ZELIENOPLE — Everything at Calvin United Presbyterian Church is changing, except the dedication to traditional spirituality present at the church since its inception in 1845.

With more than 400 members currently, attendance and membership has more than doubled in the last decade. To accomodate that growth, the church added three new classrooms, five offices and a conference room during a nine-month, $1.3 million building project that ended in May.

The Rev. Graham Standish, pastor at Calvin, said his church was chronicled in the recent book "Christianity for the Rest of Us," in which the author studied mainline American churches that are growing while bucking the trend of moving to a contemporary format.

The book revealed that sticking to the tenets of spirituality and prayer upon which mainline churches were established fill the pews just as well as electric guitars and thespian Bible lessons.

"You can update traditions in a way that makes them relevant to today," said Standish, whose own book, "Becoming a Blessed Church," focuses on creating a church that is spiritually open.

Standish said Calvin also eschews the "us versus them" mentality among churches in which non-traditional members claim to be saved and view mainline worshippers as not truly reborn.

"We help people to grow spiritually and discover God in their lives and recapture a sense of God's presence in our lives," said Standish.

He also avoids the mindset of church growth becoming a numbers game, in which the church that grows the most in size wins.

"Our church focuses on spiritual growth, not numerical growth," said Standish.

He said the Beaver/Butler Presbytery is very supportive of the notion, as other churches in the presbytery have begun to follow Standish's model of church growth.

Connie Fryerson, who served on the church's building committee during the addition and renovation project and was hired as program director two months ago, worked with the contractor during the construction project.

"It was fascinating to go from ideas to actual buildings," she said.

Fryerson explained that history may also have played a hand in Calvin's significant growth over the past decade. She said when the church started, the culture of Zelienople was German. She said German was spoken in the streets, markets and homes at that time.

"(Calvin's founding members) were Scottish," said Fryerson. "They started a church for non-Germans."

Fryerson said that atmosphere resonates 162 years later.

"It remains a church for whom many offerings of Christianity don't fit," said Fryerson.

"We have very, very conservative and very, very liberal members, but the key is regardless of where they stand on politics, they come into this church to care for each other and to care for the world."

Fryerson said the church uses ancient and modern facets in worship. As an example she names communion, which serves as a strictly memorial rite to older worshippers and as a rite of self-renewal to those ages 40 and younger.

"The whole focus is to try and be balanced," said Fryerson. "Mainstream theology has to be balanced with interaction with Christ."

Regarding the addition and renovation project, Fryerson said it was a long time coming.

"If you love your church, it becomes like your mother, and you really don't care if your mother is beautiful."

She said church members have commented that the new facility is a beautiful space in which to worship.

"Feedback has been very positive," said Fryerson. "People have shown overwhelming support for the addition."