This fall and winter, the church home of Bible Tabernacle Christian Center will undergo a $600,000 facelift. It's among several changes the 31-year-old congregation has made recently.

"We're calling it CPR -- Church Project Renovation. God's breathing new life into our church," said the Rev. Carl H. Scott, senior pastor and co-founder of the 250-member church.

"We're going to do a complete renovation of the sanctuary, new flooring, seating, ceiling, lighting, baptismal pool, pulpit -- everything."

The building at 361 S. Pine St. in York was constructed as a bowling alley in 1933. Later, it housed a Christian bookstore, and, in 1979, Bible Tabernacle moved in.

Workers will repoint and acid wash brick on the building's exterior. A sign will advertise the church's new name, Scott said.

The historically black congregation was previously known as Bible Tabernacle Christian & Missionary Alliance.

Last summer, congregants voted overwhelmingly to leave the Colorado Springs-based denomination after nearly 24 years of affiliation, Scott said.

"The Alliance is an excellent organization. They do a tremendous amount of missions work all over the world," Scott said.

"Basically, it's a white organization. A Caucasian organization. We just didn't feel like we were a part of it culturally. There were no activities in the denomination that met the needs of the African-American church."

The CMA has 35 African-American congregations out of 2,009 total nationwide.

York

County has nine Christian & Missionary Alliance congregations, including Arabic- and Vietnamese-speaking churches. They are part of the Eastern Pennsylvania District of the CMA, overseen by the Rev. J. Wayne Spriggs, superintendent, in Middletown.

Spriggs said the district has two historically African- American churches in Philadelphia and Pike County among the 82 congregations from State College to the New Jersey line.

"We were absolutely sad to see them go back to being independent," Spriggs said of Bible Tabernacle. "But they're going in the direction they wanted to go in."

Scott originally took his evangelical church into the CMA in 1984 for the benefits of a larger fellowship with educational seminars, shared resources and accountability for clergy and other leaders, he said.

They shared common doctrinal beliefs with the CMA. The 121-year-old Alliance believes in the inerrancy and inspiration of the Bible, Jesus' role as a physical healer, emphasizes the doctrine of sanctification and invests heavily in foreign missions.

Bible Tabernacle appreciates the CMA's devotion to mission work but "felt we needed to be doing as much, if not more, at home," Scott said.

The church works with alcohol and drug rehabilitation programs in the city. It is also reaching out to the neighborhood around the church, occasionally inviting residents to meet and discuss their needs, Scott said.

Church members got a lot of feedback from neighbors - everything from concerns about abandoned homes to speeding on Pine Street.

The congregation is not looking to affiliate with another denomination.

Scott said, "We probably will stay independent right now."

* * *

In other religion news around the region:

Pastors passing

The Rev. Raymond C. Miller, 65, a York native, died July 21.

A pastor for 40 years, he preached his first sermon in 1958 at the Evangelical United Brethren Church in York and his last at the hospital the day before he died.

Miller graduated from Central Baptist College, the University of Central Arkansas and received his doctorate from Northwestern College.

Another York native, the Rev. Fred E. Gross, 71, of Hagerstown, Md., died July 23 at Washington County Hospital.

He graduated from Gettysburg College (1958), the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (1962) and Shippensburg University (1975).

He served congregations in Waynesboro and in Maryland - Hagerstown, Frederick, Beaver Creek and Keedysville. For years, he taught elementary school and served as a counselor at church camps.

Wellness forum

Pastors report they often don't have time to think about their health because they're too busy caring for others.

Health agencies at the University of Maryland recently held a daylong clergy wellness forum where pastors were screened for high blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index and vascular diseases.

Are you a member of the clergy who pays little attention to your own health or do you struggle with health insurance coverage because your church or denomination can't afford it or for some other reason?

I'd like to hear from you. Please contact me at 771-2024 or mburke@ydr.com.

Biking for charity

Motorcyclists, mount your hogs.

New Life for Girls, the residential, Christian rehabilitation program, is sponsoring a charity ride to Susquehannock State Park 10 a.m. Aug. 23 to benefit the program.

Mail-in registration is $15 for single riders and $5 for passengers (mail to P.O. Box 170, Dover PA 17315). On-site registration ($20 for single riders) will begin at 8 a.m. the day of the event.

Riders will meet at Stillmeadow Church of the Nazarene, 400 Stillmeadow Lane in Manchester Township.

For details, call 266-5614.

771-2024; mburke@ydr.com.

IF YOU GO

What: Visionary Gala Banquet, a fundraiser for the capital campaign at Bible Tabernacle Christian Center in York

Speaker: The Rev. John K. Jenkins Sr., senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Landover and Upper Marlboro, Md.

When: 6 p.m. Oct. 25

Where: Wisehaven Banquet and Expo Center, 2985 E. Prospect Road in Windsor Township

Cost: $100 a plate

For details: 846-4141 or 741-3357