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BY LESLI BALES-SHERROD
UMCONNECTION CORRESPONDENT

A sanctuary built in 1917 isn't the only thing that has been restored at Mount Vernon Place UMC in downtown Washington, D.C.

A congregation has been brought back to life.

Mount Vernon Place, which had 4,541 members in 1960 but had dwindled to 35 to 40 in attendance in 2005, now has 65 to 70 in worship on Sundays. Twenty-seven new members, mostly young adults, have joined the church since October 2007, quite a change for a congregation whose average age was 82 just three years ago.

And all this happened while the church was unable to meet inside its historic sanctuary at 900 Massachusetts Ave., as the entire building underwent renovation for almost two years.

"A building isn't a god," said the Rev. Donna Claycomb Sokol, who was appointed to Mount Vernon Place on July 1, 2005, and saw not one first-time visitor grace the doors for six weeks at a time. "That's one of the things we've learned the most. You do not need the building to be the church."

You do, however, have to take risks, she said.

"A church can't stay stagnant and attract new people."

Mount Vernon Place's members took such a risk July 17, 2005, voting to sell the church's two education buildings to developer Carr Properties, which razed them and is building a 12-story retail and office space on the site. The money made from the sale enabled Mount Vernon Place to restore its sanctuary, but the congregation had to vacate the building from August 2006 to July 2008.

It was during this time that Mount Vernon Place made two more changes and started to grow. First, the congregation began lingering for coffee and refreshments after every worship service, developing deeper connections with one another, Claycomb Sokol said. Second, she implemented a time of sharing joys and concerns during the worship service, a ritual that has lasted anywhere between five and 20 minutes.

It is this "authenticity," this practice of being "real, exposed in a sense," that has attracted what Claycomb Sokol calls "an extraordinary cast of characters, from those who are 100 years old and joined the church in the 1940s ... to the young adults and new members, most of whom have not been part of a church community in their adult lives ... to people who have come in off the streets and are homeless."

Claycomb Sokol stressed that the people of Mount Vernon Place have been careful not to create two congregations, one for longtime members and one for newcomers. Sharing joys and concerns helps build significant relationships among those of all ages, she said. For example, when a young couple's closing on their new home was delayed, a 93-year-old member took them in.

"We're intentional about being one large community," Claycomb Sokol said. "If one is hurting, we're all hurting. If one is jumping for joy, we're all doing the same."

It is that community that drew Kris Erickson to Mount Vernon Place. Having not gone to church in 10 years, Erickson said he was attracted to Mount Vernon Place specifically because the sign out front said the congregation was not meeting in the church. He thought this would allow him to see "what the church is really like."

What Erickson found filled the hole in his life, he told the congregation before leading them in a litany of consecration during the rededication of Mount Vernon Place on Sept. 21.

"So I love the windows and I love the pipe organ, but it's not the reason why I come," he said. "It's all of you."

More than 170 people celebrated Sept. 21 when Bishop John R. Schol rededicated the renovated church, which the congregation moved into July 28.

"Don't allow this building to become institutionalized," Bishop Schol told the congregation. "Let it be the inspiration and place that revives the movement of God in Washington, D.C. ... Let this be the place that gets the movement moving again."

It was important to Claycomb Sokol to have the building rededicated "not for our purposes, but for God's purposes."

"It's not like we deserved this space," she said of the church's location in the heart of the city. "God, you brought us back to this place. What are you calling us to do? Who are you calling us to serve?"

The congregation doesn't have to look far to see tremendous need, Claycomb Sokol said. Every night there are people sleeping on the steps of the church, and the No. 1 issue police officers are dealing with in the neighborhood is prostitution, she said.

"We can choose to ignore it, or we can choose to be the body of Christ," Claycomb Sokol said. "This is the hard part, the risky part, but ... God calls us to be risk-takers."

Mount Vernon Place already has taken a risk in renovating its building. One example is the showers in the men's and women's restrooms, Claycomb Sokol said. No one has used them yet.

"We certainly don't need all this space for 60 people," she said. "That's the crazy thing, but we are taking the risk that God is not finished with us yet."

Mount Vernon Place's plans include 22,000 square feet of space the church owns in the high-rise being built behind it, slated for completion in mid-August 2009. Wesley Theological Seminary owns another 7,500 square feet and will provide housing for as many as 18 students to partner with Mount Vernon Place and nearby Asbury UMC in urban ministry.

While Claycomb Sokol said Mount Vernon Place has not developed a clear focus for its urban ministry yet, she does think the congregation has "a better understanding of why the church exists and for whom."

"Our doors are open wider for all of God's children to come inside."