Turning Four Churches into One

Countless small-town main streets in the U.S. bear sad witness to obsolete ecclesiastical rivalry: once handsome Protestant churches that are closed or kept barely alive by a small, zealous congregation. In such places, low-level ecumenism and merger make spiritual sense--and how it can be done has just been shown by the 288 citizens of Schellsburg, Pa.

A peaceful farming village in the Alleghenies, Schellsburg had for more than 70 years supported four churches --St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran, Schellsburg Methodist, Schellsburg Presbyterian, and St. John's Reformed (United Church of Christ). But since World War II, the community's population has steadily dropped. None of the congregations numbered more than 85; none could afford a full-time minister. When the Methodist church burned in 1945, the congregation took to renting the Presbyterian church for twice-a-month services. Three of four congregations have operated a Sunday school in common since 1947.

Trial Marriage. Schellsburg was thus a classic example of the "overchurched" village, and in 1963 the Pennsylvania Council of Churches and denomination al leaders persuaded the four congregations to undertake a trial marriage under the auspices of the United Church. Not only was St. John's the newest and largest of the four plants, but the United Church was able to supply a full-time minister, the Rev. Daniel Kratz, 32.

By trial and error, Kratz and lay leaders of the four congregations worked out an acceptable melding of the different church traditions. The teetotaling Lutherans of St. Matthew's were accustomed to using grape juice instead of wine at their Communion services, and were willing to adopt the other churches' usage of ordinary loaf bread instead of unleavened wafers. The Presbyterians, in turn, agreed to take Communion at the altar rail in stead of in the pew. Both the Methodists and the Presbyterians accepted the phrasing of the Apostles' Creed used at St. Matthew's--Christ descended into Hell (rather than Hades), and the Holy Catholic (not Christian) Church.

To please the Presbyterians and Methodists, Schellsburg worshipers ask God in the Lord's Prayer to forgive them their "debts" at church services; in Sunday school they use the Lutheran "trespasses." For his order of worship, Kratz borrowed prayers from all four service books, and composed a few himself. Lutheran and United Church hymnals are used. At first, Methodists complained about the solemnity and intricate tonality of the Lutheran chants. Kratz satisfied their wish for more spirited songs by using revival hymns at Sunday school.

High Attendance. For a few church members, the new way of worship was too much of a shock, and they refused to attend the services. One conservative Presbyterian opposed the merger as a Communist plot. But the great majority of the four congregations liked the compromise forms and the experience of worshiping together in a large group. Except on Easter Sunday, attendance seldom averaged more than 25 for each of Schellsburg's four churches; now there is a regular congregation of 130 at the new church, including some families that previously belonged to no church at all.

Last month, after nearly a year of living with the experiment, Schellsburg's Protestants voted 101 to 25 to dissolve their four separate congregations. Next week, they will celebrate the first formal services of the newly organized United Church of Schellsburg. On hand will be officials of the four denominations and of the National Council of Churches, who believe that the give-and-take approach of the Schellsburg congregations is an example that can be followed with profit by other overchurched communities.

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