UPON THIS ROCK: CHURCHES SEEK PERMANET HOMES

The Rev. Ken Holt moved sound equipment into the Osage Community Sentre before worship service at Cape Family Church. The fledgling congregation began meeting at the center about three weeks ago.

Leaders of Cape Family Church must set up befor every service at the Osage Community Centre. The church holds worship service in a meeting room at the center.

Three Cape Girardeau churches are missing some of the traditional icons of worship: a building, pews and hymnals. But they aren't lacking worshipers.

Despite the lack of buildings, the congregations continue to meet weekly. They have found other places -- from hotel meeting rooms to hospitals -- suitable for holding services.

Many times such fledgling congregations are founded from small, group Bible studies or neighborhood prayer meetings.

"We are just trying to get off the ground," said Art Hunt, pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church, which holds services in the health and education department of St. Francis Medical Center. "We are in a temporary facility until the day comes when we have something more permanent," said Hunt.

Christ Presbyterian, which has been meeting in Cape Girardeau for six years, already owns eight acres of land on Lexington Avenue. The church is beginning a stewardship campaign to raise money for construction on a building.

Churches need buildings to be visible in a community; otherwise they "are largely invisible on Sunday," Hunt said.

A building conveys permanence, he said. "The building is not the church, but it can help or hinder the growth of a church."

When Ken and Jan Holt moved to town they didn't have a congregation, but they had a place to meet for worship. Ken Holt is pastor of Cape Family Church that meets Sunday mornings at Osage Community Centre.

There isn't a formula for building a church congregation, he said. He simply wants to teach people what the Bible says about building strong families and following Jesus Christ.

"The Bible has a tremendous amount to say about how to raise a successful family," he said.

Cape Family Church wants to focus on ministering to families, so it has a curriculum already in place for youths, said Jan Holt, the pastor's wife.

"We believe if you get hold of children when they are young they can be effective adults," she said. "They are a major part of our ministry."

The Holts spent the past five years working with Canton Christian Church in Canton, Ohio. The Canton congregation grew from none to 1,700 members during that five years.

In its three weeks of existence, about 10 people each week have attend Sunday morning worship services at Cape Family Church. Ken Holt hopes to find a permanent place soon.

Some attend because they are curious and others because they are searching for something more in life, Holt said.

Just as it takes a risk to start a mission church, "it takes a lot of nerve to come," he said.

Cape Family Church doesn't want to take members from other congregations, the Holts said. "There are so many personalities, and everybody is going to have different tastes," Ken Holt said.

His wife said: "We aren't stealing people away. We want them to hook into a local church."

New Plymouth Community Church also wants to reach people who don't attend church. It meets Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights in the Lincoln Room at Drury Lodge.

"We are probably the only church in town that has a bar and game room," its pastor, Fred Poston, said jokingly.

But the church's setting has been beneficial. It is easily accessible, provides plenty of parking space and offers affordable rent.

"People can find you, and it's available on weekends," Poston said. "But there are pros and cons. It would disturb the more traditionally minded, and for others it would draw them in."

The church has no immediate plans to purchase land but is thinking about getting its own rental property.