For churches, outdoor services provide a breath of fresh air

Inviting settings act as an antidote to summer slump in attendance
By JAY TOKASZ News Staff Reporter

8/21/2006
BEMUS POINT - It was hardly a dog day of summer. Scattered dark clouds threatened to drop rain, and a steady wind across Chautauqua Lake brought a chill.
Yet the lake setting served as an ideal sanctuary Sunday morning for several hundred Christians.
Lawn chairs replaced pews. A floating stage with a tent overhead took the part of a chancel, from which the Rev. Dan McBride preached on a headset microphone, and a seven-piece band belted out praise tunes.
In addition to about 650 people on shore, several dozen boaters participated, anchoring nearby and waving their arms to the music.
"It's a beautiful way to start the day. To be outside seems to bring you closer to God," said Sue Hover, a church member and Ellery resident.
Pastors have long bemoaned the waning church attendance that typically accompanies the summer months. But congregations like Bemus Point United Methodist Church, which hosts "Praise on the Lake" three times each summer, are developing new strategies for attracting churchgoers during a season often crowded with other activities.
Rather than fight the warm weather, some congregations try to take advantage of it, regularly moving worship outside. Others cut down the length of their services. And some churches are offering more special events, such as organizing groups for "Faith Nights" with the Buffalo Bisons at Dunn Tire Park.
In Amherst, parishioners of the Catholic Newman Center of Erie Community College's North Campus attend an outdoor Mass on Sunday mornings under a large tent during July and August.
The Mass, celebrated on the lawn at the center on Main Street, has been a tradition for years and typically draws about 100 people - as well as a few deer sometimes.
"Once it quiets down, they come right up close to us," said Sister Fran Gangloff, director of the Newman Center for the ECC North and South campuses.
St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Lancaster last summer began offering an outdoor Mass on Saturday evenings in July and August. The church gets about 150 people for the Mass, a handful more than when the service was celebrated indoors, according to the pastor, the Rev. Paul W. Steller.
The allure of it is simple: "People like the Western New York weather and they like outdoor events," he said.
St. Mary's doesn't use a tent, but the parish has been lucky so far. Only twice has rain forced the congregation to head inside.
"The iffy weather is what you have to worry about," Steller said.
That, and the rail cars that sometimes thunder past, drowning out the prayers.
Pastors have complained for years of decreased church attendance during the summer, when many people vacation or avoid church because it's too hot or they're too busy with other events.
The Rev. Darius Pridgen, pastor of True Bethel Baptist Church in Buffalo, said he worried he was doing something wrong as a preacher the first time he experienced what he calls "the summer slump."
He refused to throw up his arms, however.
"When a person gets in a habit of not attending, they decide when they're going to come back or if they're going to come back," he said. "I don't think it's acceptable to accept that people just won't come. It's important for people to be excited about the place where they worship - all year round."
Pridgen decided to cut services from 21/2 hours to an hour during the summer - and advertise it regularly on billboards and in radio spots.
The slump, he said, has since gone away.
True Bethel also began offering a "drive-in" Bible study program this summer, allowing people to study Scripture in the church's East Ferry Street parking lot simply by pulling up in their cars and following along over their radios.
"We can either force people and make them feel guilty," said Pridgen, "or we can meet their needs."
When attendance began slipping at St. Peter's United Church of Christ in West Seneca, Pastor Hope Harle-Mould decided to organize an offbeat service for Aug. 13 that he termed "Everybody Sunday," asking the question of his members: What if everyone showed up at the same time for one church service?
From October to May, the church gets attendance of about 150 people.
"During the summer, 100 is a good number. It's really quite a drop-off," said Harle-Mould.
While "Everybody Sunday" was open to anyone in the community, "It was mostly getting our own people and our friends to be present," he said.
How did it turn out?
"The church was nearly full. We don't usually have a full church," said Harle-Mould. "There was a lot more energy. It really was very uplifting."
Bemus Point United Methodist Church is in its third year of offering services on the floating stage, which is owned and operated by Bemus Bay Pops, a nonprofit organization that provides free entertainment.
The services have drawn as many as 1,000 people, including tourists.
"They're here to say, "While you're vacationing, don't forget the Lord,' " said Chuck Waddell of Westerville, Ohio, who spends the summer at Chautauqua Institution.
"This is always kind of a high point for us," added Waddell's wife, Joyce. "It's the perfect setting."
McBride, the pastor, sees the services as an evangelical tool - a way to reach people who might not otherwise attend a service.
"Oftentimes, people are kind of reluctant to step into a church building," he said.
Here, instead, visitors sit under elm trees on a gently sloped stretch of lawn. They wear sunglasses and sip coffee, savoring the scenery while praying and singing.
"It's the way I think the Lord meant church to be. It should be fun," said Margie Johnson, keyboardist with the praise band. "We're floating on the lake. That's part of the attraction. You're right on God's creation."

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