Photo by Bill Green A large crowd enjoyed a recent free concert by the Christian rock band Unspoken at the Second Street church. Purchase this photo

"I want you to know this church does more for the homeless than anybody else," Redbeard said. "My wife and I sleep in the alley right now, and they feed us and give us clothes."

Standing next to Redbeard was Charlie. He sleeps on a friend's back porch.

"They help with clothes, food, blankets and sleeping bags," said Charlie of the church. A veteran in his early 70s, Charlie agreed that the homeless are welcome inside the church and invited to "Pastor Mike's picnics" as well.

"Pastor Mike" would be the Rev. Mike Albro, who served as chaplain at the Frederick Rescue Mission before leaving in 2002 to work with senior pastor George Earle at Centennial. Albro said the church doesn't enable poverty, but assists those needing a lift up.

Centennial's history dates to 1873, when German immigrants first met as a small congregation on Church Street. They built their first church on Third Street in 1890, Albro said. Centennial's red brick building, with its stained glass and curved wooden pews, was built on Second Street in 1900.

"The church was started by a marginalized group of German immigrants, called the United Brethren in Christ," Albro said. "Services were in German and they had a simple theology. They read the Gospels and tried to go out and do what's in the Gospels."

It is a theology, Albro continued, that Centennial rediscovered a century later, focusing their attention almost solely on the homeless, working poor, sick, and alcohol- and drug-dependent.

Today, however, the church faces serious financial problems. Albro said Centennial is expected to run more than $25,000 in the red this year as annual contributions continue to slide. Earle said the church's endowment, used to launch its 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Second Street and Hope, stands at less than $90,000.

"The church may have to close its doors within the next five years," Earle said. "But through grants and various funding, Second Street will continue either way."

Earle, who is recovering from a medical procedure, said he may soon have to take part-time pay under United Methodist salary structure. He won't change his work load, though. Albro, he said, will ultimately shift from the church to the nonprofit.

With a traditional Sunday congregation made up mostly of senior citizens, and Saturday evening services attended by many fixed-income and working poor residents, tithing does not keep pace with building maintenance, energy, administrative and outreach program costs.

Centennial's outreach efforts include free Wednesday night pizza dinners preceding its Celebrate Recovery sessions. The church offers Freedom Reigns, a women's Bible study class; Male Call, a men's Bible study class; a free dinner after its 5 p.m. Saturday worship service and a free breakfast on the first Saturday of every month before fellowship and a Bible lesson.

Along with clothing, medical and food aid, Centennial's emergency pantry is open on Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons. Both pastors spend quite a bit of time doing one-on-one counseling.

Love one another

Jana Kelly, 44, sat in a pew Wednesday shortly before a free concert by the Christian rock band Unspoken. Without the Centennial community, she said she would not have had the courage to face her serious medical issues.

Kelly said that she has struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, and she was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain aneurysm.

"I was homeless when I came here, and only was able to walk through recovery and have the courage to go through the surgery because of the family here and Pastor Mike," she said.

Alisia Bright, 44, does accounting work and leads a women's discipleship group. She first came to the church looking for help for her husband through Centennial's 12-step, Christian-based Celebrate Recovery program.

"He wasn't interested," Bright said. But she realized immediately it was the right place to work on her codependency issues.

"He didn't get help, but I did," she said. "The Lord has changed my life. My heart is rooted here."

Mark Disney, 53, a construction worker, got sober through Alcoholics Anonymous years ago, and still attends AA meetings. He realized, however, that even sober he needed spiritual help.

"I knew if I didn't change some things I wasn't going to make it," he said.

Kelly, Bright and Disney all said that without the guidance of Earle and Albro, they would have remained spiritually lost.

"I came here as a sad and depressed person," said Bright, with a smile. "And I have found joy."

Earle said Centennial has always been an ecumenical church and people from every religious background -- or none at all -- have always been welcome.

The Second Street and Hope program, for example, does not require any certain belief or creed; services are freely given.

The Centennial congregation has only two pillars: be willing "to love as we learn from Jesus," and "orthopraxy," Earle said.

"That means right practice, put everything down to help one another. Just drop the biases, for Pete's sake -- life is too short -- and love one another."

The senior pastor said the church will take a "heavy scalpel" to the 2010 budget. In the meantime, he is working on a five-year plan with the church treasurer, determined to remain true to Centennial's mission.

"When I got here 16 years ago, the church was ready to close its doors," he said. "I had a spiritual vision to open the doors to downtown and become what I call a miniature inner-city church."

The aim became basic again: Address the physical and spiritual needs of people on the nearby corners and alleys.

"We need help or we won't be able to reach out to the street," said Bright, who lead the women's community prayer walks. "I do believe God is going to see favor on the church and come to see us through."