New Beginnings | Cathedral of Worship This ambitious new church in Aurora is in one of Denver s original streetcar suburbs. The tracks are long gone, and the town, formerly known as Fletcher, has boomed into a city of 291,000 people and 124,000 homes, 73,000 of which are owner-occupied.
A pioneering spirit breathed life into the New Beginnings Cathedral of Worship in Aurora, despite studies that said the Rev. Lewis F. Brown didn’t have a chance.
The majority of startup churches don’t make it past their first three years. Limited dollars and other problems often stymie efforts to build a church from the ground up.
The odds are even slimmer for nondenominational churches like New Beginnings, which don’t have the resources, connections or financial backing of many mainline Christian organizations.
But this church blossomed from Bible study sessions begun six years ago in Brown’s living room attended by 15 people to a congregation of 350 members today. African-Americans make up 85 percent of the membership, the remainder are non-Latino whites and Latinos.
To create a sense of ownership, members raised $2 million to purchase 2 acres of land near East Seventh Avenue and Chambers Road and build a 25,000 square-foot structure to call home.
“It speaks of love for God, how strong people’s faith is and the commitments they are willing to make when they find integrity,” Brown says.
Guided by its “Eight Pillars” of ministry, the church now has leadership and empowerment classes, an active youth ministry, a college where students can gain a degree in biblical studies and a flourishing foreign ministry that has taken parishioners to India, South Africa and, later this month, to West Africa.
Cathedral, Brown explains, means a seat of government that has far-reaching effects on the entire world community. The church envisions serving its local community as well as a global one.
“The traditional answers and responses have not met people where they are,” Brown says.
“The creativity that played a big role in our initial success will give us the energy to continue shaping ourselves and remain relevant in the future.”
– Sheba R. Wheeler
