At Guilford’s Bethel Church, the energy is through the roof -- and that’s no surprise to anyone who knows its new lead pastor, Rev. Billy Greene.

Billy and his wife, Rev. Renee Greene, came to Guilford’s Bethel Assembly of God Church on Boston Street exactly one year ago this summer. From the point of his first service on July 4, 2021 to this day, Billy and Renee have been hard at work helping to renovate and revitalize the spirit of the church campus and its members.

Referring to Bible scripture (John 10:10), “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly,” Billy says,“our vision is to bring life back to the campus.Jesus literally said, I can give you life, life abundantly. And so not only for people, but as a church; a church should represent that. We have a vision to be a strong, healthy, growing, family-oriented church.”

That vision was abundantly clear last week, as a building-wide face-lift project got underway in earnest on Sunday, July 24 and was nearing the finish line by Friday, July 29.

“It’s been a year in planning and praying and preparation, and then we started Sunday night,” says Billy.

Prior to the start, church volunteers spent about 3 days prepping the building for changes that have included fresh coats of paint on the walls in modern tones, like the slate gray of the main hall.

The repainting of interior spaces and carpentry work to the main stage was done in short order with the help of a rotating group of church volunteers, and a visiting mission group of 13 Maryland-based Bethel Assembly of God members. The refresh also includes Bethel’s lobby as well as its children’s ministry spaces in the lower level.

Another ministry of the church is the Kiddie Kollege preschool on the campus. Renee serves as director.

“Our main focus was, ’How can we create an environment that’s welcoming and safe for young families?’” Renee says. “And so if you take everything you do, and you funnel it through that lens, you’ll hit your goal every single time. For us, that’s how we are bringing that new life to the church. Anything we do, we’re going to make sure we do it with that lens.”

Billy and Renee, both 34, have also brought youthful energy to Bethel Church’s small, but growing congregation. Billy says its a diverse group of both new and established members who have embraced the effort to help Bethel Church evolve to serve “the next generation.” The Guilford church has been at its Boston Street site since 1967.

“We are bit younger, and some of our congregation that have been here for some time are a bit older, and they’re on board,” says Billy. “But you know, we need to love them. We need to recognize and be aware that we need to put some muscle in, some effort, to start moving it forward -- kind of like what you see going on around the campus now.”

As part of the work on campus, some older plantings were cleared outside, and landscaping work and new plantings have dressed up the church grounds. The exterior spruce-up is also kind of symbolic of what Billy is hoping to help Bethel Church grow into.

“It was overgrown,” he said of the church property fronting 246 Boston St. “We felt the church has been this kind of quiet, hidden church. We all agreed that’s not our vision, to be hidden. Jesus said a city on the hill cannot be hidden - let your lamp shine so all can see. So, if those are our values, we need to behave that way. We said we loved some of the stuff that was there, but we need to pull it out. And so we did.”

Another part of the church campus is a huge field behind the stand-alone brick church building. As part of the new vision for Bethel Church, that space is becoming more and more of a focal point for events that are spilling over to include the greater Guilford community.

On Friday, July 29, Bethel Church hosted its first annual community block party at the field, a free event. It featured food trucks, a huge, inflatable Bouncy House, carnival games and family-friendly activities.

Next, Bethel Church is partnering with a local Soccer Shots program so that the field can host Soccer Shots sessions for kids ages 2 – 8, staring up in August and running through October. More information is available at swct.soccershots.com (search Guilford CT).

“Our emphasis is on the next generation. We’ve got kids, we’ve got little ones, and they are high energy!” says Billy of their two children, siblings ages 3 (soon to be 4) and 6; both fostered to adoption by the Greenes. “And so I think as a church, as we grow young, we’re going to be a bit more energized anyhow.”

“We just really want to be a blessing to our community,” adds Renee. “I think this is part of it; providing these kinds of things where people can just kind of experience life together, let their hair down a little bit and just kind of enjoy it.”

Of course, anyone who wants to come to the church to learn more or experience a service (such as Bethel Church’s main service. Sundays at 10 a.m.) is welcome, says Billy.

“Anybody who’s curious, I would say, ‘We’re a Christian church, come check us out.’ We’re a mission-oriented church [so] we’re all about reaching people [and] what we emphasize is that we want to be a place where people come and encounter God, experience real community and engage in ministry through using their purpose and express their faith passionately and publicly.”

Find more information on Bethel Church services in Guilford mybethelchurch.org or on Facebook (@bethelguilfordct).

The church is also in the process of building live streaming for its services. From Billy’s perspective, however, the best church experiences are those which take place in-person.

“I say it this way: People can drive by our house and look in through the window of our live stream; but you’re not going to have the experience unless you come in person.”

“At home, a lot of times we go to church to escape whatever’s going on in our life, our mind and our soul,” he continues. “But I think the real change really starts to take place when you step out of that environment, and you get into an environment that is just overwhelmingly different than what you’re used to... I say get out of your living room, get out of your boat, get out of your car, and come to church to enjoy it.”

And by attending a service, “...it doesn’t mean you’re saying, ‘I’m going to go there forever.’” Billy adds. “But I would say come check it out, come have the experience, come be a part. Come a few times, and see what it’s like.”

As Renee notes, Bethel Church is a place to find not only community and purpose, but support.

“We don’t just want to be here for the fun times. We also want to be here when somebody finds out they’ve lost their job and they need help; or if they’ve lost a family member and don’t know what to do,” says Renee. “I can’t list all of the life circumstances, but we desperately want for people to have that community, so that when things hit hard and there’s stuff that they’re going through, they have a support system. They have a community that they can lean into, because we all need that.”

Billy and Renee met in bible college (he’s from Maine, she’s from Maryland) and served as youth pastors for a few years in Massachusetts before coming to Connecticut in 2015.

“We moved to the Stafford Springs-Ellington area, and then last year we just felt like we were supposed to be here,” says Billy. “This church, we saw, was looking for a pastor. And so we packed everything up and moved.”

The family lives in a house on the church campus, and loves their new hometown of Guilford. Billy says you’re likely to spot him out and about in the community – especially if you frequent cafes on the green.

“We love the area,” he says. “You’ll find me either down at The Marketplace or Cilantro’s, having espresso. I’m that guy that walks in, and if it’s quiet, it’s going to get loud.”

But not too loud, he adds. That’s very much how Billy would like to see the presence of Bethel Church grow in Guilford.

“Bethel has kind of been hidden and quiet for a long time. We don’t want to be annoyingly loud, but we do want to let people know that we’re here; and God’s here, and his presence is here, and his presence is in this place,” Billy says. “And we don’t just say it. We genuinely believe the Word of God, and we believe greatly that people can encounter the Lord. And this is the place to experience that.”