jcalliso@argusleader.com
published: 10/2/2004
When Mercy Church officially launches in late November, its doors will be open to everyone.
Sort of.
The Rev. Shelby Boese, who is pastoring the Christian & Missionary Alliance-affiliated church, knows that his evangelical, charismatic, post-modern congregation isn't for everyone.
However, he said he thinks it will attract those who have never had church homes and people in their 20s and 30s turned off by what Boese describes as the sin of American Evangelism, consumeristic churches too caught up in offering things rather than relationships.
"If you have a lot of church background, you won't feel comfortable here because it's not going to be whatever you experienced at 'First Whatever Church,' " Boese said.
As Sioux Falls continues to grow, so does the number of churches within the city. New churches - also called plants - can bring different ways to worship and attract members who have never been to or who have left churches. Mainline and Evangelicals both plant churches locally. Megachurches - large charismatic churches - could be the next movement in the city.
A few plants fall into the post-modern category, described as a reaction against the principles and practices of established churches.
"It's reintroducing the traditional and classical elements of style with almost an extreme edge to it," said Timothy Maki, director of church multiplication for the Alliance. "You can prove why the Bible is true on paper to a post-modern, but unless they see that truth lived out in your life, they don't believe it."
Maki's denomination closed Sioux Falls' former CMA church about six years ago because of declining enrollment and the departure of its pastor.
But Sioux Falls' growing numbers and Boese's interest in church planting led Alliance officials to try again.
Alliance research reported that 31 percent of Sioux Falls area residents said they had no faith involvement and almost that many said they are unchurched, without a religious background.
The Rev. Dennis Thum, a campus pastor at the University of Sioux Falls, said in the past 30 years Sioux Falls has become an attractive destination for new churches. USF, for example, has Powerhouse Ministries, a daughter of First Baptist Church of Sioux Falls that meets on the campus.
Thum said population growth and more young people in the community make it a primary area for people who don't have a regular church affiliation.
Thum said there are a significant number of people who call themselves Christians but don't go church. Those are the people new plants are looking for.
"You don't want to steal people from other churches," Thum said. "Your goal is to find the people that need a church and haven't got around to it."
Unchurched mission
While one-third of all baby boomers say they are post-modern, meaning they think about church differently than past generations, the greatest number fall into the millennial and survivor generations. Millennials were born from 1982 to 2001, survivors from 1961 to 1981.
About 60 percent of Sioux Falls' population falls into those two categories, Maki said.
"Shelby's desire with Mercy is to really have a church and worship style to attract the unchurched with that mind-set," Maki said.
One advantage of a church plant is that it can start out being innovative.
"You don't have to worry about offending people," Thum said. When an established church tries to make changes, it can face resistance.
"Sometimes you just are limited in what you can accomplish in an existing church," Thum said.
Mercy is trying to be innovative with its preview services, which are at 5 p.m. Sundays in the Worship and Leadership Centre at North American Baptist Seminary. Services feature plentiful candles, pictures of icons or Renaissance art projected on a screen, the Nicene Creed and - unusual for Evangelical churches - a responsive reading.
Boese, 27, spent 7O (7-1/2) years working with alternative ministries at First Assembly of God Church in Sioux Falls before answering the call he feels to start a church that would remain Christian and orthodox while reaching people who feel like outsiders.
"It's one thing to preach about faith," he said. "It's another thing to leave a comfortable, larger-church situation and actually do it."
Megachurch possible
Boese is making no attempt to recruit members from either the closed Alliance church or through his former position at First Assembly of God. First Alliance's(Assembly's) senior pastor told members (of the Sunday night congregation Boese was pastoring) they were free to follow Boese to Mercy, but since it's a different denomination, that's a deterrent.
But Boese has started Mercy Church with a core group of people interested in being part of something new.
"It's exciting to see a little bit of growth going on," said Julie Mitchell, 26. "It's more exciting to know God has big plans."
Churches need to look at the growing community and find ways to offer more opportunities. Thum said one change that could be coming is a megachurch.
Sioux Falls has large Catholic and Lutheran churches and two growing Baptist churches, but not an evangelical megachurch, Thum said.
"It's only a matter of time before we find that one of these church plants or one of these existing churches becomes a classic megachurch," Thum said.
Those large, charismatic churches are attractive to some.
"Some people want the anonymity and almost performance level that the megachurch provides with a lot of bells and whistles; it's attractive to our consumer culture," Thum said. "The other side is a small church plant that allows community and intimacy."
'One size doesn't fit all'
But what is most important in any new church is developing a solid, self-sustaining congregation with a viable ministry.
"One size doesn't fit all," Thum said. "American culture is such that they are demanding variety. That's why you see a lot of church shopping."
Jeff Stirler, 33, has been a part of the teams from Mercy that have gone door-to-door near North American Baptist Seminary.
Stirler, who grew up in an Alliance church, left Harvest Church to join Mercy. He didn't make the decision lightly.
"It's a great place," he said. "If it wasn't my home, I wouldn't be coming here."
Rachel Lien echoes that.
"I would go to a church in the middle of Africa if that's where I was called," the 23-year-old said. "I was called here."
As clear as Boese is about who he wants to come to Mercy Church, he's equally plain about those he doesn't want at Mercy: People disgruntled with their current church. Anyone who wanted to leave their current church for Mercy should speak with their pastor first, he said, then decide whether they have a real calling.
"You need to know this is something you're called to do because this is work," Boese said. "This is not come and sit in a chair and be a consumer; this is build a community of faith."
Boese also has little patience with those who shun church because "they're always asking for money."
"Hello, it's a volunteer organization," he said. "Listen to NPR during their fund drives, if you think the church asks for too much money."
When Boese and the teams from Mercy go door-to-door in the church's neighborhood, they have asked people for their impressions of existing Sioux Falls churches. Some respondents have genuinely good impressions, others have good impressions simply because they feel the churches have left them alone.
"You don't get a lot of negative sense (feelings) about the church in Sioux Falls," Boese said. "That's a good thing. Although some would say if you're not ticking anybody off, you're not doing anything."
Boese is determined relationships among individuals will be the focus. "We're not just a church plant, but we're going to be a church-planting church," he said.
Reach Jill Callison at 331-2307.
