are new to Jesus Christ or to the neighborhood.

The difficulty is not the determining factor; the overriding factor was that they embraced the challenges and possibilities.

What if it is possible to take long, hard looks at possibilities and then decide the difficulties do not define the future? What if the future belongs to the long, hard look that identifies those who will share the journey?