By David Terraso
Epworth at Candler Park, a United Methodist Congregation is no more. As January came to a close this year, so did more than 100 years of Epworth as it merged with Druid Hills United Methodist. Since then, both congregations have been putting the final days of their ministries behind them and preparing for their first service together on Easter Sunday.
“We thought we could be better together than apart,” said Reverend Alvin Lingenfelter, pastor of Epworth.
“We’re really excited about this new life that has been given us to be able to reimagine what it means to be a church, within and for a community,” said Reverend Dave Allen Grady, pastor of Druid Hills.
When the churches merged, they committed to a new life together, one where they ceased being Epworth and Druid Hills and became New Church, which they took as their temporary name. They’ll settle on a permanent name later this year, but for now they’re focused on building on the strengths of both congregations as well as forging new ground in the years ahead.
Like many neighborhood churches, both Epworth and Druid Hills have seen their memberships shrink in recent years. As people have more demands on their time and more distractions, church has become, for many, just one more activity. Church has come to represent a place where rules are drawn and judgments are made, rather than the loving gathering places that many residents desire for their families.
“I want people to know that we’re not going to be church as usual,” said Allen Grady. “We welcome everyone. It does not matter how you identify, what socioeconomic status you’re from, what your education level is, you’re welcome here. We want to journey with you.”
Druid Hills draws only 80 people every Sunday to its 800-seat sanctuary while Epworth attracts about 50. Those small numbers and the costs associated with keeping the Druid Hills buildings running , but also to remodel them so their space fits the needs of their community meant it made more sense for them to move to Candler Park.
For both pastors, the merger promises to allow them to focus on their congregations more concretely rather than on the needs of aging bricks and mortar.
“Being freed to be able to focus on people and ministry again, to be able to say with pride, ‘Welcome to this place. It doesn’t matter who you are–come be part of this.’ That’s exhilarating,” said Allen Grady.
“We want to be your church,” added Lingenfelter. “What can we do to help? How can we serve you? What are your needs?” After all, both pastors agree that’s what a church community is for.
New Church will still be a United Methodist congregation, but Allen Grady said it’s important that they be a welcome and hospitable place for interfaith relationships.
“Some of my core leaders have spouses who are Muslim,” added Allen Grady. “We’re a place where folks know that they’re welcome.”
“We’d like to push those boundaries and every boundary for that matter,” said Lingenfelter. “We’re excited about bringing people together, opening out to a whole new component and seeing where we can push some of those limits in a very faithful way.”
New Church is planning to focus on its strengths, families with youth, music and arts, and outreach and social justice to attract new people to its community.
“There are plenty of studies that show people will come back to church when they have children, but they won’t just go to any church,” said Lingenfelter. “We’re looking for something that will embrace the gifts of the community. We have great space here for children and leadership and worship.”
And like the song says, the children are the future.
“The only growing demographic group in this area for the next 10 years is children up to age 17,” said Allen Grady. “So we’re talking millennials that have decided to stay and have their families in town rather than move elsewhere. You’re talking people who are here who’ve had kids and have decided to stay in town because of the excellent elementary schools we have in the area. Everyone can come along for the journey.”
Music and the arts are also gifts of both congregations. With the 5 at 5 music show on Sundays, Rhythm and Blues month, Broadway Month and more, both pastors say they’re looking to elevate their musical activities and hope people from Candler Park and the surrounding areas continue to wander in as the music moves them.
A third area they’d like to make central to New Church is social justice and helping others.
“Both churches have strong, strong histories for standing up for those on the margins and that doesn’t matter if its homelessness and housing justice, or transportation issues, LGBTQ issues,” said Allen Grady. “We make sure we are a place where it doesn’t matter who you are, you are welcome here.”
In addition Druid Hills has been involved with Pride and both churches have contributed to the activities of the Clifton Sanctuary Ministries and Intown Collaborative Ministries.
In the days to come the people at Epworth will be readying their space to welcome their new members, while the folks from Druid Hills will be saying goodbye to their building. On Palm Sunday, the members of Druid Hills will be gathering at the church’s original location in the space now occupied by the Carter Center at 4 p.m. They’ll process to their next location at Blue Ridge and Seminole where they worshiped for around 50 years and then end up at their final home at Briarcliff and Ponce for their last service at 5 p.m.