In Edgewater Village, a neglected community near Baltimore, a former army officer, the Rev. Charles Wilson, spends his days meeting residents and inviting them to join the fledgling New Hope Christian Fellowship. He takes to heart the Baltimore-Washington Conference challenge to be "holy and bold" in sharing the Gospel and calling others to Christ. D

The Pathway Band plays for the first Sunday of worship at Pathway UMC. Photo by Mary Cahill.

Of the 8000 residents in Edgewater Village, more than a quarter are children, and two-thirds live on incomes near or below the poverty level, amid rampant crime, substance abuse, and violence. During one week last May, Wilson led his 12-member core group on a nightly "Jericho Walk" through the community—a witness to the participants' faith in preparation for an upcoming tent revival. Quietly carrying banners and flags, they came upon a crime scene where a murder victim's body had just been discovered by police. At their urging, stunned onlookers came forward and joined them in public prayer, kneeling on the ground as Wilson fervently invoked God's presence in the midst of a community in turmoil.

During the course of the seven-day walk, Wilson turned and saw about 40 more people, mostly children, marching with them. Other residents shouted from their doorways: "Praise the Lord! Thank you for praying for us!" On the seventh night, at the blowing of the shofar (ram's-horn trumpet), those who had gathered made a joyful noise to the Lord—just as the Israelites did at Jericho to signal the Lord's victory over enemy strongholds. During the following week, the sheriff leading the investigation at the murder scene came to the tent revival to worship with the New Hope Christian Fellowship.

Mission in an Open Field

"This place is a mission field that many other churches haven't shown much interest in, beyond basic outreach ministries," Wilson noted. "It wouldn't pass a feasibility assessment for a new-church start. But we feel called by God to plant this church here for members of the community and to stand up and speak out with them to bring about peace and justice."

There are no schools, few stores, and no other churches in this fenced-in community. Using a sound system to draw attention, the fellowship holds worship services in the only convenient gathering place available: an open field. Wilson and others hold Bible studies in homes and offer Christian education, counseling, mentoring, and other outreach ministries. The growing acceptance they find inspires them.

"Whenever I come into this community," said Wilson, who lives minutes away, "I expect to be different when I come out, and I always am."
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The Rev. Charles Wilson helps Sherri Fuget sign up her son for Vacation Bible School. Photo by John Coleman.

Pursuing Mission Initiatives

New Hope Christian Fellowship is one of 22 mission initiatives of the Baltimore-Washington Conference. Led by Bishop Felton E. May, these initiatives represent an intentional effort to plant new ministries and extend existing ones into communities where significant unchurched populations reside. The conference Board of Congregational Life is providing moral and financial support, a committed cadre of volunteers known as Mission Disciples, and developmental expertise to help these promising initiatives reach their potential. "Two-thirds of the population within our conference boundaries—3.4 million people—are currently not committed to any faith community," said the Rev. Edwin DeLong, associate director of church development. "We're helping ministries create new settings and strategies for reaching the unchurched."

Indeed, after decades of sporadic efforts, the conference has increased its annual budget for new-church development from $30,000 to $1.5 million and is clearly on a mission in this area. Working closely with district superintendents and district boards of church location and building, the Board of Congregational Life each year examines demographics, population trends, and other factors to identify "hot spots." Then it does feasibility studies and focus-group interviews in those areas.

The conference cabinet selects about four "hot spots" to pursue as mission initiatives in the coming year, with some emphasis on reaching people in poor and marginalized communities and in racial-ethnic neighborhoods. Then it appoints staff and commits to five years of funding support.

This year's mission initiatives are in urban, rural, and suburban areas of the Baltimore-Washington Conference. At least 14 of the 22 are new-church starts and faith communities, planted and growing fast in areas whose residents are of African, East Indian, European, Hispanic, Korean, or Russian descent.
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Two mission initiatives involve community developers. One is helping to revitalize a Washington, DC, inner-city Shalom Zone. The other—in Urbana, Maryland—is exploring opportunities for developing a new congregation amid the construction of 3500 homes, a school, and a shopping center. In several other churches, new ministerial staff have been deployed.

David Louden is a "Mission Disciple" assigned to the church by the Baltimore-Washington Conference. Photo by John Coleman.

Also important is the material and moral support that the pastors working in mission initiatives receive from one another. For example, Wilson—whose salary is paid by the conference but who is responsible for raising program dollars—relies on a supportive network of pastors and laity from other churches for advice, fundraising assistance, and volunteers.

Leadership Development

Leadership development and training are key to all these mission enterprises. So the conference sponsors frequent workshops that teach district and local church leaders how to discern where churches and new ministries are needed, how to access and use resources, and how to foster church growth and transformation. Of the conference training Wilson received for creating Communities of Shalom, he says: "We learned to approach everybody and everything as an asset for community development—local government and businesses, schools, community leaders, and especially the people. Shalom taught us that we are not bringing God to the community; we are coming to find God already there, already making a difference in people's lives."

Congregational Transformation
through the Discovery Church Journey
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