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Ciona Rouse/UMCOnnection
While an economic decline makes other United Methodist churches struggle to attract young members, almost one-third of St. Matthews members are under age 18.
To weather the storm:
a series on Dundalk Our culture is undergoing a sea change as we move from an industrial society to a service-oriented economy. Perhaps no other region in the nation has been more affected by this change than the unincorporated town of Dundalk in southeastern Baltimore County.
In a four-part series, the UMConnection will explore Dundalk, its economics and the views of some area United Methodists.
| Worship replaces woe-ship at Dundalk church By Cionna Rouse
UMConnection While community planners in Dundalk fret over an aging population and severe economic decline, St. Matthews UMC is concerned about growth and when to start a nursery program for infants. Although it can never be truly separated by the social and economic factors that shape Dundalk, the African-American community of Turner Station, where St. Matthews is located, often asserts an identity all its own. In the 1940s and 50s when Bethlehem Steel at nearby Sparrows Point was in its prime, Turner Station was a prosperous black enclave in Dundalk. Residents recalled these salad days on Bear Creek when strong black men made steel in a recent Baltimore Sun article. The place had class, with jam sessions by Duke Ellington and Pearl Bailey in the 1940s, they said. In January this year, three members of the church gave birth, reported the Rev. Dred Scott, pastor of St. Matthews. Nearly 30 of the 150 people who regularly attend the Sunday morning service are younger than age 18. Seven of them are not even 2 years old yet. But the community does not have much to offer young people, Scott said. The church in this waterfront community sits only five miles from the Bethlehem Steel plant, a grim reminder of the industry that once employed 30,000 people and boasted about being the largest steel plant in the world in the late 1950s. Last fall, the company filed for bankruptcy. Today, less than 4,000 area residents work at the plant, which is still the largest private employer in Baltimore County. With the economic decline, younger people have little to look forward to doing except fleeing this area, said Deanna Fleming, a lifelong resident of Turners Station. It is declining in numbers. Its declining period. The community is really going down, she said. But the hard times that surround them seem to spur the congregation, which has adopted the motto of the church where love is lived. Every Friday evening the church hosts an evening of worship and family assistance. They have a Bible study for youth, a youth choir called the Harmonettes and an active Boy Scout troop. But Dundalk, one of the nations first planned communities, faces what Scott calls a spiritual cancer in the form of drug and alcohol addiction. Edward Fleming, a member of the church for only 16 months, said the people of the church reached out to him while he was still a drug addict. Whenever I want peace, I come to this church, he said. People come to St. Matthews to praise God, Scott said, because, as the churchs mission statement says, worship is our duty and delight. We have some people who come to church with woe-ship, that are resistant, but well outnumber them, said Scott. So while many people in the community are pulling up stakes and leaving, members of the church tend to see potential in Turners Station. I was born here. Im going to die here, Edward Fleming said. I love it; dont want to move out. |
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