| Living Springs Fellowship consecrates new home By Melissa Lauber UMConnection Staff  The 2-year-old congregation of Living Springs Christian Fellowship UMC moved out of a high school and into its new building in the Maryland Science and Technology Center in Bowie, Nov. 30. Bishop Felton Edwin May, the Rev. Mary Jane Coleman, Washington West District superintendent, and the Rev. Evan Young, the churchs pastor, consecrated the space in the suburban office park.  It is a non-traditional space for worship, Young said. But the church, one of the Baltimore-Washington Conferences new initiative churches, has put tradition aside when it conflicts with bringing the unchurched into a relationship with God. Living Springs, which had been meeting at Largo High School, was conceived of as a nursery for new life. Thats exactly what we want to be, said Young, a nursery for new Christian life. The church averages 85 people in worship each Sunday. It sponsors nursery life groups and short-term small groups to help people grow in their faith. It also places a high priority on using new technology, broadcasting its services on local cable television and incorporating the arts, especially dance, into the churchs life. Worship is informal. Its contemporary worship with a traditional edge, Young said. While it may feel like the culmination of a lot of searching and hard work, moving into the new building is a beginning point for the church, he said. The new building, which is being leased for $90,000 a year, consists of approximately 6,000 square feet, designed especially for the congregation. The multi-purpose sanctuary seats 150. The Rev. Edwin DeLong, an associate director for the conference Council on Ministries, is enthusiastic about Living Springs success. Like many of the other new church initiatives, Living Springs is proving that people who are not currently affiliated with other churches will more likely come to a new faith community, DeLong said. This is an important learning when one considers that two-thirds of the people in our conference are not part of any faith community, he said.  United Methodists within the conference, through their apportionment giving, contributed approximately $310,000 to assist Living Springs. The conference also provided an additional loan of $111,000 to assist with the building, DeLong said. The investment is definitely paying off. Two other conference initiatives are expected to move into new, nontraditional spaces at the beginning of the year. New Hope, in Harford County, will move into a double-wide trailer on their new property in Edgewood and Covenant Point will move into a storefront in the Fort Smallwood Shopping Center in Waldorf. It is the exact same space where Lakeside UMC began 10 years ago, DeLong said. Several other new initiatives are exploring the concept of churches starting churches, and expanding into second sites, said DeLong. | 
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