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By KIM MULFORD
Courier-Post Staff
Eight years ago, Scott Crews visited a church that held its Sunday services in the auditorium of Eastern Regional High School.
There were no stained glass windows, no pipe organ, no pews - nothing that resembled the Catholic church he grew up in.
The Voorhees man went to the service only because his wife insisted on it after she heard the church's pastor speak at a mothers' group.
"I sat and listened," said Crews, a 41-year-old computer software manager. "The message hit me right between the eyes. It was the first time in my memory that I can remember actually having church really mean something."
The church was Hope United Methodist, a congregation begun in 1990 at the inspiration of its young pastor, the Rev. Jeff Bills.
Today, the roughly 500-member church occupies a modern glass-fronted structure on Cooper Road in Voorhees. The 3- year-old building is already being expanded to accommodate more classrooms and an activities center.
Hope is unusual among United Methodist congregations in the area.
During the 1990s, the denomination saw a 14 percent drop in membership in the tri-county area, from almost 40,000 to 33,000, according to a study published by the Glenmary Research Center.
Statewide, membership rolls decreased by about 16 percent.
During that same period, Hope flourished.
Two-thirds of its members never belonged to a United Methodist church before, Bills said. For that matter, the majority had either disconnected from church or had never been in church before coming to Hope.
To attract such people, Hope became creative, using mass mailings and community breakfasts, for example.
To keep them, the church developed a user-friendly service, a strong sense of community and a focus on making the Bible easy to understand.
The congregation's success with attracting "seekers" is particularly exciting, said the Rev. Dr. Ken Sloane, director of ministries for the denomination's Greater New Jersey District.
"It's a new way of looking at the church," Sloane said. " The church is not for the people who have been there forever ... Their task is to reach out to people who are not connected to the church."
On a recent Sunday, the service focused on the concept of joy.
At one point, a group of about 50 children led the crowd in a stadium-style "wave."
There was a live band with drums, guitar, piano and keyboard, and five women led the singing.
When Bills delivered his sermon, he did it without the traditional robe usually worn by United Methodist preachers.
He told his congregation Christians should be filled with joy.
"One of the criticisms of Christians is that we talk joy but we don't look like joy," Bills said. "Sometimes, we think that it is holy to be dour."
The 45-year-old pastor grew up in the Methodist church, but he didn't always want to be a preacher.
After going to college to be a marriage therapist, Bills searched for his calling.
He even worked as a prison guard before he decided to become a pastor.
After he was ordained in 1986, he worked as an associate pastor at Haddonfield United Methodist Church for six years before starting his own congregation.
Though his worship service could be labeled " contemporary," Bills doesn't like that term. The church has changed its worship style three times in the last 12 years and Bills hopes to change it again in the next five years.
Some people find comfort in tradition, but they're finding it in the wrong thing, he said.
"The message is timeless," Bills said, "and nothing else is."
People are sometimes turned off to church because it doesn't mean anything to them, Bills explained.
So he tries to make the Bible meaningful for anyone.
"What we're passionate about is the message," Bills said. "The style is incidental."
Before he started attending Hope, Crews went to church out of obligation.
He started going to Hope to hear Bills' sermons. He started to understand how the Bible applied to his life.
"Jeff has a gift and Hope in general has this knack of relevance," Crews said. "It's not just the same old book of Matthew. It's not the same old Moses story."
Vickie Crews, a 41-year-old stay-at-home mom, said the church changed her family. They have found close friends there that they can call in the middle of the night for prayer or emergencies.
They meet in each other's homes for Bible study.
"There's an inordinate amount of people in this church that would help you," said Vickie Crews. "It's love in action."
Tom and Karen Jablonsky of Voorhees were looking for a church home and found Hope about 4 1/2 years ago.
Tom was born and raised in the Catholic church. He met Karen at a non-denominational church. They were both previously divorced.
Hope had the programs they wanted and the children's ministry they needed for their four kids. They also liked the pastor. Today, they help lead a support group for people dealing with divorce.
"For people that are in need, this is a great church to come to," said Tom, a 44-year-old business executive. " There are people just like yourself in this church ... regular old folks trying to make that connection to God."
Missy Donovan of Haddonfield said she and her husband, Kevin, were looking for a church made up of people who were searching for God.
The church has made a difference in their lives, she said.
"The stuff of life is easier to deal with because we're learning to trust God," said the 39-year-old stay-at-home mom.
And their three children now love going to church, said Kevin Donovan, a 36-year-old lawyer.
"It's been an incredible change," he said. "They weren't crazy about it. It was usually a little bit of a struggle on Sunday mornings."
For many congregants, Hope is changing lives, one week at a time.
"I feel a very close connection to God," said Scott Crews, the computer software manager. "What it's done is taken an edge off me. I'm more understanding of others than I used to be. I'm more accepting of people than I used to be. I'm more open with folks.
"It's still a journey," Crews added.
"I'm constantly learning more what it means to be a Christian."
United Methodist Church
Adherents: 8.3 million members in 1999
Background: Methodism was founded in the 1700s by Amglican clergyman John Wesley. After attending a Moravian religious meeting, Wesley said his heart was "strangely warmed" when he decided to trust Christ alone for his salvation. He preached sermons and wrote hymns for other Anglicans who felt neglected by the church. In 1795, four years after Wesley's death, Methodists formerly separated from the Church of England.
History: In America, the Methodist Episcopal Church was formed in 1784 under the guidance of Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke. By the mid-1800s, Methodists had more members than any American denomination.
In 1844, the church split over slavery. It reunited in 1939 and separate-but-equal African-American districts were created. By 1974, all districts based on race had been abolished.
The United Methodist Church was formed on April 23, 1968, with the unification of the Evangelical United Brethren Church and The Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas.
Basic beliefs: Methodists accept the doctrines of historic Christianity, with emphasis on the Holy Spirit's power to transform one's personal life.
Organization: Local churches are grouped into districts and are supervised by a clergy superintendent. Districts are part of an annual conference; there are five conferences in the United States. The denomination's government resembles that of the United States, with a legislative body, executive branch and a nine-member judicial council.
Official symbol: Cross and flame represents Christ and the Holy Spirit
Official Web site: www.umc.org
Sources: www.umc.org, `Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions'
Hope United Methodist Church
Pastor: Rev. Jeff Bills
History: Hope Church held its first service Nov. 18, 1990, in the cafeteria of Signal Hill Elementary School. The church was a mission project of Haddonfield United Methodist Church, where Bills worked as an associate pastor. After worshiping for seven years at Eastern Regional High School, the church moved into its own building in 1999.
Address: 700 Cooper Road, Voorhees
Phone number: (856) 753-7355
Web site: www.meethope.org
Reach Kim Mulford at (856) 845-6521 or kmulford@ courierpostonline.com
