When Churches Begin to Shiver - Christianity Today

Sometimes churches are left out in the cold. Chilly winds of change leave them shivering, wondering if they’ll survive the night. Forces beyond their control sap energy from once powerful local bodies.

Two congregations in Richmond, Virginia, with significantly different personalities, both found themselves tossed by changing social conditions. “White flight” and urbanization had left both the Bainbridge Baptist Church and the Southampton Baptist Church with dwindling numbers and a sense of corporate despair. What could they do?

Though they were both Southern Baptist churches, the style and personality of each congregation was unique.

Bainbridge, located just south of the James River, was proud of its history. Born in 1857 out of the Sunday school movement, the church weathered the pain and uncertainty of the Civil War. Church records indicate that between November 1862 and January 1863, a revival broke out- “there have been 175 professions of conversion . . . and the meeting is still in progress.” Throughout the war, the church carried on an active colportage ministry to Confederate soldiers, and in the final days before General Lee’s surrender, the church building served as a hospital for the wounded.

A hundred years later, members were still intensely loyal to their church, its history, and its program. But times had changed. Most of the church members lived in the outlying areas, commuting in for Sunday and Wednesday night services. The neighborhood around the church building was in transition. No one knew if it would develop into an industrial park, which would mean the destruction of the church building, or into high-rise apartments, which might offer hope of reviving a neighborhood outreach.

Though the people at Bainbridge were comfortable with the traditional ministries of the Southern Baptist Convention, they could break the mold. In 1972 they ordained a Richmond prison chaplain, Marjorie Bailey, the first woman to be ordained as a Southern Baptist minister in Virginia. But for the most part, theirs was a traditional approach to ministry.

Southampton, on the other hand, was a much younger congregation-a church begun in 1956 and supported by Bainbridge. The people were more diverse, didn’t feel as closely tied to the denomination, and were more willing to try alternative methods. They preferred teaching to revivalistic preaching. They enjoyed elective Sunday school classes and intensive Bible study groups more than the closely age-graded arrangement. Sunday morning was important to them, but they weren’t quite 60 excited about Sunday evening and Wednesday night programs.

Even though Southampton was located in a newer section of Richmond, it too suffered from transition. When busing came to Richmond in the early seventies, many members moved to the suburbs. Church attendance and enthusiasm waned.

Both Bainbridge and Southampton struggled with what to do. At the time, Southampton was without a pastor, and so W. Jere Allen, pastor of Bainbridge, assumed pastoral duties at both churches. A little over a year later, in December 1972, the two churches voted to merge.

Actually, the solution wasn’t exactly a merger. Both congregations continued to meet in their existing locations. “One church in two locations” was the slogan they adopted. And it stuck. The two congregations found new strength in their wedded ministry.

As Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 says, “Two are better than one . . . for if they fall, one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls. … Again, if two lie together, they are warm; but how can one be warm alone?” Bainbridge-Southampton Baptist Church discovered those verses were true not just for individuals, but for congregations as well.

Yes, paying one pastor rather than two was easier on the budget. Likewise, one office is more efficient than two. But the primary benefit of the marriage was more intangible than finances.

With two congregations huddled together for warmth, no longer did they fear that the church would be closed. Now there was that necessary “critical mass” needed for a viable body. They could lean on each other for financial and emotional support. Somehow, and it’s hard to explain, knowing that there’s more to this church than the hundred people in this building on Sunday morning gave new encouragment and strength to both congregations.

This arrangement allowed both congregations to maintain their ministries in the familiar locations, but the official bond strengthened the organization and boosted morale.

Of course, there were tensions. For a while, with one pastor shuttling back and forth between two locations, the familiar patterns were upset. At Bainbridge, the traditional eleven o’clock worship service was scheduled earlier so the pastor could drive out to Southampton to preach. This deviation from the norm caused a dip in attendance.

But the people enjoyed the special events now possible. With combined choirs, for instance, Christmas programs could be performed that would have been impossible with only one congregation.

In 1979, the wedded churches decided to take the next logical step-wedded pastors. Bainbridge-Southampton called my husband and me to serve as copastors. For us, it was a perfect fit.

After twenty-five years of ministering as a pastor’s wife and raising four sons} I was looking for new ways to reach out. At the breakfast table one morning, my husband said, “Why don’t you consider going back to school, even seminary, for graduate study?” He sensed that I needed to enlarge my own horizons. So I eagerly enrolled at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, and in 1978 I graduated with a doctor of ministry degree.

Buddy and I were hoping to minister together as a team on a church staff. So it was an answer to prayer when Bainbridge-Southampton contacted us. And on July 18, 1979, when the secret ballots were counted and they had voted unanimously (a rarity in Baptist circles!) to call us both, we were overwhelmed. We felt God had confirmed his call to us to serve as a team.

In the three years that we’ve been here, we’ve grown both as individuals and as a church. We’ve affirmed the different personalities of the two locations. At Southampton we have a pastoral counseling center and a day care ministry. At Bainbridge, we help support community ministries that provide physical, medical, and emotional assistance to the needy. Sewing and ceramic classes, sponsored by the South Richmond Baptist Center, are held in our Bainbridge building. We cooperate with First Baptist Church of South Richmond in providing clothes for those in the neighborhood. We support two after-care centers for recovering alcoholics.

But in addition to facing up to the different cultures at the two locations, we also affirm our unity. Our suburban people have had contact with innercity people, which would not have happened if we hadn’t been a church with two locations. One girl from the Bainbridge neighborhood, who grew up in the Sunday school there, will be going to Southeastern Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, with help from people in both locations.

We learned together that life in the inner city and life in the suburbs don’t always match the stereotypes. Bainbridge has a reputation as a “rough” neighborhood. And yet we’ve had more pilfering at the Southampton location. A year ago Christmas, we put wreaths on the church doors at both locations. Within two days they had been stolen from Southampton, but they stayed up untouched all season at Bainbridge.

To be honest, it’s hard to know what to do about aggressively trying to reach the unchurched in the Bainbridge neighborhood when there are several strong black churches already doing a good job. We’re still seeking God’s wisdom about what our role in outreach should be.

After three years of joint ministry at Bainbridge-Southampton, Buddy and I are convinced that all of our previous work in past pastorates has helped prepare us for this strategic place of service. Why is it strategic?

First, because we’re trying to demonstrate that the body of Christ can unite people from two locations, from two slightly different cultures.

Second, because we’re trying to demonstrate what we feel God intended in creating human beings- both male and female-in the image of God. Buddy and I share all the responsibilities of ministry equally (we exchange pulpits every other Sunday), even though we obviously take advantage of individual strengths that help us complement one another. Buddy enjoys administration, evangelism, organizing, and relaxing with people. I enjoy studying, preaching, teaching, and relaxing with a good book. We see our situation as an embodiment of Joel’s prophecy that “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.”

We’re happy about the things that are beginning to happen at Bainbridge-Southampton. God has begun sending us couples with young children, and we’ve been seeing men working in the children’s Sunday school classes.

We’ve seen people stretched as they serve as deacons with people from the other location. They’re learning what it means to work together despite differences.

But most of all, we’re excited about the spirit of cooperation and unity that’s developing. Despite all the differences, despite all the frustrations and uncertainties of the church’s future, there’s a growing cohesiveness.

Our church still has an uphill climb ahead, but with the Holy Spirit enabling us to work together, we have the power to persevere.

-Anne Rosser, copastor

Bainbridge-Southampton Baptist Church

Richmond, Virginia