Northpinellas: Church's demise is another's rise

Church's demise is another's rise

Global Family Fellowship Church is acquiring the building used by Countryside Evangelical Covenant.

By MAUREEN BYRNE

CLEARWATER -- The slow death of Countryside Evangelical Covenant Church began years ago. Elderly parishioners passed away, and no new members took their places in the pews. Paying the bills became a struggle.

And when the pastor left for another church in 1998, it became a waiting game to see how long the 40-member church would survive. Finally, a decision to close the doors was made. The church held its final service at 9 Sunday morning.

"Closing a church is like a death in the family," said Dr. Kurt Miericke, district superintendent of the Southeast Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church, which is based in Orlando. "But they're doing it with dignity."

The demise of Countryside Evangelical has given new life to another church, Global Family Fellowship. It is one of 200 churches belonging to Calvary Ministries International, an association of interdenominational churches based in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Countryside Evangelical is selling its 5-acre property, which includes a 4,000-square-foot sanctuary, to the newly established congregation.

Both congregations participated in a special service Sunday afternoon titled "Sharing the Vision -- Passing the Flame."

Members of Countryside Evangelical recalled fond memories of their church, including a puppet ministry for children, potluck dinners under the oak trees and the Little Disciples, an outreach program for youths in the neighborhood.

"There's a lot of sadness on our part, but it's a good thing because it's going into good hands," said Irene Anway, who joined Countryside Evangelical Covenant Church in 1979, a year after it was founded.

Two years ago, as finances were shrinking, the church decided its best option to stay alive was to lease its building to another congregation. That's when Global Family Fellowship entered the picture. The brand-new church had outgrown its sanctuary -- the pastor's home -- and was looking for a larger place.

Members of Countryside Evangelical interviewed the Rev. Nick Panico, pastor of Global Family Fellowship. They decided there were more similarities than differences between the two churches and offered to share the building at 2289 Hercules Ave.

The theology of both churches was conservative, but their styles of worship were different. Countryside Evangelical preferred a more traditional service with organ music and old hymns. Global Family Fellowship expresses faith through a charismatic-type service with contemporary music that includes guitars and drums.

Despite those differences, the arrangement worked. The predominantly elderly Countryside Evangelical congregation worshiped at 9 a.m. The younger Global Family Fellowship congregation gathered at 11 a.m.

"It started a very wonderful relationship," said Panico, 43. "It was two churches really in need."

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When Countryside Evangelical's pastor left, three parishioners, all retired missionary pastors, took turns conducting services for a while. When one of the pastors had to leave town one week, Panico was asked to fill in. He never stopped

"It worked out well," Mrs. Anway, 72, said. "People really like his preaching."

But even with its new tenant, Countryside Evangelical still struggled to make ends meet. And its efforts at finding a permanent pastor were fruitless. The congregation simply didn't have the funds to pay a pastor's salary.

It was time to talk about the inevitable: closing the church.

"It was really difficult to come to terms with that," Mrs. Anway, said. "I think my husband realized it a lot sooner."

As chairman of the church, Alan Anway had to inform district superintendent Miericke of the plans to disband. Then he told the parishioners.

"The toughest part of all was to tell them we would have our last service on May 28," Anway said.

Meanwhile, as Countryside Evangelical was dealing with its fate, Global Family Fellowship was experiencing a burst of growth. Members turned vacant rooms into a nursery and a Sunday school classroom for preschool children. The youth ministry began sharing a room with Countryside Evangelical, hanging posters of contemporary Christian music artists on the walls and putting a foosball table in the room. Today, nearly 150 people listen to Panico preach the Gospel in Global Family Fellowship services on Sunday mornings.

When it came time to sell, Alan Anway didn't have to look far to find a buyer. The congregation's first choice was Global Family Fellowship, which eagerly expressed an interest in owning the property.

The only problem was money. It didn't have much of it.

So, to make the deal possible, Countryside Evangelical worked out an arrangement with Global Family Fellowship. It offered to sell the church below market value. It also gave Global Family Fellowship until the end of the year to make a $50,000 down payment.

National Covenant Properties, an independent financial agency for the 130,000-member Evangelical Covenant Church, will hold the lien on the mortgage, charging the church a low interest rate.

So far, Global Family Fellowship has raised $17,000. The rest will come from parishioners' pledges, rummage sales, a fall festival and piggy bank deposits.

"This is the way it should be among churches," Miericke said. "Most churches are working for the same purpose."

Ultimately, some proceeds of the sale will finance construction of new Evangelical Covenant churches. Another portion of the proceeds also will establish an educational scholarship fund for needy families in the Evangelical Covenant Church.

"We're seeing it not as a death of a church, but rather as an ongoing ministry of the Covenant Church," Alan Anway, 71, said. "That's what relieved some of the tears."

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The closing of Countryside Evangelical Covenant Church marks the first time a church with a building has closed in the Southeast Council, which includes seven states and the Bahamas and was formed in 1963. There is a higher casualty rate with churches that never have a building, Miericke said

So what happens to the members of Countryside Evangelical Covenant Church?

"We'll just have to go to different places," Mrs. Anway said. "Some of us know where we're going, but most of us are still trying to figure it out."

With the closing of Countryside Evangelical, only two Evangelical Covenant churches remain in Pinellas County. Both are in St. Petersburg.

Gordon and Geneva Christensen, both 74, belonged to the church for 10 years. The Oldsmar couple have decided to stay on and worship with Global Family Fellowship. "We think it was a miraculous answer to prayer," Gordon Christensen said of the transition.

More members may end up staying now that Global Family Fellowship has decided to add a traditional service to its Sunday schedule.

William and Beatrice Carlson, residents of Largo and members of Countryside Evangelical for 12 years, have decided to attend services at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Largo. "We're all brokenhearted about (the closing of the church), but it's probably something that should have happened 10 years ago," said William Carlson, 82, who served as the spiritual leader of the congregation when Pastor Kevin Brintnall left in 1998.

Brintnall was the sixth pastor who served Countryside Evangelical during its 22-year history. The congregation met at a real estate office, a Jaycees hall and a school before it bought the property from Trinity Bible College in 1984.

The property at the corner of Virginia and Hercules avenues was once the site of a chicken farm. In 1963, Grace Bible Church built a sanctuary on the site. The Rev. Don Ralston was pastor of the church at the time.

"I'm so pleased that the building has continued to serve Christ all of these years," said Ralston, who now serves as pastor of Church on the Hill in Tarpon Springs.

Panico said the death of Countryside Evangelical is sad. "But there is a time and a season for everything," he said. "And now the Lord is going to use another group."