Salt Lake City First is on the Intermountain district (USA).

Salt Lake City —Ask the congregants of the First Church of the Nazarene and they'll tell you that even in a city that takes religion seriously, it has taken more than prayers to keep their sanctuary doors open for the past 100 years.

This healthy 250-member congregation has faced a series of challenges during its century in the Salt Lake Valley. “Churches don't always make it to 100,” says the Rev. Tim Brewer, pastor. “This one almost didn't.”

In 1903, the Nazarenes operated their first mission out of a storefront at 251 S. State St., where a handful of members carried out the Nazarene message of God's love. “It offered no merchandise, no special sale prices, no premiums or discounts, only a simple message of rescue,” according to a church pamphlet.

From there the Nazarenes, led by the Rev. I. G. Martin, grew into a small flock that moved to three different locations in town as their numbers changed with the times.

At one particular low point, the local board of the church started proceedings to close the church in 1953. “It could have been the end of the Nazarenes in the Salt Lake Valley, Brewer says, but one local church official wasn't about to let that happen.” “Melvin Laws, a graduate student at the University (of Utah ) stepped in as pastor with no salary. And he kept it alive.”

It took more than brick and mortar to maintain a group of people interested in a minority religion in Utah, members say. “To keep a church around for 100 years is like turning around the Titanic,” says Les Jester, who with his wife Rudy, has been with the church for more than 30 years. “You have to do it slowly.”

When the couple began attending, Jester says, “We were a white, middle-class church” that lacked a strong social life because its members were spread so thin.

That changed in 1988 when the church began developing family, youth and children's ministries that have brought many more people through the door.

“We live in a day and age where people look to a church the way they look at a mall,” says Brewer, who took over in 1995. “They want a one-store religious shop, where they can worship on Sunday, where their children can begin their religious formation during the week, a place to socialize and a place to organize community work,” Brewer says. Now the church needs two Sunday services to accommodate its membership. In fact, one of its services provides French translation for a growing number of African refugees who have started attending in the last decade, Brewer says. “We're a church that tries to meet the needs of the poor and one that has welcomed refugee families.” Such families, and the arrival of more people from various backgrounds, have fueled the church's growth.

Catering to the needs of younger generations and different worshipping styles also has been key to staying relevant, Brewer says.

28-year-old Seth Jenkins, the church's worship pastor says, “We try blended styles of worship." Jenkins says. “We can play more than just piano and organ.” That has helped refugee families and younger generations feel more comfortable at church. The services are so packed that the Sugar House church building is for sale and members are looking for larger facilities, Brewer said.

“We have people who will mourn the last Sunday in the building,” Brewer says. “But we are the temple of the Holy Spirit of God. We don't want to forsake our past,” he says. “It's who we are. But we also want to look at our future.”

--NCN News