When the tiny congregation of historic Bethel United Methodist Church in Camden, N.J., birthed in 1864, finally closed its doors last year— depleted of members, money and mission—it was the death of yet another urban church.
But in a wonder-working faith, where death at times leads to resurrection, some doors don’t stay closed for long.
As trustees of the Greater New Jersey Conference began preparing to sell the idle church facility, three visionary ministers did a timely walk-through last fall and said, in effect, “Not so fast. God may be about to do a new thing here.”
Bethel United Methodist Church is a part of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference.
The Rev. Glenn Conaway, Delaware Bay District Superintendent and Coastal Plains Region Team Leader, led the tour with the Rev. Dennis Blackwell, longtime pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church in nearby Woodlynne, and Timothy Merrill, a leader at Asbury, but more importantly, a neighbor and former youth pastor at Bethel. The trio saw the neglect and disrepair there—a badly leaking roof and debris strewn in rooms and hallways—all in an abandoned church unfitting of its Hebrew name, which means “House of God.”
Much of that possibility is embodied in Tim Merrill, a Camden native who lives just over a block away and has spent much of his life developing and leading youth ministries in churches and the community.
“My life's work has been to guide and encourage our city's young people,” Merrill says of his personal mission. “I specialize in serving the young people who have slipped between society's cracks— those at economic, social and educational disadvantage.”
He has done that for decades, especially among youth involved in the Crips, Bloods, Latin Kings and other gangs and also young people coming out of prison. Merrill has engaged and helped many of them as a community pastor and loving father-figure. And his wife and ministry-partner Renata Merrill has done likewise, even welcoming some of those youth into their home.
Now, Merrill is trying to do a new thing— prayerfully, God’s new thing—in the building where he still fondly remembers and sometimes reencounters the youth he once taught. The former Bethel church is now renamed the Imani Community Fellowship. Imani is Swahili for “faith.” And the church doors that closed last year are swinging open again on Sunday mornings for Bible study and on four bustling nights a week for children, youth and young adults who come there to learn and enjoy African drumming and dance, martial arts, and brass instruments.
Today, Merrill welcomes—and invites to Bible study—friends and neighbors who come to help fix and upgrade the building, who send or bring donations for the ministry, or who come merely to seek the help they need. But he also welcomes those who come just to congregate around a wooden picnic table in the front yard situated there to offer a place for conversation. He plans to have a larger conversation with community members at Imani —inviting them to come share their concerns over dinner and to suggest more activities and services they want to see happen there.
Imani’s friends and neighbors also include generous members of other Delaware District churches—including
Imani is a mission of Asbury UMC Woodlynne, its supportive mother church, where Merrill is still a member. And it receives special attention from the Coastal Plains Regional Resourcing Team. But Conaway wants it to also become a new Hope Center of Greater New Jersey’s Journey of Hope initiative, which should broaden its visibility and support conferencewide. Hope Centers “collaborate with communities and build on assets to address various educational, social and economic challenges” like those in Camden.
Meanwhile, the Delaware Bay District Committee on Ministry is helping Merrill complete his training to become a Licensed Local Pastor. As vibrantly connectional as Merrill is in his own community, he and his fledgling community of faith are no less connectional in the benefits they receive from their mother church, their district, region and conference.
All those connections should give the Imani Community Fellowship “a hope and a future,” in the prophet Jeremiah’s words (Jeremiah 29:11), so that it can grow from a small resurrection wonder and maybe become a full worshiping congregation. That is the hope of all involved—to offer a new place for new people, while serving Christ and this underserved Camden community.
excerpt from a story John W. Coleman, Director, Communication, Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference
This story represents how United Methodist local churches through their Annual Conferences are living as Vital Congregations. A vital congregation is the body of Christ making and engaging disciples for the transformation of the world. Vital congregations are shaped by and witnessed through four focus areas: calling and shaping principled Christian leaders; creating and sustaining new places for new people; ministries with poor people and communities; and abundant health for all.
