Bethany UMC, Rappahannock District

Bethany children tie fringe on fleece blankets to be sent to children in Central America.

Bethany is in a growing area of Gloucester County, a bedroom community for people who work in Yorktown, just across the York River. But the church is growing thanks to a new emphasis on children and youth ministries.

"When I learned I was coming to Bethany I looked at the [Virginia Conference] Journal and saw strong membership numbers (600), but the enrollment in Sunday school was very low," says the Rev. Steve Young. "We had visitors who came and then did not come back, and when we asked them why, it was because they wanted a stronger children and youth program. So we decided to focus on those areas."

With space at a premium, the church added partitions to its fellowship hall to create new space for Sunday school classes. The church started Sunday school classes for parents of young children and got some of their best teachers to lead those classes. "Mothers started telling their friends about Bethany and we suddenly had new people coming in with no prior connection to the church," Young said.

Perhaps most importantly, Bethany hired part-time coordinators for children and youth. The result has been a turnaround of morale and in numbers, with the church taking in 64 new members in the past 20 months.

"We’re blessed with lay people who station themselves at the door each Sunday and shower visitors with love and attention. That has made a big difference for us. Evangelism is not just the pastor’s job. It’s a lay and clergy partnership."

"As members get older there’s a tendency to say a church’s day has passed," said Young, "but people here look around and see all the youth and children and know that Bethany has a bright future. It’s exciting."