STAMFORD, CONN. - “Qui transtulit sustinet.”

The Latin words, which appear below vines on the Connecticut state seal, mean “He who transplanted still sustains.”

First seen on a seal brought from England by Col. George Fenwick in 1639, the motto apparently has its roots in Psalm 80:8: “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.”

Like the children of Israel led out of Egypt to the Promised Land, the early settlers of this southernmost New England state looked to God to sustain them.

Forty years ago, a different kind of exodus drew entire congregations of Christians to urban cities in the Northeast, including Stamford, a mix of corporate headquarters and low-income housing projects about 40 miles north of New York City.

In thanksgiving for the 55 transplanted families who started the Stamford church in 1966, the congregation has adopted “God Transplants, God Sustains” as its 2006 theme. The church plans a series of 40th anniversary events, including a Labor Day weekend homecoming.

“I’m grateful that people took the risk of coming here to a very unfamiliar place to start this work,” said music minister Edward Pleasant, who moved to the New York area from Midland, Texas, 17 years ago to pursue an opera and vocal theater career. “We stand on all of their shoulders, and hopefully, people who come after us will be inspired to go even further to be the Lord’s church.”

THEN AND NOW

Like Pleasant, Stamford pulpit minister Dale Pauls said the 40th anniversary provides an opportunity to educate many in the congregation of 160 adults and children.

“I bet if you just walked through the congregation and just asked a number of people what the Exodus Movement was, half of them wouldn’t know,” said Pauls, a Harding University Graduate School of Religion alumnus who joined the church’s ministry staff 28 years ago.

When Pauls and his wife, Debbie, now Stamford’s involvement minister, arrived in 1978, just one couple from the original Exodus families remained. That couple later moved away.

Church leaders are hopeful that many of the people who launched the work in Stamford will return for the homecoming.

But the ministers and elders acknowledge that some founding members might not approve of the direction the congregation has taken.

In some ways, the church has not changed: The singing remains a cappella. The Lord’s Supper is observed weekly. The importance of baptism is stressed.

But in other ways, significant change has occurred: After what church leaders described as an exhaustive, years-long biblical study, the congregation removed all restrictions on women’s leadership roles in the church.

Women in the congregation now serve as deacons and are eligible to serve as elders. Women serve communion, lead public prayers, read Scriptures and occasionally preach. “We do not restrict roles or assign privilege or status on the basis of birth,” explains a statement on the church Web site, www.stamfordchurch.com.

In a 46-page booklet, “Sons and Daughters: Hearing Women’s Voices at the Stamford Church of Christ,” Dale Pauls refers to Scriptures often used to limit women’s roles. But he makes the case that the traditional interpretation fails to take into account the historical context.

“It’s a church that made a significant change in an area that some people consider to be a fellowship issue almost,” Pauls said. “From my view and interpretation of Scripture, I think it’s the same church. But that’s not a view that would be shared by everybody.”

A DREAM REALIZED

Jim Pounders, alumni association director at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., helped organize the exodus to Stamford and served as the first preacher. The University church in Tuscaloosa, Ala., oversaw the effort.

Pounders returned to worship at Stamford in 2001 on the Sunday before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“What is thrilling to us is that the church has become what we dreamed that it would be,” said Pounders, praising the congregation’s enthusiasm and spiritual zeal.

Women reading Scripture and waiting on the Lord’s table made Pounders “a little uncomfortable.”

“But we also know the church did an extensive study of that practice before employing it in their worship,” he said. “So we respect their study and their autonomy.”

Sylvia Smith, a Stamford deacon, first heard about the Exodus Movement in 1966 at a Wednesday night service in Birmingham, Ala. The next day, she learned her husband’s company was transferring him to White Plains, N.Y., 15 miles west of Stamford. They decided to move to Stamford. Looking back, Smith said she has no doubt that God played a role in the timing.

“I don’t think I was old enough to realize it at the time,” said Smith, whose daughter and granddaughter worship with her. “But since then, for years, I have known that this was definitely the place that God wanted me to be.”

AN OPEN BOOK

Members and leaders said they appreciate the congregation’s openness on issues ranging from interfaith cooperation to social drinking. Pleasant said the congregation believes in “an open mind and open book.”

“We’ve fought vociferously the idea that certain things can’t be talked about,” Pleasant said. “We just say, ‘We’re going to open these Bibles ... and see what God’s word has to say.’”

Justin and Kathryn Burton, graduate students at Rutgers University in New Jersey, often drive an hour and 20 minutes to worship at Stamford. The Burtons, both of whom grew up in traditional churches and earned degrees at Harding University in Arkansas, said they were looking for a church where women participate and a right-wing political mindset was not mandatory.

“From the first time we came here, people have just been warm and welcoming,” said Justin Burton, 25. “It’s the kind of church where if you’re out of town on a Sunday, you miss it. And when you are here, you feel like you’re at home. Every service is profoundly insightful.”

‘A LITTLE UNITED NATIONS’

While almost all the original members were white Southerners, the congregation today mixes whites, blacks, Hispanics and immigrants from Africa, Asia, India and the Caribbean islands.

Less than half the members come from Church of Christ backgrounds, with about one-third from other Protestant fellowships and one-fifth from the Roman Catholic faith.

“Diversity in the congregation has been a real blessing,” Smith said. “To stand in front of this congregation on Sunday, it’s like a little United Nations almost.”

The congregation emphasizes community involvement and outreach. Dale Pauls facilitates the Stamford Clergy Association and is president-elect of an interfaith council.

Stamford members help feed the homeless at a shelter and mentor inner-city children in Bridgeport, north of Stamford. The church supports Camp Shiloh, which serves poor children in the Bronx and operates a summer camp in upstate New York.

“When we came here, we (the congregation) were good at taking care of each other. We had good parties,” Debbie Pauls said. “Now, I think our emphasis is much more: How do we give to the community?”

Kim Bohannon, who teaches physical education at a public school, started the Buddy Mentor program 12 years ago after Dale Pauls challenged members to make a difference. The program pairs 65 needy children with 65 caring adults, many of them from the church.

Bohannon, a graduate of Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn., said Stamford’s position on women allowed her to develop her leadership skills. “It’s opened my heart and my life spiritually as a woman,” she said. “I feel like I’ve had a passion to do something, but I wasn’t hindered in it because of gender or anything like that.”

No doubt, Dale Pauls said, theological differences will keep a number of people involved in the Exodus Movement away from the anniversary celebration.

“They may feel betrayed and I regret that, because I think we owe these people a great deal,” Pauls said. “But we didn’t owe them our souls. With full respect for those who came before, we still had to follow where Word and Spirit led us.”

June 1, 2006

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