Small, rural Missouri church starts second worship site, quadruples in size
By Alan Brandt

SEDALIA, Mo. (PD) — It wasn't exactly a "change or die" scenario, but with each passing week, month, and year, First United Methodist Church of Sedalia, Mo., was continuing to lose relevance in the face of a shifting community. It was to this fellowship that Pastor Jim Downing arrived in 1997 as a midyear appointment. The 136 congregants – one for every year the church had been in existence – were a close family. But Sedalia had changed a lot since 1861 and the quaint, downtown church building built in 1888 represented a day gone by.

"It was a ‘hold our own' church," Downing reflected. "We were limited by our building and basically experienced zero growth. Because of parking limitations downtown – forcing some to park four blocks away – it was the kind of church that young families or older citizens would drive right on by."

Downing was convinced God had greater plans for this rural church in central Missouri. He asked the congregation to pray and to pray in earnest. In addition, he challenged them to meditate on Scriptures detailing the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.

"What would it look like if we took these [Scriptures] seriously?" Downing challenged the church one Sunday. "Do we even care that we don't have new people?"

Several years before Downing's arrival, the church had purchased 16.5 acres of land on the outskirts of town. Nothing had been done with the property and any talk of moving the church was a sore spot with many congregants.

"They were basically six years into a heart-wrenching struggle over whether to stay or go," Downing said. "I was told that if I mentioned moving, I wouldn't last another week."

At a church business meeting, however, the congregation finally talked honestly about the strengths and weaknesses of the centenarian facility, and what the benefits would be of a facility toward the south of town.

"At the end of the meeting, I asked, ‘What if we can have our cake and eat it, too? Why leave when we can add?'" Downing recounted. "We used the language ‘go and stay.' The skeptics in the church said we'd do the go part and not come back."

What truly broke through was an illustration Downing attributed as "one of those Holy Spirit moments." Downing asked his church members to hold up from their wallets and purses photographs of children, grandchildren, and other relatives who had moved away from Sedalia.

"What would you do if a church where they lived – be it Springfield, St. Louis, or wherever – reached out and provided a place for them and an opportunity to say ‘yes' to Christ?" he asked. "What if we became that church for those people who are praying for their relatives living in Sedalia?"

Catapulted from that first "aha!" moment, First Church, Sedalia, opened their Celebration Center in April 1999 – building in faithfulness to a vision of ministry that extended beyond anything the church could have imagined.

"This was about the craziest thing you could do as a small rural county church," Downing said. "We built for those who weren't with us yet. Now we have multiple layers of ministries occurring simultaneously."

Downing describes the multi-site ministry of First Church as "like being a family with two cars – each serves its special purpose." Downing relies on a team of primary preachers who rotate at each facility. Each week and at each location, the team focuses on the same outline and idea but delivers in their own style, just like the multiple venues.

First Church's historic downtown facility is a beautiful sanctuary recognized by the community. Additionally, its proximity serves a growing Hispanic population, as well as the downtown business community, through weekday ministries and services. One service on Sunday morning is offered.

The Celebration Center, with one worship service Saturday evening and two on Sunday morning, offers more than 16 acres for outdoor activities, a preschool, community activities, and a bookstore, among other things.

Since the vision was owned in 1997, attendance has grown to more than 750, with more than 250 making professions of faith. The church is well along in their plans to launch a third site in a neighboring rural community that has no Methodist presence.

More than 60 community programs and even other churches use the Celebration Center free of charge. "It has blown the minds of the community leaders," Downing said. "They've never seen a church like this before. Our only policy is: ‘Set it up, tear it down, and take out the trash.'"

"Facilities should facilitate things," Downing said. "They should facilitate ministry. People see facilities, but we see the development of a forward-thinking culture," adding that he has outlawed two phrases termed the seven-word killers: "We've always done it that way before" and "We've never done it that way before."

Attitudes like that will kill a church, Downing said. Instead, First United Methodist joyfully claims as their seven words: "I can do all things through Christ."

By becoming a multi-site church, First United Methodist Church has "been given permission to be the people of God they had the potential to be all along," Downing said. "I often remind them who they'd been, and that they turned their history into heritage."