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By Melissa Lauber
UMConnection Staff

Small churches don’t have to do small ministries. At Douglas UMC, just six years ago, the building was in grave disrepair and the 19 members could barely keep the doors open. Today, after creating a number of partnerships, including an innovative, new Ecumenical Cooperative Parish, the church is still small, with 50 in worship, but it’s thriving in mission and ministry.

On Sundays, the church is brimming with activity and people from a variety of faith traditions, it hosts a community preschool on weekdays, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has made it a Women’s Veterans Resource Center, youth mission groups visiting and working in Washington set up their headquarters in the church’s new 50-bed bunk room, and local businesses are investing in making the church a vibrant presence in the community.

At the center of it all is the Rev. Helen Fleming, who believes in the spirit of entrepreneurship and claiming opportunities in the name of Jesus.

When Fleming arrived at Douglas, she quickly realized that the predominantly black congregation now sat in the middle of the increasingly multi-ethnic Atlas neighborhood. With no parking, she would have to draw new members from the community. In addition, statistics showed that in recent years, Ward 6 in D.C. had seen growth of more than 13 percent. “The opportunities were there,” Fleming said.

At this same time, the Rev. Kevin Lum, a pastor of an independent church, was looking for a city in which to start a church. He thought he’d prefer a warmer climate, but when he and his wife came to D.C. they knew they were where God was calling them to be. He wrote letters to area churches introducing himself and telling them about his vision.

Fleming was the first to respond and a partnership emerged.

The Table Church, Lum’s new congregation, describes itself as fun, thought-provoking, challenging and socially engaged. Worship is a creative mix of old and new, pulling from elements of historic faith practices, while still remaining casual and accessible. The congregation also operates a Fresh Stop ministry, a farm share program which provides fresh, locally grown food on a sliding scale to the congregation and community.

Fleming met with Lum and instead of signing formal contracts, the pair entered into a Covenant of Shared Ministry. The Table Church pays 30 percent of its offering into the parish ministry. Leaders from each of the congregations oversee the building and its outreach.

Each church also works hard at transforming the building, which just a few years ago was in grave disrepair.

When Fleming was sent to Douglas, the church had recently undergone a major split. “The building looked like it had been abandoned,” she said. “But I saw hope in the eyes of the 19 members who remained.”

The congregation voted to sell the church parsonage to fix the leaky roof and make other renovations. In a spirit of shared ministry, they gave $20,000 of that money to neighboring churches.

 In a continuing search for partnerships, Fleming was able to secure a $14,000 grant from Home Depot and 60 to 70 people who converged at the church to put down laminated flooring, renovate the bathrooms and improve the church yard.

In addition, Fleming has had Volunteers in Mission teams working at the church and she signed up with the court and offenders services to enable people to perform their court-ordered community service at the church. One person from that program was a contractor with an immense knowledge base who had 1,000 hours to work off. “He is an absolute God-send,” Fleming said. “He can fix anything.”

While the two congregations are meeting in the same building and doing outreach together, there has been a small learning curve and Fleming and Lum have led some informal racial reconciliation sessions. “Some of our white sisters are very open and straight forward. They know how to take charge,” Fleming said. “I helped them to see that they have to be more personable and friendly, and I helped our black members to stop being so sensitive. We are learning that we are all the body of Christ, coming together to build the Kingdom of God.”

One of their landmark ministries is their outreach to women veterans and the training and resources they provide to these women. The program has been so successful that it has received recognition from the White House.

There’s always something more that we can be doing here, Fleming said. In Judges 6-8 is the story of Gideon, a man who accomplished things against such incredible odds, that people have to understand that God is in charge, that God is acting. “We’re a Gideon church” said Fleming. “All of this is God at work through us.”