NEW CHURCHES ARE EVANGELISTIC TOOL THAT DRAWS NEW MEMBERS

New churches are preaching the gospel and putting down roots in Cape Girardeau in settings ranging from a movie theater to a former grocery store.

"New churches are a great hope for (religious) revival because they are such an evangelistic tool," said the Rev. Ron Watts, pastor of La Croix United Methodist Church, whose members hold service at West Park 4 Cine in West Park Mall. The church was formed three years ago.

"New churches are very effective in reaching people that might not otherwise go to church," said Watts. "There is an openness to a new church that sometimes doesn't exist with an established church. People like to be part of something new."

Pastors at two other new churches in Cape Girardeau agreed with Watts.

"I think there are a lot of people who left the church, who want to have a church," said Randy Short, pastor of the nearly year-old North Cape Church of Christ. "They are willing to give a new church a try."

The church holds its worship services at the Show Me Center.

One of the advantages of a new church is that its members can get in on the ground floor in helping to shape that church's development, he said.

"Congregations develop a personality," said Short.

The Rev. Kim Ferguson, pastor of the Cornerstone Assembly Church, said the year-old independent Pentecostal church has attracted a congregation whose members wanted "a new start." The church now has about 90 members.

"The thought of the newness is a really unique item that we feel we have capitalized on to a certain extent," said Ferguson.

"We do have a lot of new members. Many of them were not going to a church anywhere," he said.

Watts said, "A new church opens up more opportunities for leadership and for people to be involved in a significant way."

The La Croix church has its office in a former home at 1800 Cape LaCroix Road, but it rents the movie theater for its Sunday school classes and worship services. The church uses all four movie theater rooms, the hallways and every other available space in the cinema, said Watts.

The worship service is held in one of the theater rooms while others are used as a nursery and for the children's service.

Sunday school classes meet in all parts of the cinema. "We got one that meets back in the popcorn room," said Watts. "One class that meets upstairs in the film room; one that meets in the hallways." Three of the theater rooms are also used for Sunday school classes.

"It requires some innovation, and, of course, anytime you are using a facility not designed for those purposes you have to put up with some minor inconveniences," he pointed out.

But he said there are some advantages to meeting in the movie theater. "The location is tremendous; everybody knows where the mall is. The seats are wonderful, comfortable. It gives us a large facility that gives us ample room for growth," said Watts, whose congregation now numbers 150 members.

The room used for worship service can accommodate 260 people, he said.

The church has acquired nine acres of land along the New Lexington route. Watts said the congregation hopes to be in a position to build a church on that land within the next three years.

But Watts said his church and other new churches meeting in various non-church settings clearly demonstrate that buildings do not make the churches.

Short agreed. "So often we confuse the building with the church," he said. "The church is not a building; the church is people."

The North Cape Church of Christ has been meeting at the Show Me Center since last March. At its first service, there were 128 in attendance; since then, attendance has averaged around 46 at each Sunday service, said Short.

The church was formed with the help of a telephone campaign. "This telephone campaign is kind of a new way to do it," said Short. Nationwide, many churches are now being formed through such efforts, he said.

North Cape Church of Christ uses four rooms in the Show Me Center for its worship service, children's class, nursery and other activities.

The church was developed as a mission effort of the Macon Road Church of Christ in Memphis, Tenn. That church still assists the Cape Girardeau church at this point, he said.

Having to use a non-church building for services means carrying Bibles and other church materials from the church office at 1229 Marilyn to the Show Me Center. But, he said, the center has proven to be a good, visible site for a church. In fact, the center is home to not only this church, but another church as well.

With such a small congregation, Short said it's easy to know who was in church. "When we have visitors, they are really easy to spot."

Cornerstone Assembly began in January 1991, with about 15 to 20 people meeting at a Cape Girardeau home. But the congregation soon purchased the old Fischer's Market building at 298 N. West End Boulevard.

The congregation began holding its services there in mid-February 1991, even as work proceeded on renovating the building, said Ferguson. The renovation work was completed in October.

Church members did the remodeling. "We took the project on ourselves to save the labor cost, and that worked out very well," said Ferguson.

In addition, he said, the project fostered camaraderie among church members.

"We gutted the building totally on the interior. Really, we started from scratch," said Ferguson, adding that church members worked almost daily to transform the structure into their church.

The two-story brick building includes two apartments on the second floor, which the church rents out. The remainder of the upstairs area is used for Sunday school classes.

The sanctuary is on the main floor. "The old meat cooler is my office," the pastor said. "We've even had jokes of the pulpit being where the old bologna was passed out," Ferguson said.

"It still doesn't look like a church on the outside. But once you step into the lobby, you realize it is a church."