NATION Tourist churches learn to just go with the flow

Summer is a peak time for some churches.
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
In vacation spots and resort towns around the United States, houses of worship are gearing up for the tourist season.
Some, such as Boston's Old North Church (immortalized in Paul Revere's ride), are tourist destinations themselves. Others, such as Idlewild Community Church in Eagle Nest, N.M., are small but beloved churches open only a few months, specifically for summer residents.
For churches playing host during the tourist season, the influx of visitors makes life interesting.
"You feel a little like a kid in a candy store," said Sandra Serrano of Island Presbyterian Church on Padre Island, which sees a surge of worshippers in the winter. "You never know who's going to walk in the door."
Tourist churches must welcome visitors while meeting the day-to-day needs of the regular congregation. Preachers must prepare sermons not knowing who's coming, or what they want to hear. Services must be designed to make people from a variety of traditions comfortable. And finances -- a challenge for any congregation -- open a whole new can of worms.
A special calling
Despite the challenges, many tourist churches feel a special calling.
"We see ourselves not so much as a church but as a mission outpost. During the summer, the world comes to us," said the Rev. Tom Letts, pastor of Community Protestant Church in West Yellowstone, Mont. The small church's year-round congregation of about 125 more than doubles in the summer.
"It's a joy to share the church every year with 600,000 people we don't really know," said Timothy Matthews, interim administrator of Old North Church in Boston. The Episcopalian church, with an active congregation of about 150, is famous as the place where two lanterns were hung to signal to Paul Revere ("one if by land, two if by sea") that the British were coming.
During the high season, worship at tourist churches is usually kept simple. Ministers learn to go with the flow.
"We never know if we're going to have 10 worshippers or 300," said Jo Rainey, wedding coordinator at Thorncrown Chapel. "We may have a tour bus pull up with 50-60 people. Or we may not."
Despite its striking architecture, Thorncrown exists solely as a tourist spot; there's no "home" congregation. Tourists vacationing in the Ozarks or passing through en route to nearby Branson, Mo., come by to worship or just have a look around.
Service in nature
Idlewild, by contrast, is a rustic chapel in the woods where summer residents in the Taos area have worshipped since 1932. Weather permitting, chairs are set up outside.
"If you don't feel God's presence there under the pine trees, I don't know where you would," said Barbara McLemore, a retiree from Lela, Texas, who summers in the area.
The pulpit is manned by visiting ministers, each of whom gets a week's free boarding in a cabin in exchange for a weekend sermon. That's a great bargain, according to the Rev. Roy Harrell, a retired Baptist minister from Dallas who's headed to Idlewild this summer.
"You can pull out your 'Sugar Stick' -- a tried and true sermon," Harrell said, so preparation efforts are minimal. With no committee meetings or Bible studies to attend, the visiting minister can spend the bulk of the week relaxing.
Fund-raising challenges
Churches in tourist areas face peculiar fund-raising challenges. Enlisting contributions from seasonal members must be handled carefully so those members' "home churches" aren't threatened. Many vacation churches try to stay in touch with summer members who live somewhere else most of the year. To help maintain ties, West Yellowstone budgets travel money in case the pastor needs to visit a devoted summer member facing a crisis at home during the off-season.
Balancing the weekly routines of tourists and regular congregants also can be tricky. Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I., the oldest standing synagogue in the United States, closes to outsiders on Saturdays -- obviously, a day when lots of tourists might drop by -- so the congregation may worship. Old North Church must turn away tourists when there's a funeral or other special service.
Travelers may be tempted to take a vacation from weekly worship while on the road, but those who do make the effort to find a church say they're often rewarded in surprising ways.
"It's an opportunity to connect with the broader church, to meet people from a variety of walks of life who share this common faith bond," said Amy S. Eckert, co-author of "The Christian Traveler's Companion: The USA and Canada."