No one can say The Rev. Cynthia Brust isn’t up for a challenge. Not only did she and her husband, The Rev. Canon Ellis Brust, accept new positions in the Diocese of Central Florida and move from Kansas in the throes of the pandemic, but she also embarked on a huge ministry project in the form of an extreme church makeover.

The renaming and rebranding of Hope Episcopal, Melbourne, as Christ Episcopal Church, Suntree/Viera, where The Rev. Cynthia Brust serves as rector, has included multiple steps, facets and the active involvement of church members.

But the transformation began even before her installation. “When I was in the interview process, the vestry made it clear that they knew they were going to have to incorporate some major changes,” Brust said. “They mentioned the probability of a name change in that first interview process. First, there are two other churches named Hope in very close proximity; there’s a Hope Lutheran and a nondenominational church.”

The other reason for the name change, Brust said, was that the vestry realized the church needed “a new sense of identity and vision … we want to be very clear that all the work that had gone before was wonderful work. But because the face of the church and the face of our culture has changed so much, our particular church in this particular time needed to simply have a fresh start.

“And part of that was to build on the past, build on all the strengths, build on that strong foundation, but take it to the next level,” Brust added. “And of course, very often, significant moments of transition require a new name, just as Simon took on the name Peter.”

Vision-Based

Brust said because of the pandemic and lockdown, these changes remained “on the back burner” for a while. But circumstances moved them forward faster than anticipated. She spent the summer months getting to know her new church family via phone calls, FaceTime, Zoom gatherings and eventually small in-person meetings, telling them to expect some changes.

“And then in the fall, we had a vestry retreat,” Brust said, a time that included exploring the church’s identity. Brust then developed a vision statement, which the vestry passed unanimously: “We are a kingdom community of hope, rooted in tradition, shaped through love and captivated by mission.”

Just before the leadership shared this vision with church members, God clarified it further through the lectionary. “The psalm was, ‘Singing a New Song’ (Ps. 98),” Brust said. “It became crystal-clear as the Lord speaking to me: We’ve been called to sing a new song in Suntree/Viera.”

The name change became part of that new song. “In December of 2020, we received an extraordinarily generous gift that allowed us to install a 15-foot-high digital sign,” Brust said. “And obviously, you have to know what name to put on the sign.”

“One of the things we really wanted to do was to be rooted in tradition, part of holding onto that rich heritage that is ours in The Episcopal Church,” she said. As the congregation considered names, Christ Church rose to the top, met with unified approval.

This process also included approval from The Rt. Rev. Gregory O. Brewer, diocesan bishop, as well as the state and other channels. Along with it came a rebranding and new website design, cecsuntreeviera.org, by Grandview Collective (grandviewcollective.com), an outlet Brust highly recommends. See the church’s new Facebook page here.

Kingdom-Minded

The transformation also involved the church’s physical property and its eight-and-a-half acre grounds. “We’ve cleared it out, and now you can see through the beautiful pines this beautiful church rising up,” Brust said. “We’re in the process of doing some sprucing up both inside and outside.”

And that sprucing up extends to the church’s ministries. Brust said the pandemic lockdown “gave the congregation the opportunity to assess what’s working well, what’s missing and what needs a good Christian burial,” ending in a revised list.

That ministry list is “robust” and will take time to reach, she added. During the pandemic, the congregation launched a fiction book group via Zoom. With most restrictions now lifted, the church is launching a bereavement group, open to the public, with other ministries to come.

Brust sees a bright future ahead for what she describes as a “kingdom-minded church.”

“I’ve taught them what I believe to be true, that every single Christian church has one mission, and that’s the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, to love, and to go make disciples who make disciples,” she said. “Every church has its vision of how to work toward fulfilling that and working toward building the kingdom of God.”