Mashpee church start begins to plant seeds
by Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane, Editor
June/July 2007
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New pastor Jim Scovil (left) and Associate Conference Minister Paul Nickerson plan out activities to grow the Mashpee church start. In just a few months Scovil has gotten involved in community activities and has formed a core group of ten people to meet regularly – with ten or so more prospects considering to join the group. |
Three months after the Massachusetts Conference called the Rev. Dr. James S. Scovil to become full-time Organizing Pastor for a church start, the newly forming Mashpee United Church of Christ had already found a way to make a difference.
In April, several persons involved in the new church start volunteered to prepare the food at the Boys and Girls Club of Cape Cod for their traditional Friday night member dinners, and according to Scovil, the club director is thrilled to have the new volunteers on board. The new pastor has been very involved in the community for the past several months, but this was the first outreach project for the group.
Scovil has already formed a core group of ten people to meet regularly and has caught the attention of ten or so more prospects who may get involved. In addition, he has led a Service of Remembrance on the Village Green of Mashpee Commons for the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings.
“During the week, I connect with as many people in the Town of Mashpee as possible, introduce myself, tell them what I am doing and educate them about the UCC, if they do not already know,” said Scovil. “I network with the town leaders, walk the neighborhoods, and get a pulse on the community.”
“On Sundays, my wife Diane and I visit UCC churches, and chat after service or during coffee hours. We’ve been to about 12 different UCC churches so far, and have been very well received. Frankly I am amazed at how many people I have been able to meet since my starting date.”
The most common question people ask of Scovil is ‘where are you meeting?’ The answer is a surprise to most of the interested parties. “We are not really meeting,” explained Scovil. “We are gathering in private homes of those interested. Then these volunteers hold an open house and invite their friends and neighbors. That’s how we grow – by invitation. It’s not the mass marketing methods of the past that bring in new members here. It’s the personal invitation that attracts people.”
“I like to quote Jim Griffith and say that people are just one invitation away from joining our church.” Griffith is a consultant who works with new church start pastors, the Evangelism Commission, and the Conference’s Vitality Coaches.
Many people in the Mashpee area are transplants – people who have UCC or Congregational backgrounds, but have moved to Mashpee for the summer or for retirement and now have to find a new place to worship.
Paul Nickerson, Associate Conference Minister for Evangel-ism, Mission and Justice Ministries, reported in an earlier article that in less than two decades, the population of year-round residents in Mashpee doubled to almost 16,000. Despite this rapid growth, there was no mainline Protestant congregation – until now.
“Founding a church is no small task, and a pastor needs all the help he can get,” Scovil said. “There are over 410 United Church of Christ churches in the Massachusetts Conference, but there is a need for more. In a world of rapid change and unsettling news, a church provides a place for stability and hope.”
“When one of us grows, we all grow together,” he said.
“Support has been wonderful from the whole Conference, the congregations, and the area clergy,” said Scovil. Massachusetts Conference staff worked with Mashpee’s surrounding congregations of Waquoit, First Falmouth, North Falmouth, Sandwich and West Barnstable as the core leadership for this project. Dennis Union Church has pledged $33,000 to the new church and additional monies have been given by several sources. In May there was a special offering at the West Yarmouth Congregational Church for the Mashpee plant. Even churches not located on the Cape have been supportive, such as Central Square Congregational Church, UCC, in Bridgewater which has pledged donations to the Mashpee Church as part of its capital campaign.
According to Nickerson, it takes a pool of $150,000 to $200,000 to finance a new congregation over a 4-5 year period. Most of the initial funding goes to support a new church start pastor and rent space in a building; the financing decreases as the congregation grows and begins pledging and supporting itself. The goal is to have a new church self-sufficient within five years. In fact, Hope Church, in Jamaica Plain has celebrated its 4th anniversary and has reached economic self-sufficiency; it now has about 140 in worship.
Scovil invites everyone in the Mashpee area to get more informed by visiting the website at www.MashpeeUCC.org or emailing him at jim@mashpeeucc.org.
And he makes one request, “Should you happen to see me at Starbucks in Mashpee Commons, please introduce yourself. I’d be happy to buy you a beverage of your choice. More importantly, I’d like to hear about your journey and what God might be saying to you.”
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