Black, white churches forge new bonds, march as one
Members of two Accomack County churches from different cultural backgrounds celebrated a new relationship by marching together in Accomac's Fourth of July parade.
"We are doing something called a cooperative parish — it's not a new idea, but it's new for the Virginia Conference (of the United Methodist Church)," said the Rev. William Greer, who pastors both Drummondtown United Methodist Church in Accomac and Metropolitan United Methodist Church in the Bayside neighborhood outside Onancock.
Drummondtown's congregation is predominantly white and Metropolitan's is predominantly black, with the accompanying differences in history, traditions and worship style.
It was a year ago that the two churches were put together into a parish, with Greer appointed as pastor.
"Last year, when we started this, we were one of, I think, three cooperative parishes in the conference. As of July 1 this year, we will be adding another twelve, because it seems to be working," said Greer.
As the religious landscape in the United States changes, denominations including the United Methodist Church are working to find innovative ways — like cooperative parishes — to help smaller congregations keep functioning.
"Broadly defined, it's basically a group of churches in shared ministry," Greer said, adding, "The churches tend to work out what that shared ministry is."
In the case of the two flocks he pastors, they share resources — "specifically, me," Greer said.
But because of the cross-cultural aspect of the Accomack Cooperative Parish, the congregations also intentionally look for chances to share ministries, he said.
The congregations worship together every fifth Sunday, alternating between the two church buildings. They also held joint worship services for Maundy Thursday and Ash Wednesday as well as a joint Easter sunrise service this year.
They also are collecting toiletries together to donate to local group home residents and they advertise each others' ministries in their church bulletins.
"It seems like common sense, but it's a big deal," Greer said.
The new relationship came about after both churches in late 2015 were starting to go through a process to evaluate how they could continue to be vital in the future.
District Superintendent Alex Joyner came up with the idea of linking the two as a cooperative parish — and he began talks with each congregation.
"After they got over the shock of the idea, this cross-cultural setup, they warmed to it — at least were willing to give it a shot," Greer said.
He started as pastor of the churches on July 1, 2015.
"We didn't plan it this way, but it's going to turn out that marching in the parade is sort of our celebration of a one-year anniversary," Greer said.
At that first joint service in July 2015, held at Metropolitan United Methodist Church, many of the Drummondtown members appeared a bit tentative as they entered the unfamiliar sanctuary.
"And then they started seeing people that they knew and saying, 'I know you; I see you down at the store all the time,'" Greer said, adding, "They like each other."
Just what the cooperative parish concept looks like in reality is a process that continues to be worked out day by day.
"But it's working," said Greer, adding, "The last joint worship we had at the end of May, I got so many comments about how they almost wish they could worship together weekly — I mean, nobody wants to give up their church, but they really enjoy the joint services."
Marching together in the town of Accomac's non-motorized Fourth of July parade was a fitting choice for another activity to do together.
The parade — a long-running, homespun tradition that one onlooker said is reminiscent of Norman Rockwell's America — in addition to marking the parish's one-year anniversary was one of Greer's first experiences of the Eastern Shore of Virginia after he moved to the region last summer.
"This is really the one thing they have been most excited about since we got started," he said.
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