The purpose of this


garden is to truly engage in the community using


community garden and the brainchild of its pastor, Michael Crawford. While explicitly


one of Gloria Dei’s assets, its property on the edge of town.


designed to be a community enterprise and not a min- istry of Gloria Dei, the congregation hosts the garden and provides space and water. Average weekly worship attendance at the church is about 40. T e primary gardeners are from Gloria Dei, the local


Methodist congregation and a nondenominational community church. Katie’s Commons raises produce for area food pantries. Crawford and garden leaders initially approached food pantry consumers to ask what fresh produce they would like. In the 2014 growing season, they raised lettuces, tomatoes, cantaloupes and a bumper crop of green beans. T e purpose of this garden, Crawford said, is not


to increase membership or worship attendance in any of the participating congregations but to truly engage in the community using one of Gloria Dei’s assets, its property on the edge of town. Looking to the future, Crawford sees this as an important role for the congre- gation, even if quantitative growth isn’t on the horizon. “Our congregation will be that smaller community,


living out Christian values as a witness to the larger community,” Crawford said. “I think people will join our work but maybe not our worship. God works well with remnants and perhaps we’ll be that remnant in Clinton County, Ind., and I think the gospel will be spread.”


Same hymns, new music


Like many congregations, Holy Trinity Lutheran’s context is tied closely to that of its community, Mar- tinsville, Va. Once known for a textile industry and furniture manufacturing, Martinsville experienced fi nancial challenges beginning in the early 1990s when factories shut down and jobs moved away. Since then, said Lynn Bechdolt, Holy Trinity’s former pastor, most congregations in the area have struggled with declining membership. Holy Trinity now has fewer than 60 members, with


an average worship attendance of 26. Because of the low numbers, Bechdolt had to resign her position, eff ective in June. Despite declining membership and fi nances, Holy


Trinity has continued to exist through creativity and ingenuity. Following the sale of unused property, the congrega-


tion invested in energy-saving upgrades, including more effi cient windows and a conversion to natural gas for heating. T ese upgrades resulted in lower electric and fuel bills, providing more long-term savings. T e biggest change came fi ve years ago when Holy


Trinity could no longer aff ord to pay for a worship musician. Funding the position was only part of the challenge. T e congregation also needed to fi nd a musi- cian who understood liturgical worship in this non- Lutheran part of Virginia. Necessity being the mother of invention, Bechdolt


took on the challenge of fi nding an alternative. Aſt er some trial and error, she incorporated prerecorded music into worship, connecting the sound system into the speakers for the congregation’s electronic organ. Bechdolt discovered an organist in Australia who oper- ates a website (www.smallchurchmusic.weebly.com) that congregations can use to purchase worship music, either at no cost for hymns without copyright or for a small fee for those with copyright protection. When a particular hymn wasn’t available, Bechdolt


learned how to record her own accompaniment using a digital audio workshop, modifying the music as needed. “If the congregation doesn’t do well with it,” Bechdolt


said, “then I have to go in and redo it. We’re a singing church, we sing everything. Until I did this, I didn’t real- ize how much we sing.” T e congregation has done well with this approach,


and Bechdolt shared this strategy with other congrega- tions in similar situations. While it’s not a perfect solu- tion, she believes prerecorded music may still be a better approach in some situations, particu- larly in those congre- gations that can’t aff ord or don’t have access to a skilled worship musician. “T ere’s no reason


Despite declining membership and


finances, Holy Trinity


has continued to exist through creativity and ingenuity.


why you can’t have a hybrid,” she said. “You use an organist


for what they can do, but you use recorded music for the things they can’t play.” Holy Trinity has had to get used to worshiping with-


out an organist, and that can be a challenge, Bechdolt acknowledged. “When we sing with a musician … they are hearing us and gauging how they’re playing with us,” she said. “One of the things we learned early on is that we had to play [prerecorded music] loud. If we’re not playing loud enough, some people in the back like


21  August 2015 19


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52