BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer
GLORIA STRAVELLI Gerda Liebmann, pastor of the New Church of Red Bank, poses as a living statue on Broad Street in Red Bank to draw attention to a new church she and her husband have founded.
RED BANK — It’s a striking scene on the streets of Red Bank — a woman, her face painted stark white, wrapped in white robes and standing as still as a lifeless statue.
The surreal scene is being repeated on Broad Street every Friday night to draw people to a new congregation.
The woman posing as the statue is Gerda Liebmann, pastor of the New Church of Red Bank. She and husband Lenny Liebmann, also a pastor, founded the church about 18 months ago with the hope of revolutionizing and restoring the spiritual practices of the community.
Both Gerda and Lenny have been ordained by Faith Christian Fellowship, a worldwide ministry based in Tulsa, Okla.
The New Church of Red Bank is a Bible-based, nondenominational Christian Church, Lenny Liebmann explained.
"Why start a new church in Red Bank? There are plenty of wonderful churches in Red Bank," he said in an interview last week.
Inspired by a great love of God and a love of people, Liebmann said he and his wife wanted to open a church that would be both less structured and more traditional.
The New Church of Red Bank meets at the Red Bank Middle School at 10 a.m. every Sunday for services, while other activities such as prayer meetings and youth groups take place at the pastors’ home.
The largest group that has gathered at the church’s services has been 45, he said, but new people are always going — to see what the Liebmanns are all about.
"Early believers didn’t have all these church rules and structures," said Liebmann, "They would just get together."
The concept of the new church is to maintain the fundamental beliefs of Christian faith, but to do church differently. According to Lenny Liebmann, the approach is not traditional but it is extremely authentic.
The living statue concept is used as a tool to engage people in public discussions of spirituality.
"It’s eye-catching and intriguing," he said. "Jesus didn’t just wait in a synagogue for people to come and find him."
The statue also acts as a metaphor, he explained, to show the difference between the inner life that isn’t always apparent.
"People react in all different ways," said Liebmann about the message of the living statue. "Some people get it right away, some people just have a lot of questions, and some people are just not comfortable with the message of Jesus Christ. And that’s OK, too."
"I think it’s a good message," said Colleen Stack, Port Monmouth, who was one of the people who walked over to see what the pastors were up to last Friday night. She explained the message to her children.
Pastor Lenny spoke to Michele Bolona, 15, Rumson, about the church’s youth group.
"I think I might possibly go," said Bolona, who was not sure what the living statue was when she first saw it.
As a crowd gathered at the corner of Broad Street and White Street, children were imitating Gerda Liebmann’s pose. Pastor Lenny was floating around, just trying to let every passer-by hear his message.