Tailoring Church to the Churchgoer

Over the door inside Pastor Chuck’s office hangs a huge sign: “Ask Me About What Makes a Wow! Church.”

Behind a desk, decked out in polo shirt and khakis, sits Pastor Chuck, a.k.a. the Rev. Charles W. Laird, spiritual leader of the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Paula.

This is not, to paraphrase the car commercial, your father’s Presbyterian minister.

Looking and sounding like a cross between Mr. Rogers and a marketing consultant, Laird begins to talk about Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers, empowerment and marketing strategies. He doesn’t preach sermons, he says; rather, he shares a message.

“Today, we need to find out what are good times for people to come to church and design our ministries around it,” Laird said. “There’s a need for this style of ministry--there’s a new approach to church all around the country.”

Laird is not a maverick so much as he is the embodiment of this new kind of minister--one more democratic and more accommodating, for changing times.

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“Chuck is bringing us into the 21st century,” said John Davis, 71, of Ventura, who with his wife commutes to the Santa Paula Presbyterian Church for the 9:30 a.m. traditional service on Sundays in the sanctuary.

The Davises leave the 11 a.m. contemporary service, led by Dwyndle Rogers, to what tends to be a younger crowd that is more likely to sing along to an Amy Grant song and step out for a cup of French roast coffee at intermission. It’s a service where one could wear either cutoffs or a suit.

“These days, we have small groups,” Davis said. “A positive attitude. More activities. The Bible Club on Wednesday night really brings in the kids, which is hard to do in Santa Paula.

“I’ve been in marketing all my life,” Davis said. “You learn you’ve got to have new business. Chuck is a church builder.”

Not all old-time members are enamored with Laird’s new style of “feel-good” leadership, but his biggest fan is the church’s longest-serving pastor, the Rev. Tom Bousman. Bousman, now retired, served as assistant minister and pastor at Santa Paula Presbyterian for 41 years, until 1994.

“Chuck is gifted. It’s obvious he’s part of this new wave of remembering that the church needs to change,” Bousman said. “What he does, is present a changeless Christ to a changing world. It’s the approach that he’s reforming, and he has my enthusiastic support.”

Denominational churches in general have been losing membership in recent years, while nondenominational churches are growing, Davis said.

“I think Chuck is taking a few pages from their book,” he said. “I said, ‘Why a coffee hour? . . . Why a contemporary service? . . . Why meet at those round tables in the fellowship hall instead of the sanctuary?’

“He told me, ‘Because youngsters don’t like the formal sanctuary setting as much.’ ”

It’s those “youngsters”--the 25- to 50-year-old parents with kids--that Laird has his eye on. And Laird, 42, an ex-sports reporter, ex-music teacher and piano tuner who is married with four of his own children, seems to have what they like, including a great sound system with multiple microphones, a computerized soundboard and a couple of monstrous speakers.

“We don’t go through the motions here--this is fun,” Laird said as he turned on the sound system in the fellowship hall, then turned to the keyboard and waded into one of the many songs he has written, this one titled, “Who Do You Think You Are?”

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The lyrics turn out to be direct quotes from Jesus: “You are the salt of the Earth. . . . You are the light of the world. . . . That’s the truth that will set you free.”

“I don’t want to control people, but trust them, empower them,” Laird said. “I want them to leave church feeling better than when they arrived.”

Here in this casual, open hall is where he leads the new Wednesday night Bible Club, which features free 5:30 p.m. dinners popular with parents who come from work and bring the kids. After dinner, they break up into small Bible Club groups at the round-tables.

“I lead a Christian theology class, which is basic talk about, ‘What do you believe?’ ” Laird said. “No issue is untouchable.”

“We Presbyterians agree to disagree, you know,” Laird said. “We talk common Christian sense. Church doesn’t need to be as difficult as we make it. We don’t criticize unchurched people, for instance. I personally have a problem with elevating one sin over another--I’m pastor of everyone.”

His ultimate goal? A life resource center at the church, one that would “make it a whole living place, where we learn the skills of effective Christian living.”