HENRICO, Va. — Bill Korman is a high energy, let’s-get-it-done Richmond businessman and a deacon of Poplar Springs Baptist Church in Henrico, Va. He is also the driving force behind a unique outreach ministry aimed at boaters who spend their Sundays on the James River just east of Richmond.
Boaters gather for worship on Sundays during summer. (Photos courtesy of Poplar Springs Baptist Church)
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For the past two summers, he and a few other members of the church have provided worship opportunities on a floating platform they call “The Dock” which they move every Sunday morning to its designated place on the river side of the barricade at Hatcher Island.
Every Sunday about 30 boaters gather on The Dock for worship. On any given Sunday, seven or eight will be first-time visitors. Some choose to sit in their boats rather than sit on the dock. A few have become consistent attenders and have assisted in worship.
As the summer ended, church members asked for a “mock dock” service to be held on the church’s front lawn. “We wanted to give everyone a feel for what it is like to worship in the outdoors at The Dock by bringing some of the physical surroundings like the benches, umbrellas, solar lights, dock ferry, flags, etc. to the church,” said Korman.
It was my privilege to have attended this celebration and to worship with this innovative congregation on Sept. 30. But I soon began to realize that the real story is not about the “mock dock” service, but about the boating ministry itself. For that reason, I have elected to use Korman’s own words to tell the story in hopes that it will not only inform, but inspire other churches to try new things as well.
A church for boaters, and how it came to be
By Bill Korman
In 2010 the deacon-led outreach and evangelism team of Poplar Springs Baptist Church brainstormed new ideas our church might embrace to improve its witness and outreach in the community. This was in connection with a visioning process that pastor Steve Crane and the church council initiated earlier, including thinking outside the box.
Bill Korman
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As a result, we ended up doing some movie presentations, a fall festival, Monday night visitation, bulk mailouts,and exploratory trips to other churches like the Richmond Outreach Center, which has a weekly attendance of over 10,000.
Our focus was on how to reach out to folks in everyday life. People we don´t know pass our church all the time and never take the initiative to come in. Unless we find a way to go to them, we’ll never meet them.
But how do we penetrate the mindset and lifestyles of today with the good news of Jesus Christ with all the competitive forces life offers? Are there any new ideas we could capitalize on?
One day a member of the team was bush-hogging a field at Hatcher Island and every time he completed a pass and the tractor was pointed towards the river, he saw boat after boat go by full of passengers, fishermen and kids.
He shared that observation with the team and somehow we came up with the idea that perhaps the river might be a fertile outreach and evangelistic field we could pursue as a church.
Images of Jesus’ ministry on the Sea of Galilee prompted us to wonder if there was a way we could venture out in faith to share the gospel message in word and action and reach out to these folks.
Steve Crane
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In our weekly outreach visitation meetings at Martin’s [a local supermarket], we discussed the river ministry concept and over time it slowly gained traction and interest. We discussed the casual environment of water recreation and wondered if a casual service in an informal setting on the water — where you come as you are — would be attractive to boaters and fishermen who spend their day on the river.
How would we design a service format to meet that need in their own backyard and element, so to speak? Could we provide a worship venue that would attract the boater, the family, the fisherman, the canoeist, etc? Is there an out-of-the box format/setting that without compromise might allow the opportunity to minister to the river community that the church might not reach otherwise? “Yes,” was the answer to all of these questions, but we were not sure of the place, shape or form. We kept talking and praying.
Our prayers and vision encountered divine intervention. There is no other explanation. Gradually, the idea of a floating dock located off the main traffic channel of the James River emerged, but how do we do this? What will it look like? How big? How do we anchor? What about sound?
By New Years Day of 2011 we had nailed down the concept of a floating church capable of holding 100 people and 92,000 pounds. We envisioned using Hatcher Island to store the unit during the week and then on Saturday or Sunday transporting the vessel to the river just outside the Hatcher Island Lake barricade which we discovered was a perfect location — highly visible and easily accessible.
We used a Tom-Sawyer-like raft constructed from the same materials as the floating dock to ferry worship participants. The project had now become doable.
Worshippers at The Dock prior to a Sunday service.
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Unexpectedly, another decisive piece of the river ministry fell into place. Two members of the team attended the 60th wedding anniversary of some friends and were highly impressed with the voice of the young woman providing entertainment. They left saying to themselves, “Wow, wouldn´t it be something to have a talent like that be part of our river ministry effort?”
To make a long story short, we discovered this young lady to be Amber Chandler, who was singing at a local restaurant which we visited clandestinely to check her out. She just happened to be the daughter of a Baptist preacher in Tennessee. Eventually we made contact and asked if she would like to be a part of this ministry. She said, “Yes!” even before we could get the question out! Her talent, passion and spiritual input has been a blessing in so many ways and her gift of music has taken our witness on the river to a higher plateau.
We kept the pastor and the church council abreast of these developments, and received their encouragement and official approval in March 2011.
Meanwhile, we began a crash course in building a floating church and furnishing it in a way that would be attractive, comfortable and safe. The pulpit design, which includes the image of a cross and an attached life ring suggesting the saving power of the cross of Christ, became our logo. Without too much trouble we came up with the name “The Dock” and ended up making a banner with the words “Boaters Church” in large letters to publicize the purpose of our presence on the river each weekend.
By late spring, we were ready for our first test voyage and dedication service attended by 41. Over the past two summers we have had a total of 28 services lasting from Memorial Day to Labor Day. We meet at 12:30 p.m. to accommodate those who serve in our regular morning worship service, including our pastor who brings a message at The Dock as well.
The services continue to evolve, but we attempt to use music and themes that appeal to folks without a church background. We have used music from Jerry Lee Lewis, Gladys Knight and many others because a song dealt with a subject we wanted to talk about in the service.
It is hard to measure the actual impact of our witness and outreach through The Dock ministry. Many come by and take pictures and express interest and appreciation. The setting is so unique that people in many circles on and off the river talk freely about what we are doing. And aside from those boaters who may attend, the spiritual impact on those associated with the river ministry is far reaching. The lives this ministry has been able to touch with our witness for Christ is the testimony of our purpose.