Two Northern Prince George'd County Episcopal Parishes Consider Merging

At St. James Episcopal Church in Bowie, children are free to roam during services, and they often amble up to the altar and hold the priest's hand.

At St. George's Episcopal, three miles down Lanham Severn Road in Glenn Dale, the congregation is an eclectic, quirky collective of straight and gay men and women of various races.

Neither Episcopal parish in northern Prince George's County wants to sacrifice the factors that make it special. But against the backdrop of the recession, which has tightened parishioners' pockets and diminished the value of the church's national endowments, banding together has emerged as the only viable option for the survival of St. James, the smaller of the two churches with just 38 parishioners.

When that became clear to the Rev. Anne-Marie Jeffery, St. James's rector (the Episcopal equivalent of a pastor), she reached out to St. George's. Since April, the two parishes have been exploring a merger by having integrated services mostly at St. George's, which is more modern and has a following of about 70.

If the churches merge, St. James could be closed and sold. It's still too early to say what will happen, said Jeffery and the Rev. Connie Reinhardt, the rector at St. George's. They said they expect to make a decision this fall.

"The way I would like to see things play out is we stay faithful to what God is calling us to do, what the Holy Spirit is calling us to do, and be willing to do the hard work," Reinhardt said. "Then the best decision will become clear. And however it goes, we'll know we did the right thing."

For now, the priests said, they are focused on helping their parishioners learn all they can from each other and adjust to the changes that might be ahead.

On Sunday, the congregants from both parishes gathered at St. James. As strings and flutes played the recessional hymn, 20-month-old Mary Lawley wobbled from her parents' pew. In her bumblebee-yellow summer dress, with milk bottle in hand, she joined the handful of children singing around the altar. As the procession prepared to depart, Jeffery scooped up the child and bobbed her up and down all the way to the back.

Mary's parents, Katy and Ernie Lawley of Bowie, said they decided to join St. James about a year ago in part because children are allowed to participate so freely. Katy Lawley, 37, said it is one of the church's defining characteristics, which she hopes won't fall by the wayside in a merger with St. George's, where children's participation is more traditional.

At first, St. George's parishioners didn't know what to make of the wandering children.

"This is crazy," said Rich Koster, 48, of Laurel in recalling what he and others at St. George's first thought. "Then you realize, no it's not. . . . It's actually a wonderful part of the celebration."

Although both parishes consider themselves progressive, some at St. James had to get used to worshiping alongside the gay couples at St. George's.