Congregation Loses Lease, but Members Keep Faith

IRVINE —  In only three years, Rev. Dave Gibbons’ congregation has grown from 25 friends who huddled in his apartment to more than 500 parishioners who travel from as far as South Gate to worship together.

Although times have been good for Gibbons’ NewSong Community Church, a nondenominational, multiethnic church that boasts a Generation X congregation, the new year brings a troubling new challenge: On Jan. 18, the NewSong congregation will be homeless.

And finding a place large enough for the rapidly growing congregation is proving difficult.

“It’s really hard to find a place that fits 600 people,” said Gibbons, who moved to Orange County from Baltimore with his family three years ago to start the congregation. “But, you know, I like being on the edge. Our people get energy from it.”

As they head into this time of uncertainty, congregants say they are not worried. They say they have faith that something will turn up and are simply thankful for the time they have had.

“I think it’s an unfortunate situation, but once the lease is up, well, we will find another place,” said Kuimeuy Cheun. “The main thing about this church is the people, not the building.”

Three years ago, the then-fledgling church found itself in a similar position. But South Coast Community Church in Irvine leased its 1,000-seat facility to NewSong because it needed a larger place to worship.

The lease has since expired, and the owners are no longer interested in sharing the space. And NewSong’s sponsor church, the Irvine-based South Coast Community Church, is moving to a place that will not have enough room for the NewSong congregation.

Gibbons founded the church focusing mainly on young, well-educated men and women who had lost interest in their own churches--former Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists and others.

Nearly 70% of the congregants are of Asian descent, mainly Korean, with some Japanese, Filipino and Vietnamese. The remaining congregants are white, Latino and African American. The average age is 28.

Gibbons, himself a Korean American, emphasizes an informal style of worship in which long-held beliefs can be questioned and discussed. Gibbons said he has tried to create a style of worship to which young people can relate.

He laces his sermons with hip language, describing, for example, a prophet as being “pumped up” after meeting with an angel. Holding a Bible with a copy of Wired magazine under his other arm, Gibbons asks the young crowd whether they are all hooked up in the telecommunications age.

He fervently disagrees with those who dismiss twentysomethings as apathetic “slackers.”

“This generation is all about relationships,” Gibbons, 34, said. “I don’t like to see how this generation has been downcast. This generation is very cause-oriented. They live in a dismal culture where they know divorce, they know alcoholism and drug addiction. They want to embrace hope.”

Diversity is a major issue for Gibbons and his congregants, who emphasize that the United States will continue to become a blend of cultures, races, ethnicities and religions in the 21st century.

Universality, Gibbons says, is the way of the future.

“The diversity is one of the things we really like,” said Greg Lavalle, 28, who along with his wife, Yvette, has been a member of NewSong since its founding. “We are like one big family.”

Congregation members hope their next base will be in Santa Ana because it is home to many of Orange County’s ethnic groups. Though Gibbons has so far had no luck finding a new spot there, he sees it as a community ripe for his church.

“I really want our people to help out in the community,” he said. “We don’t want play church. We want to combat exclusiveness.”