CAPE CORAL — How does a church go from declining to ministering…from losing people to winning families for Christ? According to Jorge Acevedo, pastor of Grace United Methodist Church here, the answer is addition: adding new services and ministries that add new people and resources.

“I believe in change by addition,” Acevedo said. “We’ve added new stuff without taking anything away. It’s not as painful that way.”

What the church added is a new contemporary worship service and Grace Kids, a children’s worship experience, which he described as “the best of vacation Bible school, children’s church and Sunday service.” What is still being offered are two traditional services many in the congregation enjoy.

The results are 180 new members, more than half of whom are new Christians or have been away from church more than 10 years; a new Stephen’s Ministry, a program that enables laity to provide pastoral care and now involves 35 members of the congregation; Pets Are Working Saints (PAWS) ministry in which members take pets to nursing homes; and increased attendance in all three worship services, the church’s youth group and weekly small groups.

“The overall ministry of the church has exploded,” Acevedo said. “There is not an area of the church the enthusiasm has not impacted.”

When he was appointed to the church in September 1996 it was in “transition downward.”

“When I first came to this church, attendance was declining and the church was in serious financial straits,” he said.

A corps of church members who had attended the Walks to Emmaus or Promise Keepers and enjoyed the more energetic style of worship suggested starting a contemporary service. Acevedo said they found a music and worship pastor who had the skills needed for the new service through a Christian internet site.

Since the new service began September 1997, average attendance has grown from 150 people to around 400. Acevedo says it’s because members are inviting their friends.

“The service reaches out in the sense that it’s the kind of service people feel comfortable bringing their friends to,” he said. “We didn’t put up any big signs — no billboards, no mass marketing. Our people bring their friends to church.”

Acevedo said the contemporary worship alone is not enough to bring people into the church, however. “If the parents have a good experience in worship, and the children don’t have a matching experience,” he said, “they’re not coming back.”

The children’s worship experience begins with 15 minutes of high-energy, kid-oriented worship, followed by a 10- to 15-minute puppet presentation or drama. The children then share their concerns and pray together in adult-led Shepherding Groups.

While things are changing and improving within the church, Acevedo said he is seeing things improve in the community, too: “We are seeing marriages put back together and families getting along with each other again.”

(Operation Evangelization is a conference-wide initiative led by Florida Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson. It’s goal is to have 400,000 disciples in the Florida conference by May 2000. This story is one example of a church whose worship is bringing community residents into the life of the church.)