Three Lutheran Churches Begin Rebirth as Single Congregation

BY MATTHEW WINTER
SALISBURY POST

"A threefold cord is not quickly broken."

Ecclesiastes 4:12

The faithful remnants of three Lutheran churches in Kannapolis will prove as much Sunday when four years of toil and patience end in the immaculate sanctuary of the New Hope Lutheran Church.

More than 400 church members will fill the new $2 million, 21,400-square-foot church at 1615 Brantley Road for morning services at 11 and an afternoon dedication at 4. In doing so, they will complete a merger begun in 1995, when the congregations of Bethany, Redeemer and St. David's churches realized that shrinking numbers and growing bills were forcing them to either merge and begin anew or die out completely.

The congregations chose to begin anew in January 1995, and in April that year approved "New Hope" as an appropriate name for the new church. On Palm Sunday 1996, the three congregations began attending services together as their three older churches and a small schoolhouse went on the market. On Palm Sunday 1997, they broke ground on their new church.

According to Robert Gerber, architect for New Hope, the congregation can look forward to a beautiful symbol to help commemorate these anniversaries next April. Workers will plant three large dogwood trees in front of the sanctuary.

"You know how dogwoods look when they blossom," Gerber said Thursday as he stood smiling just outside the sanctuary doors. "Can you imagine how this will look next Palm Sunday?"

Symbols like the dogwoods tend to exist in threes at New Hope.

Three cornerstones, one for each of the old churches, tout New Hope's heritage from the sanctuary wall. A fourth stone proclaims the congregation's new name.

The church has three main entrances, planned not only to honor the three churches coming together, but also the Christian belief in the Holy Trinity.

The construction also left enough cleared land beside the 8,834-square-foot sanctuary and 12,500-square-foot Christian Life and Learning Center for a third building, if the church grows as planned.

Of course, New Hope also houses more traditional religious symbols, which Pastor Joseph Kovitch can readily explain.

Throughout the week, Rev. Kovitch remained at the site, helping construction workers put finishing touches on the building and clean up the mess left by the 18-month project.

The 34-year-old bearded pastor - who two years ago left a Charlotte church to lead the three Kannapolis congregations in a fresh start - bustled around the nearly finished church in jeans and flannels. Despite his quiet demeanor and the reassuring hugs he gave to a handful of elderly church members anxiously watching the work progress, one could easily mistake the pastor for one of the construction workers.

But Kovitch knows so much more about the church than those who built it. Other workers, for example, may not notice how many windows the buildings have, how open the church is to the outside world. To Kovitch, the many large windows symbolize a new goal of the combined congregations: outreach and ministry, opening their church not only to the younger generation but to strangers in the community.

The pastor also knows the thick-beamed, 10-foot by 5-foot cedar cross hanging above the altar is actually hollow. Inside rests a Bible.

Kovitch and church member Bob Rochevot built the cross. They fashioned it to appear somewhat rustic, but the cross is actually covered in meaningful detail. Five smaller crosses are embedded on its surface, representative of the five wounds of Christ. A crown of thorns made from black locust branches hangs at the top, and two nails protrude from the crossbeams. Shrouds, whose color will change with the seasons of the church, will hang from these nails.

Above the cross and the altar, six stained-glass windows adorn the wall. Those on the far right and left are inscribed with The Lord's Prayer and The Apostles' Creed, while the four between symbolize important teachings of the church.

"'I am the Lord Your God' represents the Ten Commandments, 'I am the Living Water' represents baptism, 'I am the Vine Ye are the Branches' is for communion and 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life' represents confession," Kovitch explained.

Two other stained-glass windows on nearby walls illustrate Martin Luther's seal, a colorful design of a cross within a heart within a white rose, all surrounded by the color blue and a gold seal.

Kovitch also knows something else about New Hope Lutheran Church, something not readily apparent from watching its construction.

"The people are the ultimate symbol. It's their vision, their passion, that has built this church," Kovitch explained from the muddy parking lot. "... I think that is one thing that's consistent with people joining this church. They feel the warmth, the love, the welcome and the joy that comes with a real passion for the church.

"A good Lutheran quote is that you can 'think' faith really well, but letting faith really sink into our hearts is a different thing entirely.

"This building as a whole, I think, reflects that these people here have such a passion. They have walked the walk."

Kathryn Cranford, whose family had attended Redeemer Lutheran Church since 1947, would agree. Cranford, a member of the congregations' merger committee, was one of the handful of church members who watched the crews finishing up work Thursday afternoon.

Cranford said the merger of the three churches is easily understandable against the backdrop of modern life.

"You see it most everywhere," she said. "People expect more of everything than they used to. We used to have one-room schools and small churches, but now, small churches just can't make it on their own anymore.

"So we gave up a church to be able to have a church of our own."

Cranford's new church is not a "small church," by anyone's standards. Its sanctuary seats more than 160, and the Christian Life and Learning Center houses classrooms for adults and children, offices, a kitchen and a 2,800-square-foot fellowship hall.

The floors of this hall are covered with a special "sports carpet" that gives the space unique versatility. Churchgoers can either lower the basketball hoops to play ball, start up a volleyball game at the nets or stow such equipment away and hold a wedding reception.

At a construction cost of $2 million, such a complex may seem expensive for a group of worshippers who a few years ago couldn't afford to maintain their own churches. However, Kovitch said the congregation played their cards just right.

"We built for the future, for our children, but we were very careful not to build beyond our means."

Even though he believes the church is nearly perfect for the congregation, the new building can't address the problems that forced the three congregations to merge in the first place. A declining and aging membership has become an issue for "all mainline churches," he said.

"I think it's a matter of addressing the needs of the world today without compromising on the principles of the faith," he said. "That's always been the big question. But you see, the Gospel is the same yesterday as it is today and as it will be tomorrow. The Gospel is adaptable - Christ has been our Savior throughout history, and history is always changing.

"The question for us, I think, is how to keep the best of what has grown out of that, grown out of the church, and adapt it to the things we need today."