Germantown church balances mission with longevity

Members of the First Presbyterian Church in Germantown helped fund a mission for homeless men, a senior-citizen housing complex, and the revival of two recently shuttered neighborhood newspapers.

Money from the church endowment, which has been cited as above average, helped make those efforts possible.

But the weak economy has reduced the endowment to $5 million, half of what it was 15 years ago. If the church keeps tapping into it, some members fear it could be gone in 10 years.

Now, as the Chelten Avenue church celebrates its 200th anniversary, congregants are juggling how best to continue its outreach ministry while assuring its future.

"We as a church are to be about the business of risk taking," said the Rev. Nancy Muth, the pastor. "If we are to follow the mandate to love our neighbor as ourselves, even at the risk of our own lives, we need to be risking our lives and giving."

But never far away are the concerns about balancing mission and longevity.

"Some feel the endowment was given to be built upon and saved and used in extreme emergencies," said Sam Whyte, a church member and editor with the Germantown Historical Society. "Others feel it's there, spend it, and God will provide."

The 300-member church, which will celebrate with a banquet Saturday, has long made mission a priority. It has carved out a role in Germantown that goes well beyond the mission for the homeless. The church helped open the YMCA of Germantown. It sponsors a youth basketball program and a monthly coffeehouse, and recently funded the revival of two shuttered newspapers in Germantown and Mount Airy. On the horizon is a new drop-in center for high school students.

In the 137-church Philadelphia Presbytery, First Presbyterian Church in Germantown offers more mission and ministry than most churches its size, said Larry Davis, business administrator of the Presbytery.

Its endowment is shrinking at a time when national studies report that church membership is declining and eight local Presbyterian churches have closed in the last seven years. And the congregation is one of the few whose membership is evenly divided among white and minority members, most of whom are black.

Founded in 1809, the church was started by 17 people who split from the former Market Square Presbyterian Church in Germantown when that congregation refused to include English in its German-language services.

The church became a prominent congregation with a wealthy white membership. The rolls topped 2,100 in the early 1940s, but the suburban flight changed that.

Then came decision day. Should they stay or follow their congregants to the suburbs? The church elected in the late 1950s to stay, with a renewed commitment to community outreach. In the 1970s, that work began to be reflected in membership. The first African American members began to join the church. One of them was Mary Lundy, who happened upon the congregation while looking for a vacation Bible school.

"Some of the members were friendly, and others were prejudiced," said Lundy, of Germantown. "They would just ignore you."

Over the years, increasing numbers of African Americans joined. About 10 years ago, the congregation stepped up its open-door policy by spending $1.2 million to transform its dark neo-Gothic sanctuary into a more intimate and welcoming place.

"It's not just about [offering programs that] assist," said the Rev. Kevin Porter, director of community life and adult education. "It's about partnership. We want to make sure we are of the community."

Now, membership is 50-50. The integration is reflected in its 11-member staff, elders, church governing board, and ministers. Muth is white. Porter is black.

Member Bertha Aiken, 87, first came to the church in 1950. She drives in from her home in Paoli.

"I think the church is better now than it's ever been," Aiken said. "Everybody works together. Black and white love each other and get along well."

But there are disparate voices when it comes to balancing mission and finance.

Whyte says he favors taking care of the budget and the 137-year-old church building, and then making thoughtful decisions about allocations for outreach.

He was in favor of the $100,000 loan to fund the resuscitation of the two closed neighborhood newspapers, although some in the church were opposed. The new Mount Airy Independent and Germantown Chronicle hit the street after the Journal Register Co. closed the Mount Airy Express and Germantown Courier. The church lent the money to Germantown businessman Jim Foster, publisher of the new weeklies.

"I think that is one of the creative, exciting new kinds of things we should do," Whyte said.

To increase income, the church is emphasizing stewardship and starting a nonprofit organization that will seek grants to fund community projects.

Continuing the outreach is a must, member Irene Overton said.

If they didn't reach out, "no one will even know we're here," Overton said. It happened to a nearby Presbyterian congregation, she said. That church closed down.