Two Southside churches make Bible lesson real

-- CREWE Members of Crewe Christian Church, Disciples of Christ learned much about themselves after church leaders passed out money last fall and challenged the congregation to make it grow.

The lessons were no less so for members of St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Clarksville, which had undertaken a similar effort a few months earlier.

The two churches separately decided to accept the challenge of the New Testament parable in Matthew 25 that tells of servants entrusted with money by their master. Two of the servants accepted the responsibility, grew the money and returned it to the master, each receiving praise as a "good and faithful servant." But a third servant, fearful of failure, buried his money and was rebuked as "wicked and slothful."

Now, each church is preparing to help others to follow suit.

St. Timothy's is offering to provide seed money to another church in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia so it can undertake a similar effort.

"We learned more about each other, and we welcomed new folks into the congregation," the Rev. Susan Grimm said of St. Timothy's project. "And we had a lot of fun in the middle of much hard work."

Jim Meisner, Crewe Christian Church pastor, said that in March he plans to speak with leaders of a Baptist church in Rice.

Several of his seminary classmates at Virginia Union University also are interested, he said. "I'm writing up a paper about what we did, and how we did it, that will be available to churches in the future."

. . .

On the first Sunday in November, Crewe Christian Church, which draws about 40 people to Sunday service, passed out $760 -- $20 to everyone in attendance -- with the challenge to make the money grow.

The congregation returned the money and what it grew to at the end of the month.

At the end of the month, $560 of the original outlay was returned and the congregation increased the amount to $1,857.50 through efforts ranging from selling cookies and bookmarks to hosting a dinner that drew 125 people.

"It's more than I ever expected," said church member Lois Daniel in announcing to the congregation in November how much the money had grown. Money continues to come in, with $600 of the initial outlay returned and $2,100 grown.

Church members said the experience strengthened their faith. Christine Cook said her decision to set up a memorial tree was inspired. Cook, 68, went to bed wondering what to do. "I prayed to the Lord and he woke me up . . . telling me what to do and how to do it," she said. Several others would join in the effort, which by late November had raised $350.

. . .

The effort at St. Timothy's started after a parishioner read an article about an Ohio church doing the same, and Grimm approached the church's vestry about it.

The first Sunday in September, with money from an anonymous donor, St. Timothy's gave $2,800 -- $50 to each adult member and $10 to each child. The first Sunday in October, the congregation had raised $4,000 above the initial outlay -- $1,000 more than was hoped.

The sum has now increased to more than $5,000. "We were ecstatic when it was $4,100, and now that it drifted to $5,000, it's been great," Grimm said.

Located in the lakeside town of Clarksville, the church has a transient congregation with a number of parishioners attending as they vacation. The church has about 100 members and draws about 90 people to its Sunday service and a second held during the week.

Church members -- working individually and in groups -- undertook varied projects, including making and selling bracelets, dog biscuits, brownies and barbecue, hosting a silent auction and offering antique car rides.

One group decided to host a French dinner and carriage ride. "I'm not sure they made any money but they . . . had a lot of fun doing it," said Grimm, who took orders for biscotti.

St. Timothy's has donated $3,000 to several causes: a local winter-heating assistance program; Madeline's House, a shelter in the area for abused women; and the Boys' Home in Covington each received $1,000. The Episcopal Church supports the home.

St. Timothy's is also considering putting money into an effort to help provide water where it is needed, maybe in Africa.

Crewe Christian Church members are also deciding what cause they should support with the money that was generated by the members.
Contact Jamie C. Ruff at (434) 223-3678 or .