This is part of a series of interviews with pastors of churches whose attendance has grown 20% or more in 5 years. We hope this series will be a resource of ideas to help increase worship attendance at your church.

Clergy Couple Serve as Co-Pastors

When Bishop Ann Sherer-Simpson first talked to the Reverends Davis & Davis about coming to Nebraska, she imaged St. Andrew’s as a congregation going through adolescence. She knew that we had considerable experience dealing with interesting situations. She had been our bishop in Missouri and had appointed us as co-pastors to a congregation in Springfield. Now she invited us to Omaha.

St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church in Omaha was planted as a new church start in 1992. After several years of meeting at a local school, the congregation broke ground in West Omaha, an area so new that it was touch-and-go as to whether the utilities would be in place for the first worship service in the new location. On Christmas Eve, 2004, the congregation celebrated the opening of a new 900 seat sanctuary. Not much went as planned in 2005. The stress of change surely played a factor. The congregation had spent ten years worshiping in a cozy multi-purpose room. The new building was terrific, but represented big change that the congregation was perhaps ill-equipped to deal with. Adding to the stress: St. Andrew’s had completed a three-year capital campaign and was still five million dollars in debt.

When we arrived in September, the church was in financial crisis with talk of schism in the air. Among the casualties was the congregation’s well-respected music leader. By all accounts, the music ministry was among the congregation’s strongest strengths. Now the director had been terminated, and much of the choir left with him. Bruce can’t read a note of music or sing a lick, but he has been playing in combos since he was 15 years old. Bruce took hold of the music program. Instead of hiring a new full-time director, we pieced together a band of session players. A faithful member who teaches in the public schools kept the vocal program afloat.

St. Andrew’s worship schedule included a small traditional service and two contemporary services. We very intentionally moved the congregation toward a blended model. There was a memorable moment when the contemporary worship leader turned up her nose at Holy, Holy, Holy:  Why would we want to sing a song no one has heard of? But if St. Andrew’s was going to be a United Methodist Church, people need to know Holy, Holy, Holy. On a given weekend now, we’ll blend Chris Tomlin with Shall We Gather At The River and maybe an old rock and roll song that fits the sermon. It works for us.

Much of the staff had left. Nancy took the lead in re-staffing. In the language of Good to Great, we had an opportunity to decide who was going to be invited on to the bus and where they were going to sit. The Reverends Davis and Davis are kind of old for a congregation like St. Andrew’s, but we compensated by hiring young. Five years ago, this staff was populated by Baby Boomers; today, it’s dominated by 30-somethings. When we did hire a full time music director, we went for a gifted young man right out of college, someone we could teach. Our sole-remaining baby boomer is an excellent Christian Ed. leader. We expanded her role from part time to full time and turned her loose on the development of small group ministries. The results have been outstanding.

When we arrived at St. Andrew’s, ministry to youth was led by an associate pastor–one task among several in his portfolio. When he itinerated, we offered the job to a congregant who brought an excellent counseling resume from Boys and Girls Town. We were particularly interested in his skills at working with at-risk youth and their families. Bob (no relation) Davis had not worked with a church before, but Nancy would mentor him through the maze of congregational life.  Jesus taught:  Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and these other things will be given to you as well. People began hearing about this dedicated youth worker, giving his heart to young people and their parents; the program started growing—and has now multiplied several times over.

It was a matter of urgency to get the financial house in order. Our first communication from our predecessor, while we were still in Springfield, Missouri, consisted of this advice:  You need to immediately organize a debt reduction campaign. While Nancy was dealing with staff issues, Bruce went to work on a campaign. Within months, we had a strategy mapped out. People responded magnificently.

God is very good to St. Andrew’s Church. We are a multi-generational congregation that baptized 73 children last year. The Reverends Davis and Davis operate as organizational Mom and Dad. We divide the work among our respective gifts and graces. Nancy takes the lead in the pastoral care, starting with the staff. She is teacher-in-chief. Bruce does the “big picture” work of visioning, and gives financial oversight. We both preach, more or less on an every-other-week basis. We’re not lectionary people. We’re not entirely sure what “relevant” means, but we believe strongly in preaching to the hopes and hurts of the souls the Lord has brought into the sanctuary.

We think of ourselves as theological centrists. To borrow a line from the Monkees:  We’re too busy singing (and praying and serving) to put anybody down. We close every service with this song, lyrics adapted by Bruce:

I’m gonna live, laugh, love God with all my heart

Christ’s in control of my eternal soul, I shall not want

Let others fret, fuss and fear, I’ll steer clear

And put my trust in grace above

I’m gonna live, I’m gonna laugh, I’m gonna love

I’m gonna live, I’m gonna laugh, I’m gonna love, GOD!

I’m gonna live, I’m gonna laugh, I’m gonna love!

Rev. Bruce Davis: bdavis@standrewsomaha.net

Rev. Nancy Davis: ndavis@standrewsomaha.net

Church website: www.standrewsomaha.net