Episcopal Press and News
KANSAS: Newest congregation moves into new Spring Hill home; membership triples
Episcopal News Service. July 20, 2010 [072010-02]
Melodie Woerman, Director of communications for the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas
The newest congregation in the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas has moved into a new home in the town of Spring Hill, and that move already has helped membership more than triple, from nine to 29 active congregants.
St. Clare's Episcopal Church welcomed the public for worship on Pentecost, May 23, to its new location in the town's historic downtown area. It is leasing space on Sundays in a recently renovated building.
Before the move, worshippers had met in the living room of the congregation's vicar, the Rev. Philip Hubbard, and his family in Overland Park, several miles north. Hubbard was hired by the diocese in 2008 to start a new congregation in Johnson County, part of the greater Kansas City area and the largest population center in the diocese. The county is home to five other Episcopal churches.
The decision to give St. Clare's a permanent home in Spring Hill, a town of 6,500 that straddles the Johnson and Miami county line, came earlier this year, based on its potential for growth in the area. The city has grown 40 percent in the past decade, and it's close to a cluster of larger-sized cities, all without an Episcopal church.
Hubbard said about half of the 39 people at the Pentecost service were attending St. Clare's for the first time.
Patti Stites and her husband, Art Canright, had met Hubbard at the local Farmer's Market and, struck by his enthusiasm, decided to visit that day. They'd never been to an Episcopal church for worship before, but Canright called it "fun" and Stites said Hubbard's conversation-style sermon was "very enjoyable."
Susan and Don Traub met Hubbard at the Farmer's Market just the day before and as longtime Episcopalians were delighted to learn they could attend an Episcopal church without leaving Spring Hill. Former members of St. John's in Abilene, on the western edge of the diocese, the couple had been driving to Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, for church.
Don Traub said he liked the pioneer feel of St. Clare's start-up. "That's the way the church was built," he said.
Scott and Jacque Snavely and their three sons were at St. Clare's for the second time on Pentecost; the congregation had a "soft opening" the week before to make sure they were comfortable in their rented space before the public opening. The Snavelys had been members at St. Philip's when they lived in Topeka but after moving to Spring Hill had attended a Roman Catholic church in nearby Gardner.
Scott Snavely learned of St. Clare's when he met Hubbard at the city's Home and Business Expo, and he jumped into the congregation with gusto. He helped create yard signs announcing the new church that were placed around town, and that effort resulted in a family visiting on Pentecost and most Sundays after that.
Hubbard said another of his evangelism efforts brought a family out that day, too. A few days before, the parents had been discussing the need to find a church home, and he arrived at their door just two hours later to invite them to St. Clare's.
Jim and Margie Burton are joining St. Clare's as missionaries, current Episcopalians who will become part of the new church to aid in its growth. The Burtons have been members of St. Michael and All Angels in Mission, another area parish, for 16 years, and the decision to leave was both painful and joyful.
The pain comes in leaving a church home that has nurtured them for so many years, but that same nurture led them to this new ministry. "We were formed for this by the community we love at St. Michael's," Margie Burton wrote in the parish newsletter.
She also said the decision to make the move came after a lot of prayer, and in the process "we were convinced that God wants us to help start this new church."
St. Michael's sent them on their new spiritual journey by commissioning them as missionaries to St. Clare's during a service on June 13.
At last fall's Diocesan Convention, Bishop Dean Wolfe called for 10 Episcopal families in the greater Kansas City area to become missionaries to St. Clare's. The Burtons are the first to answer that call.
Hubbard said he now counts about 29 regulars among his flock, which is triple the nine people who attended the last worship service in his living room. Having a visible location in a permanent place in an area without any other Episcopal churches is starting to pay off, he said.
In the weeks since the festive Pentecost opening, Hubbard said attendance has averaged about 25 or so.
He realizes this way of starting a new congregation is different. In many church plants, he said, all the effort goes into a huge opening worship service, knowing attendance will immediately fall to half that. "We started smaller," he said, "but we know most of these people. They're going to stick."
Beyond just attending, though, Hubbard said the 29 regulars are becoming more deeply involved. "I see them coming closer to the center," he said. "They're getting more involved, more committed. People are starting to say of St. Clare's, 'I belong here.'"
That involvement was evident in a citywide event the congregation sponsored June 19 at the local park. The "Party in the Park" featured food, music and a variety of activities, all coordinated and staffed by St. Clare's members. The food was provided by members of St. Michael's, Mission.
Hubbard said about 30 Spring Hill residents stopped by during the day, and he had almost everyone in the congregation there helping. Another 30 or so people came from area Episcopal churches, who also had been invited to join in the festivities.
Hubbard said Wolfe, who attended the event, encouraged St. Clare's to include area Episcopalians.
"We wanted them to see the Episcopal church they are helping to start," he said. "We want them to know that we are their church plant," he said.
Word of St. Clare's is starting to spread in the area, Hubbard said. A story in the Miami County Republic brought an Episcopal family from Paola to worship, and Hubbard was asked to serve as chaplain at the local American Legion post's Memorial Day observances at the town's cemetery.
Hubbard said his congregation already is seeking ways to take greater responsibility for its corporate life, and he'll be starting classes later this year for those wanting to be confirmed or received.
An informal governing structure also is planned that will better allow everyone's voice to be heard as the church grows.
Hubbard said that, while still small, he believes St. Clare's is doing "really, really well." Reflecting on where his congregation has come in a short time he said, "We may be an infant, but we have really rosy cheeks."