SPIRITUAL HUNGER, INCREASED POPULATION STIR CHURCH GROWTH

Cape Girardeau is in the midst of a spiritual growth spurt and it's a benefit for the community, area pastors say.

"As a Christian, I think it's a positive thing that churches are growing in the community," said the Rev. Ron Watts, pastor of LaCroix United Methodist Church and president of the Cape Girardeau Ministerial Alliance.

"It means people are coming to faith in Jesus Christ and that has a ripple effect in the community."

Area churches have grown so much recently that the pews in many congregations are packed every Sunday.

Growth is good because of the spiritual impact it can have on a community, said the Rev. Randy Cartwright, senior associate pastor at First Assembly of God Church.

But growth can be both a good and bad thing. Sometimes it means that congregations must choose between new buildings and changing locations.

The success of one church's growth can affect others in the community, Watts said.

"There seems to be a spiritual hunger in the community," he said. "People want more out of life and are looking to God for the answer."

Cartwright agreed that people are searching for life's answers in the churches.

"Some people who do studies tell us that it's the baby boomers who have reached an age of awakening and realized there's more to life than money and possessions," he said. Others realize they are getting older and aren't immortal and yet others are returning to church after a long absence.

"It's a combination of several things," he said. "As the population grows, the base from which churches get members increases. People are going back to church or church-shifting and people are driving further.

"The days of the neighborhood church are past," he said. "People will drive a long way if they find a church they're interested in."

Although many people drive longer distances to attend church services each week, neighborhood churches are still important.

Second Baptist Church has been a part of Cape Girardeau for 130 years and has remained in the same location at 428 S. Frederick.

The church is vital to its neighborhood, so even though it's structurally unsound, the congregation will rebuild in the same spot, said Wiley Reed, pastor.

If the church moved, it would lose a vital part of its congregation and its ministry, he said.

First Christian Church was landlocked and couldn't renovate its former building, said the Rev. Philip Curran, pastor.

"This congregation found that to renovate and make the building accessible would be just as costly as a new building. So stewardship said build in a new location," he said.

Whether it's a new location, new members or a new pastoral staff, Cape Girardeau's churches seem to be thriving.

"The growth we've seen is from people who've moved to the community and are looking for a church or people who have been here for a while and just haven't found a church," said Stephanie Curran, associate pastor at First Christian Church. "I'd be a little skeptical of the idea that we are reaching the people who've never been involved in church before."

The cause of growth is hard to measure, Watts said. "I'm a positive thinker so I hope it continues, but sometimes these things are cyclical. The level of spiritual interest rises and then wanes."