Where Faith Meets Business at Dayton Church

Rev. Scott Walsh and his family found themselves at a crossroads. 

The pastor had taken over a failing small church in Edison back in 1982, with a congregation of just 20 people. Since that time, the church had grown exponentially, which led the Walsh family to set their sights on expansion, and to a road that would eventually lead to South Brunswick after Edison nixed plans to renovate their former facility.

"The church just kept growing and we felt like we outgrew our space," Rev. Walsh said. "We met with Edison and asked if we could expand and they basically said please don't. So we formed a committee and said we can't grow in this building, which was only about 10,000-square feet. We said we need to sell, and that takes courage for church people. That's memories, funerals, and weddings. But they agreed that we weren't going to prosper there."

"It was perfect for us, other than the fact the grass was overgrown and it looked almost abandoned," Rev. Walsh said. "The owner of the Montessori school was cutting her own lawn. The owners weren't taking care of anything. It was in disrepair, there was standing water and holes in the building."

After selling their building in Edison to a group of Seven Day Adventists, the family began to work towards getting approval from South Brunswick Township to convert the dilapidated building into what would become the Abundant Life Christian Center, a non-demoninational and thoroughly modern church.

"It wasn't zoned for a church, it was zoned for business, so the town would lose the tax ratable," Brian said. "It was a big challenge, but they recognized that only half of the property was non-profit tax exempt and that helped tremendously. We also had good youth ministries, which was something they took into account."

As work began in 2007 on a two-year process of renovating the 30,000-square foot building on Route 130, the congregation had to make due to keep going during the transition. Still able to use their former facility on most Sundays, at times the congregation would gather outside while work was ongoing to convert a facility that took quite a bit of imagination to see as a church.

"I don't know what they had been doing here, but there were some mahcines that looked like 1950's space rockets," Rev. Walsh said. "I think there was some sort of lotion or hand cream production, but it looked like the company just left in the middle of the night. We found a homeless person here with a cot. It was hard to imagine how this office building could ever look like a church."

But the Walsh family's faith would eventually pay off, as the renovations turned the building into a gleaming modern facility. Which then created a new problem, as the church only needed about half the space the facility offered.

With the challenges of the recession not sparing churches by any means, Brian, in his role as Executive Director, began to look towards growing Abundant Life through unconventional means for a small religious institution. 

"We began to think about our assets, and purchasing assets instead of liabilities," he said. "We began to think about how we could make all of this building an asset. We had half of this 30,000-square feet that could be rented out. Other churches were depending on offerings, and with the economy contracting offerings went down. We don't know of many churches that aren't suffering since the downturn."

At that point, Brian began following a new career path in real estate. Soon the Boy Scouts and the Brogan Tennyson Group, an advertising and marketing agency, signed on and the property began to flourish.

"Other churches began calling me about it after we did that. We got some really great people in the building after we renovated the space, because we were only planning on using half of it anyway," Brian said. "The Boy Scouts are such a great fit, so we have multiple non-profits in the building, and it's a great mix here. Churches have so much down time, so in this case it's a wonderful relationship where it's good for them and we have people here all week.

"Most churches go to their congregation to support the church. But what we do frees up our money so it can be directed to better uses than keeping up the property. We have more flexibility than most other churches. We don't have to get our money our of the congregation, which was the best thing we could do."

Keeping with the modern atmosphere at Abundant Life, in his role as property manager, Brian oversaw a recently completed solar power installation project for the roof of the building, allowing Abundant Life to become the rare green church.

For the church itself, a new challenge was presented as Rev. Walsh and his wife Priscilla found themselves back where they were three decades ago, having to move into a new town to grow a congregation. Priscilla herself had converted to Christianity after meeting Rev. Walsh in college in Rochester, N.Y.

"In 1982 we had $6,000 in the bank and it was rough salary wise," Priscilla said. "But we grew in value, paid off the mortgage and the church became stable with a lot of young families."

As they moved into their shiny new South Brunswick home, the Walsh's plan involved leaning on a tried and true method to grow their congregation once again.

"It's the same as a business where you have to go out and talk to people. We went after people who stopped going to church and encouraged them to come back," Priscilla said. "We worked on improving everything we do on Sunday mornings, including more modern music. We try to make Sunday mornings more attractive, because people have time constraints they didn't have when we started doing this in 1982. But we still have a message that we believe is as true today as it was back then."

In addition to running a number of outreach groups and programs, Abundant Life also works hard to bring new people through the door for a different type of church experience than what they may imagine on a Sunday morning. A reception area and coffee station waits for guests, encouraging a social gathering place that extends passed the service hours. 

"One of the big differences we've found is that people were more churched when we started, but today we find that with many people going to church just wasn't part of their culture," Priscilla said. "For them it's a new thing. So we have a multi-cultural church that reflects this community. I think God makes gardens with different flowers and trees, so why can't the church reflect that diversity?"

With a growing congregation in South Brunswick of about 300 people, Abundant Life continues to expand their programing, including summer Bible camps, festival-like events for kids, and a growing number of groups. The church has established a youth ministry, a ministry for women, programs for young girls and boys, outreach programs for the sick and elderly, a food bank for M.C.F.O.O.D.S, a weight loss program, and much more.

"We try to help new people figure out where they fit in," said Director of Events Rose Vecchione. "People come here looking for spiritual guidance, so we want to help them take their first steps."

While everything about the Abundant Life Christian Center has a modern look and feel, Rev. Walsh said that while the means to reach people in 2013 is different than when he began, the message still remains.

"We've streamlined the Sunday services and embraced things like technology, but the message is still the same," he said. "I try to be real. I think people want to connect with you. They want to know that you struggle too. I try to tell stories that are relevant to today. The Bible, to me, is eternally relevant, so that's what I try to do is make it relevant for everyone."

The Abundant Life Christian Center is located at 2245 Route 130 in Dayton. Click here to visit their web site for more information.