When Pastor Sonya Williams-Giersch began serving the Gravel Springs parish near Winchester, Va., she talked to members of her two new congregations to find out about the community.
“I was told there were a lot of people in the area who are unchurched,” she said.
Pastor Sonya Williams-Giersch in the sanctuary of St. John’s, Winchester
What Pastor Williams-Giersch found wasn’t all that surprising. Pew Research Center found in 2013 “roughly three-in-ten U.S. adults (29%) said they seldom or never attend worship services.”
The conversations about the absence of their neighbors on Sunday mornings sparked something in the two congregations. With the arrival of a new pastor, Gravel Springs Lutheran church in Star Tannery and St. John’s Lutheran Church in Winchester wanted to try something different.
Pastor Williams-Giersch threw out the idea of having a more contemporary worship on Saturday nights over coffee. Members ran with the idea and stepped forward to make it happen.
On the 3rd Saturday of every month St. John’s Lutheran Church now hosts “Mocha and a Message.”
“The whole intent of setting it up was to show that we are not just ambassadors on Sunday mornings. We should be ambassadors 24/7,” Pastor Williams-Giersch said.
People gather in the fellowship hall where the atmosphere is intentionally casual with people getting up throughout their evening to fill up their coffee cup or get another homemade cookie.
“For those people who are maybe afraid to walk into a sanctuary for the first time, they may feel more comfortable coming into a setting that’s a little more informal,” Pastor Williams-Giersch said.
Members of St. John’s and Gravel Springs bring the dessert and Pastor Williams-Giersch brings the message.
For worship, the words are shown on a large TV at the front of the room. The music that is played includes songs that can be heard on popular Christian radio stations.
“A lot of the songs we do are songs that Dave Delaney does with the kids at the Synod wide Youth events.”
The dedicated musician that takes time one Saturday night each month is none other than Richard Giersch, Pastor Williams-Giersch’s husband.
One Saturday a month St. John’s in Winchester hosts “Mocha and a Message”
“We are a team package,” she said. “He helps me out with music during regular worship. I would honestly struggle if I didn’t have him.”
She even bragged that her husband can learn songs just by listening to them. She fondly recalled a time during Mocha and a Message when a child came up and asked if they could all sing, “God is bigger than the Boogie Man”, a song from the Veggie Tales, a Christian animated television show.
After the child sang the song a couple times through, Richard had it down and the kids and the adults were all singing together.
A free will offering is also collected each month at Mocha and a Message, Pastor Williams-Giersch said.
“We wanted to not only be welcoming, but also expand out handprint in our community. The money goes directly back into our community to someone in need, regardless if that person goes to our church or not.”
Mocha and a Message has brought in new faces to the Gravel Springs parish. Several new members were introduced to the churches through the Saturday service. Some people who come out to Mocha and a Message already have their own church but they come on Saturdays to worship in a different way.
The actual church services that Pastor Williams-Giersch does on Sunday mornings are still pretty traditional.
“I love the traditional service, but I also love contemporary, this way we get the best of both worlds,” she said. “We have fun together, we laugh together. It’s a little different way of sharing Christ.”
