January 1, 2001
The 'other New York' open to gospel
___SYRACUSE, N.Y.--This is the other New York, the part that's not the big city. And though out of the spotlight, this part of New York is home to millions of people spread across a beautiful, rolling expanse.
___In the heart of New York State stands a city whose name has been made familiar to the rest of the country by the college basketball and football teams that play there--the Orangemen of Syracuse University.
___The city of 800,000 people has been "very responsive spiritually," said Romy Manansala, director of the missions division of the Baptist Convention of New York. But it largely has been non-Southern Baptist, charismatic churches that have reaped the spiritual harvest for Christ.
ROMY MANANSALA
___"The challenge here is to have a strong presence," Manansala said.
___Northside Baptist Church in suburban Liverpool, N.Y., is trying to do just that.
___The church is 32 years old, but two years ago "we caught a wave" as God began to move in the congregation, said Pastor Bruce Aubrey. He realized that "growing churches also need growing leaders," and the two began to grow together.
___Now, more than 200 people gather for worship in two Sunday services. The church has pledged $423,000 for a building program, launched the FAITH evangelistic emphasis through its Sunday School and gives a tithe of church receipts to missions.
___In another suburb of Syracuse, Karl Novak is working to start a church. He moved to Cicero from Mississippi last June. The church already has recorded seven professions of faith.
___"I had it in my heart and mind in 1978 to come up here and start a church in central New York," said Novak, who is originally from the area. He moved without adequate financial support, and the effort failed. This time he is supported through a partnership of Baptists--Emmanuel Baptist Church in Cortland, N.Y., Immanuel Baptist in Columbia, Miss., Greater Syracuse Baptist Association, the state convention, the Mississippi Baptist Convention and the North American Mission Board.
___Until recently, Novak believed he wasn't "the type" to start a church. But a church planter assessment process identified him as perfect for the task.
___"It's exciting," he said. "I'm enjoying it, and the Lord is working."
___And there are plenty of people to reach for Christ. Cicero is the fastest-growing suburb in the area, with 100,000 people within a seven-mile radius, Novak said.
___The congregations in Liverpool and Cicero represent two key emphases of the state convention and of Impact Northeast--strengthening existing churches and starting new ones. Millions of people live in New York, but there are only 366 Southern Baptist churches, and 225 of those are in the metropolitan New York City area, Manansala said. That leaves 141 congregations for the rest of the state.
___By comparison, that's roughly equivalent to the number of Baptist churches and missions located in the metropolitan area of Austin.
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