CPC 1999 Annual Report:
From the Associate Pastor
Rev. Jerome D. Cooper

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Jerry, "Beyond These Walls"

Most of you have some idea of what I do within the walls of Central. But not as many know about the ministries I am involved in outside of Central. So I thought this would be a good chance to tell you about some of the groups I was involved with in 1999.

First the ministries that ended in 1999: After 5 years on the board of Vishranti Nilay (The Community Development Fund of India) I stepped down this past Spring. In addition, for the past 4 years, I have been the Treasurer of the Board and Finance Committee Chair of the Towson Family YMCA. After breaking in a new Finance Chair, I will be stepping down at the beginning of 2000. Finally, for three years I was on Baltimore Presbytery's Committee on Goals, Objectives and Strategies. When the original chair left, the committee unanimously elected me as the chair in the Spring of '98. This past October we gave our final report to the Presbytery Council. My official job is over, now I am just a "consultant." Imagine that!

There were other ministries that began this past year. One was my election to our denomination's General Assembly Advisory Committee on International Evangelism. My first meeting was in September. I was then asked to be on the planning committee of a national Presbyterian mission conference on Unreached Peoples to be held in September 2000, in San Diego. Finally, this past Fall, I taught a core course at the Seminary of the East called "World Vision and Cultural Diversity."

In addition to these, I have ongoing involvements with the following: Project Justice Pastors (this past year I stepped down from the steering committee); the Association of Presbyterian Missions Pastors (I recently ended my term as an executive committee member); and Baltimore Christian School (where I am a math tutor for inner-city 4th graders).

It is my hope that the time and energy spent in these outside activities has enhanced my ministry at Central as well as made a positive impact on the larger Kingdom of God. Thank you for the freedom to pursue these avenues for the greater glory of our Lord!

In His Grace,
Jerry

P. S. Who would want a third worship service?

Not I. My life would be much easier if we stayed with 2 services. In fact, that is true for most Centralites. So why have we been hearing about moving to three services sometime in the year 2000? There is one simple reason: We have a Mission Statement. It says that God has called us to the task of "Moving People Toward Christ." Those are not just nice sounding words. They are also a statement of faith; of faith in God's call upon our life as a church and our faith that if we are obedient, God will provide the blessing - both for us and for those with whom we minister.

So how does a third service help us fulfill our Mission Statement? Simple. In 1999, we were turning people away from church because we only have 2 services. In other words, we might be guilty of moving people away from Christ! Let me explain.

Central has a comfortable capacity of around 370 if every seat is filled (not counting the choir loft). Now, church studies show that when a sanctuary is more than 80% full, visitors can be discouraged, and not return. 80% of our capacity is 300. So how do we compare to that?

There were only 5 times in the whole year of 1999 that our 8:30 worship service was less than 80% capacity. In fact, more than half of all Sundays, our first service is 95% full! In other words, almost every Sunday we are so full that we are probably (even if unintentionally) driving away visitors.

This may seem extreme to you, but imagine yourself as a visitor. If you go to a strange church with your spouse and one child and you have trouble finding a spot for the three of you to sit together - are you going to be encouraged to come back? Barring a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit, the answer is no.

In the last three years our worship attendance has not grown. Is it because of the lack of visitors? No, we have plenty. It is because we have nowhere to put those who come to our 8:30 service. Although some visitors come to our 11:00 service (which is at a comfortable size), we cannot expect that all new visitors must go to that service simply because it is where we have additional seats.

Now add to the mix that we recently hired Greg Meadows to work with College, Young Adults and Small Groups. We hope not only to attract new people through these ministries, but we also desire growth in our existing youth, children and adult programs. But to talk about growth when we are already inadvertently turning away visitors is dangerously shortsighted.

All this adds up to one conclusion. If we are to be faithful to God's call upon us as a congregation to "Move People Toward Christ"; if we want to poise our ministries and staff for success rather than failure; if we are more interested in saving lives for eternity than serving our own comfort for a time; then a third service is not an option to debate, but an imperative to carry out.