Portage Church Grows to 793 in Worship During the last decade, Portage First Church of the Nazarene on the Northwest Indiana District expanded its ministry from 503 to 793 persons in worship attendance. During the same period, 304 new Nazarenes were received into church membership. In the 1998-99 church year, worship attendance grew more than 100 and Sunday School increased by 161. Pastor Duane Schmidt has led this church since 1987 and is well respected by the congregation. Organized in 1941, the congregation has enjoyed many years of influential ministry, serving a community where many people commute daily to the Chicago area. The church, according to Schmidt, was plauteaued for about five years or more. Asked about the turnaround to become a growing church again, he replied: "We realized that if we kept doing what we were doing, we'd be out of business by 2005. Neither the church board nor I wanted to take a church to zero. After a serious study of our town of 30,000, we realized every church in our community was ready to reach the lost if the clock could be turned back to the '50s or '60s. So we decided to target those whom no one else was willing to change enough to reach--those called 'Generation X.' And change has been the order of the day for several years now. When quizzed about differences since that decision was made, Pastor Schmidt responded: "Our music, the bank, and the whole worship experience have become a tremendous attraction to new people. Some of us, including me since I'm 51, are a little out of our comfort zone with the style of music, drama, and video inserts into the sermons. But that is what this new generation was raised with, thanks to TV and video games." And though the worship service has a contemporary sound and form, the sermons are biblically based and provide a strong challenge to live a holy life. The Portage church uses several effective outreach strategies that can be replicated in other settings. MOPS--Mothers of Preschoolers--helps young mothers learn parenting skills. Young mothers of the congregation invite unchurched moms to attend, and now many of these new people attend regularly. Sport teams (softball, basketball, and flag football) are urged to recruit at least 25 percent of their roster from unchurched neighbors and friends. Advertisements appear on cable TV. Sermon series cards, including directions to the church, are provided so everyone can hand them out anywhere. Children's musicals and VBS programs bring many first-time visitors to see their children participate; at least one children's group sings every month in a morning service. Adult Christmas and Easter musicals draw a different crowd than any other form of outreach; and the Portage church staff reports, "The more people we get involved in the musicals, the more visitors we have." Every one of these ministries is intentionally focused on outreach. A GAS station youth ministry attracts teens. Old '50s gas pumps and paraphernalia decorate the young meeting area. GAS stands for Growth, Accountability, and Service. Each Monday and Tuesday, teen outreach services are held at the church, one for middle school and one for high school. A youth center will be built within the next 12 months. The strong focus of their youth ministry, much more than mere entertainment, involves a serious challenge to a vital faith and becoming accountable and committed to service. Church planting has become another adventuresome part of the Portage ministry package. Once while Pastor Schmidt was discussing the cost for a second-story addition to some of their facilities, he thought when he heard the price that he could build a new church for that amount of money. That idea never left him. About the same time, Schmidt moved his home into the country and decided to drive into his office tat the church a different way each morning. Those two influences--the cost of a new building and the massive residential growth in their area--began to challenge him about church planting. Now God has given him a vision for planting three new churches and adding three major building projects at the home church during the next 15 years. Soon the congregation began looking for a church planter to join their staff for a year to recruit a core group for a new church. The church invited Richard Schmidt, the pastor's son who had grown up in their church, to be the planter. Pastor Schmidt reported how this connection works: "At the time God was working on us to plant a church, God was calling my son and his wife to become planters. They took the church planters assessment and passed. "Rich graduated in May 1999 from Nazarene Theological Seminary and joined our staff in July 1999. His main assignment is to work with young adults out of high school and into their twenties. He shares in the hospital calling and has opportunities to preach. This year for gathering the core group is a lot like an internship where he can develop ministry skills in a real-life setting." Schmidt Sr. continued about the new church: "As for identifying the core group for the new church, Richard is holding bimonthly church informational meetings about the new work, and by March 2000 he will have most of his core leadership established. Monthly preview services will start in June 2000. The new work will officially begin in September 2000. Richard has between now and then to inform and encourage as many people as possible to go with him in this new venture." Rich Schmidt envisions a church that will be "basically similar to the mother church in spirit and purpose but somewhat different in worship style and will rely heavily on small groups." When asked about the financial involvement of the sponsoring church for the new work, Pastor Schmidt said, "We will pay Richard's salary for the year he is on staff plus full salary for one quarter into the next year. We will help with startup costs such as equipment. Then the mother church will reduce his pastor's support by 25 percent each quarter so the new congregation will be self-supporting by the end of the first year. We will also give the new work the last three months' of the total tithe of persons who join the new work so they can have some cash on hand." Portage First Church is an exciting church full of teenagers, young families, and mature Nazarenes committed to living out God's dream for their future. Every point of change has been carefully studied and adequately communicated to the entire congregation. This church is a compelling example of how a church approaching 60 years of history can reinvent itself for the new century.
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