Hilda Pecoraro¹s Insights on Church Growth
By David Bogosian

What drew me to attend Rev. Hilda (Shahinian) Pecoraro's seminar on church growth at the convention? Well, if I must be honest, it wasn't the subject; it was my desire to renew an old acquaintanceship that stretched back perhaps 25 years to Sunday school and family camps. But the presentation surprised me by its relevance and practicality, and I feel its substance deserves to be shared with the wider community of the AEUNA.

Hilda is senior pastor of Green Valley Presbyterian Church (PC-USA) in Henderson, Nevada, which she has pastored for the past 13 years. During her tenure, the church has experienced a steady growth from about 70 individuals to its current membership which exceeds 600. To some extent, this can be attributed to the rapid population growth being experienced in that part of the country. However, it is also clear that her focus on welcoming new people and integrating them into the community can take much of the credit.

Here are some of the key issues that she enumerated.

- Is your church willing to grow? The church must truly want to grow and be willing to endure the discomfort of relating to new people, as well as the changes that inevitably accompany growth. If there isn't such a willingness at the foundational level, no growth campaign will ever succeed.

- Has your church made its presence known to the community? Simple, mundane ways of telling the community that you exist must not be overlooked. Ads or announcements in local newspapers, listings in the Yellow Pages, a sign in front of the building that announces times for worship, these are all ways of telling outsiders that you want them to come in.

- How friendly is your church facility to newcomers? Simple signs can help direct visitors to the key locations on campus. Apparently the two most often-searched for parts of the church complex are (a) the nursery, and (b) the women¹s restroom. How easily would someone at your church for the first time locate these?

- Is there any follow-up? This is essential if the first-time Visitor is to be coaxed into returning for a second visit. There must be a definite and deliberate follow-up plan that could involve several components: mailings, phone calls, personal visits, invitations to small groups, etc. The important thing is that the follow-up process be planned and implemented deliberately by the church rather than being left to chance or the good intentions of individuals.

- Do church members reach out consistently to visitors? The integration of new people into the community must be facilitated through the intentional efforts of those who are already there. One way to facilitate this is through the "two minute rule": all parishioners are asked to spend the first two minutes following the conclusion of each Sunday service in conversation with someone they don't know or haven¹t met. Afterwards, they can go to their circles of familiarity, but at least for that short period, they are obliged to make personal contact with newcomers.

- Is there a path for new people to become involved in the church? Beyond merely welcoming and greeting visitors, there must be opportunities for them to begin serving and taking part in the life of the church soon after their arrival. Here's an example: all new members are invited to a brunch two or three months after being received as members, at which time they have the opportunity to comment on their experiences to date and make constructive comments on the church's ministry.

Let me also cite a true anecdote from another, non-Armenian church (let¹s call it St. Mark's). One of the church leaders surveyed the twelve-member vestry (the church¹s governing board) and asked them to recall from their past one positive and one negative experience of being a newcomer. For all twelve of these church leaders, the negative example was their first time at St. Mark's! Which illustrates that the problem of church growth is not limited to any particular ethnic or denominational group.

But there is one thing this church has done that is healthy and indicative of their willingness to grow: they formed a special ministry to newcomers and began that ministry by asking parishioners to share their particular stories of their experiences when they first came to St. Mark's. Healthy self-examination is a key component to growth (here used in its qualitative rather than quantitative sense). How many of our churches would have the courage to face the answers we would receive were such a query made of our own congregations?

It's true that our ethnic focus limits the scope of our church growth efforts, but even within our target demographic group, what efforts at growth are we making? One interesting item gleaned from the statistical report presented by Rev. Karl Avakian at the convention business meeting: since 1992, the total number of communicant members in AEUNA churches has remained essentially constant (4000 then, 4030 now), as has the total number attending service on an average Sunday (2830 then, 2790 now), in spite of the fact that one new church has been added to the union during that time. To quote from Rev. Avakian's report, ŒThough the AEUNA churches have not shrunk in numbers,.., the lack of growth... should be a matter of serious concern."

And even if some of the tactics and strategies adopted by non-Armenian churches may not work among our people, surely there must be some that will, or that at the very least can be adapted to our peculiar context. It all begins with the church making a deliberate decision to want to grow and formulating a strategy for achieving that goal. May God grant us all the vision to see church growth as a reality within the AEUNA over the next decade.

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