A purpose in life Columbia Street church in Bangor adopts 40-day outreach program

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BANGOR – Spending 40 days doing anything can be exhausting.

Last month, after Columbia Street Baptist Church completed the 40-day faith journey outlined in Rick Warren’s best-selling book, “The Purpose Driven Life,” pastor and congregants were tired. But they also were focused on their mission and excited about the church’s future in downtown Bangor.

The Rev. Peter Sprague challenged his congregation earlier this year to bring new life to the 160-year-old church in the new year.

“That is not just a catchy phrase but a goal,” the 49-year-old pastor said in a February sermon. “Simply by talking about God’s purpose won’t change us. What will make the difference is your commitment to it.”

To help his congregation understand and make that commitment, Sprague and church leaders decided to use Warren’s 40 Days of Purpose program and book as their guides. Thousands of churches around the world and more than a dozen in Maine have done the same.

In his introduction, Warren describes the book as “a guide to a 40-day spiritual journey that will enable you to discover the answer to life’s most important question: What on earth am I here for?”

The church campaign is designed so that congregations can use the book as a vehicle to encourage and equip church leaders with strategies and tools to strengthen the church. It helps congregations focus on their missions in their communities rather than the often consuming financial and physical-space concerns.

The book is divided into 40 brief chapters, and Warren recommends that one be read each day. The book is divided into five parts:

. You were planned for God’s pleasure.

. You were formed for God’s family.

. You were created to become like Christ

. You were shaped for serving God.

. You were made for a mission.

As members of his congregation read sections of the book individually and in small groups, Sprague focused his weekly sermons on the book’s five sections.

“You are all ministers at Columbia Street Baptist Church,” he said in a February sermon on the fourth section. “You are essential to the church body and the body is essential to you. … This is a crossroad. We will look back at 2006 as a turning point in the life of this church.”

The church has been trying to reach that turning point for more than a decade.

Columbia Street Baptist was founded in May 1845 as a mission of First Baptist Church to minister to the “destitute” and “tough” waterfront area of Bangor, then known as “the largest lumber-shipping port in the world,” according to a history on the church Web site. Originally, it was named Second Baptist Church.

Two years ago, Sprague was hired as its new spiritual leader. He said that after pastoring small, independent churches in rural Maine, he wanted the structure and support offered by a denomination and a larger congregation that was able to offer more programming. American Baptist, of which Columbia Street is a member, seemed like a good match.

Church leaders also were relieved to have finally found a new minister after spending seven of the previous 10 years searching for a full-time pastor. One of the recruiting problems it faced was the fact that American Baptist pastors in Maine are the second-lowest paid in the denomination, after their counterparts in Puerto Rico.

In December 2004, the church used an evaluation tool to measure its strengths and weaknesses in eight different areas, according to Sprague. The results pointed to a need for community-oriented evangelism and holistic small group ministry. Church leaders created a plan and began looking for a program that would help it accomplish its goals. Warren’s purpose-driven program seemed like a good fit.

“Its strengths fit our weaknesses,” Sprague said. “One of our goals was outreach. We’d seen new people coming in, but we wanted to help them participate, build a church community and rally it. We felt this program would give us the shot in the arm we need to help create a sense of energy and accomplishment.”

Sprague agreed with some of Warren’s critics that what he is saying isn’t new, but that the way he says it is accessible to people struggling to find meaning and purpose in the 21st century. What Warren does so well, according to Sprague, is show people individually and as a congregation how to sharpen their focus.

“For me, personally, it strengthened some things I already was aware of but had put on the back burner,” Steve Estey, 38, of Newburgh and a church worship leader said after he’d completed the program. “It refocused me on the fact that I do have a greater purpose here.

“It was good for the church because it brought together the folks who worship there to reaffirm what our greater purpose is,” he continued. “In the routine of living, it’s easy to lose focus of what our mission is individually and as a congregation.”

John Kiehn, pastor of Caribou United Baptist Church, said recently that his congregation will undertake the 40 Days of Purpose program this fall. Kiehn, who has led the nondenominational church for two years, said many churches have found it to be an effective tool for helping people understand what it means to live in the world as a Christian and help them find a spiritual focus.

“We’ll use the book to help us take a fresh look at ourselves and ask the tough question, ‘Are we doing what God is purposing for us?'” the minister said recently.

Kiehn also said that the simplicity of Warren’s style and message, in addition to his practical suggestions, makes the book accessible for millions of people.

“He synthesizes a great, big, broad picture down to specifics about who we are as God’s people,” Kiehn said.

It’s a bit early to evaluate the impact the program has had at Columbia Street, Sprague said recently.

“That will become more obvious with time,” he said. “But it really has fueled an excitement and pulled people together. I can feel enthusiasm building, so it accomplished the goal of building community.”

The next step for the congregation, Sprague said, is to complete its visioning process that he hopes will include a way to renew Columbia Street’s original mission to minister.