Church atop gas station pumps people up in more ways than one
Jan. 28, 2004
The first in a yearlong series of stories about United Methodist congregations in unusual places.
A UMNS Feature By Pat Rogers*
WASHINGTON
- When it comes to raising money, churches usually stick to the old
standards - bake sales, raffles and Sunday offerings.
But the Arlington (Va.) Temple United Methodist Church is hardly standard issue when it comes to raising money.
The
small congregation, just across the Potomac River from Washington, is
gas powered: It's built right on top of a Chevron station.
"Most
people are surprised. A lot of people, even Rosslyn people, say, 'Gosh,
I didn't even know there was a church there,'" says the Rev. Jean
McDonald Walker, pastor. The church is in the center of Rosslyn, a
largely commercial area in Arlington.
"If you tell someone who doesn't live here … about the gas station, they say, 'That must be a very strange church,'" she says.
The Rev. Jean McDonald Walter says the church feels it's the "light of the community."
The
Rev. Jean McDonald Walter says Arlington Temple United Methodist Church
feels it's the "light of the community." Photo number W04023,
Accompanies UMNS #029, 1/28/04
As
the landlord for the gas station, the church pumps the rental income
into its coffers. The money helps keep the urban congregation of about
250 members going. When a 2002 blizzard destroyed the church roof, the
gas money helped pay for a replacement.
The
combination gas station-church has been in the center of Rosslyn for 31
years. The Rev. James Robertson established the church on land donated
40 years ago by a lumberyard owner, and the first worship services were
held in the carpenter's shop.
"Dr.
Robertson had a real passion for urban ministry," McDonald Walker says.
"He just had a call to plant a church where there were offices and
hotels in commercial areas to be a presence of Christ in such an area."
Robertson
also knew that property in commercial areas such as Rosslyn, with its
gleaming skyscrapers filled with office workers, was expensive. His
solution: build a house of worship on top of a house of commerce.
"He
said if we have a gas station underneath the church, the church will
never be at a loss for funds. They'll always have some income, even if
there aren't many members," McDonald Walker says.
Eva
Robertson, widow of the founder of Arlington Temple United Methodist
Church, still attends every Sunday even though there are congregations
closer to her home.
Eva
Robertson, widow of the founder of Arlington Temple United Methodist
Church, still attends every Sunday even though there are congregations
closer to her home. Photo number W04022, Accompanies UMNS #029, 1/28/04
Church
members can fill up at the pumps and get their spiritual fill at the
same place - a handy combination in the hyper-busy suburbs of
Washington.
"At
first I noticed it was a Methodist church, and I'm Methodist," says
23-year-old Katie Varner as she tops off her tank on a Sunday morning.
"So I thought there's a church nearby if I ever want to go," she says.
The
church is surrounded on all sides by businesses, including a Gold's Gym
and a Hilton Hotel. The church serves as a ministry in the marketplace,
according to McDonald Walker.
"We
do feel like an outpost. We feel like we're a light to the community.
We pray for the community, and we pray for the offices and all the
people who work for them," she says.
Some
of the 45,000 office workers who pour into Rosslyn daily have been
thankful for the church's presence at times when they needed comfort and
counsel that could not be found in the workplace.
"Sometimes
a person who has not ever been here for church, or maybe doesn't have a
church at all, will come through the front door in a crisis situation,"
McDonald Walker says. "They've come out of their office and they can't
deal with it in their office, so they'll come over to the church to get
some counsel."
Despite
the odd mix of fuel and faith, Robertson's widow says her husband's
focus was always on the church and its parishioners. The gas station was
just a way to make his urban ministry possible.
"If
you look down, you see a gas station, but if you look up, you see the
spire, the cross and the beautiful sky," Eva Robertson says.
Robertson
still attends service here every Sunday, even though other United
Methodist churches are closer to her Alexandria, Va., home. While the
neighborhood has changed over the years, the church's mission has
remained the same, she says. "The church is still here, and people will
never know the good it's done in this community."
*Rogers is a writer and producer based in Washington.