Monday Mission Momen: Rural Ministry Coalition

"No preaching, no praying, no politics" is the by-word for the Rural Ministry Coalition that unites 7 congregations in a sparsely populated area of Michigan. Lutheran Chik sent the linked article to us, suggesting that this would be an interesting subject for the Monday Mission Moment.

She wrote:

One important aspect that the article did spotlight was that this ministry was a way for very theologically diverse churches -- representing every tradition from Community of Christ to Roman Catholic -- to work together; that the "no preaching, no proselytizing" mutual understanding between member churches allows them to concentrate on their common concern for human need instead of focusing on their differences.

Another point, that I think may be difficult for persons in suburban or urban areas to understand, is that the coalition works in an area that is very remote -- most of the member churches lie far away from even the modest communities that qualify as "cities" in rural Michigan. The residents are far away from their county seats, and because of location have to travel a distance to conduct any kind of work or business; and they're also in a kind of multi-county situation where their kids may go to school in one county, while their post office is in another county, while they pay their property taxes to another county -- in other words, it's hard to perceive oneself as belonging to anywhere in particular.

One of the things the coalition wants to do is to encourage a sense of community, of place, of belonging.

The Rural Ministry Coalition is a unique example of ecumenical cooperation across a broad geographic area that emphasizes cooperation instead of competition between the different faith traditions in order to build a sense of Christian community.

Many thanks to Lutheran Chik for her suggestion for February's Mission Moment! Please send your nominations for the March Mission Moment to me and PCIT by emailing us using the Mission Moment link in the sidebar.

We look forward to hearing from you!

MLK Monday Mission Moment

In honor of MLK Day--a mission devoted to an often marginalized group. Today's mission project was brought to us by Rainbow Pastor.


An offering for the mission moment—



One of the sister churches in our denomination, MCC-New York, has a special mission to the homeless gay lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth of New York City. Many of the homeless youth in NYC are GLBT, and are at great risk. Here’s a link to statistics:

http://www.planetout.com/news/article.html?2006/12/15/4

The church in New York has one of the few (I think there is one other in the city) youth shelters dedicated to GLBT youth, who are often as much at risk in general youth shelters (especially transgendered youth) as they are on the streets. It is the only emergency shelter—no one is turned away that first night. They offer health clinics, activities, and general support.



The link to the church’s shelter (Sylvia’s Place) is here: http://www.sylviasplace.org/
To be honest, there is a need for a shelter like this in cities of any size. Too many GLBT youth are thrown out by their families—yes, even here in Canada. We are hoping to open such a shelter here in our city, with some help from the city government.



Rainbow Pastor

Monday Mission Moment: Legacy and Community Building

There is a famous line in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar spoken by Mark Anthony during his eulogy for his assassinated friend: "The evil men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones." Today's first Monday Mission project contradicts that saying. It is the story of how the Thanksgiving charity program at Wilmette Community Church continues after the deaths of the two men who led the program because their children have chosen to carry on their good work. Thanks to Tripp, who sent us this inspiring story about the continuation of this legacy of mission and service at his church.

Our second December mission story is sent to us by Pam Ostrander. Every inner city neighborhood has derelict buildings that are often havens for drug addicts and criminals, creating more chaos and insecurity for the residents of the area. The Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA have created an inner city Art House for at-risk children from just such a building. You can check out this innovative project on their website.

We need your suggestions for Monday Mission Moment. This feature appears the third Monday of each month. Email your nominations to the Monday Mission Moment -- the link is on the sidebar.

Monthly Mission Moment--Holy Smoke!

So I'm lookin' at the RGBP website wondering, Gosh, I wonder why no one has posted anything for Monday when it hits me ----it's the THIRD MONDAY! Time for a Mission Moment!

This Month's Mission Moment comes from Rhiannon at Sundae, Sunday.

In the midst of the music and the booze of Austin's notoriously rowdy 6th Street district is St. David's Episcopal Church.

Established in 1848, St David's boasts one of the largest Episcopal parishes in the nation and takes up an entire city block downtown, including a multi-level parking garage popular with late-night revelers. Our janitor, Gus, is often at the church late into the night and he had the opportunity to see the inebriated partiers staggering towards their cars, getting ready to drive home even though they were in no condition to do so.

Gus didn't like the idea of those kids driving home drunk, so he did something about it. He's not our Rector, he's not on the vestry, he's not even on any of the committees that so visibly do good works throughout the community. He's just a "regular guy" who, because his work for the church isn't glamorous, gets overlooked.

Like any true Texan, Gus believes in the restorative powers of Vitamin B --barbeque. He organized a few of his fellow maintenance workers to start serving up bbq, sausage, and other goodies to the hungry folks walking back to their cars. The Holy Smokers were born. They set up tables, chairs and a giant pit smoker in the alley by the parking lot and, wouldn't you know it, the folks who were wobbling towards their cars, stopped and ate some bbq instead.

If you have a unique and innovative mission project that is working where you are, let us know by clicking the Mission MOment button on the sidebar. See you in December

Monthly Mission Moment

Hello and welcome to our Monthly Mission Moment. Our inbox held stories of several wonderful mission projects being done by members of our web ring.

Free Flying Spirit tells of her congregation's cooperative efforts to feed the hungery during the winter months:

Since the late 1990's we have offered a hot meal program during the winter months (October to April) in our downtown church. The "Out of the Cold" program is every Friday night during that time. It is for the homeless, those who are lonely, or just do not like eating alone all the time. Loneliness is also a type of being 'cold'.

There are six teams shared amongst the churches in the area. But also, our Anglican neighbours take two meals every month and they have other churches they involve as well. Our youth and younger people are heavily involved with one of the teams and many people have responded to this need who otherwise do not get involved because the need is here and they can DO something about it.

Altogether there are over 240 volunteers who share in this vital mission ministry. We are supported by businesses, such as the Dairy Queen in the area, and other downtown merchants, by anonymous donors and by our own members and volunteers, as well as the Food Bank. There are also a series of fund raisers, such as concerts, that offer others not involved here to be a past of this cause. We are stringent in following the Laws required in food preparation and clean up.

Our guests are served at the table, as at home, and are always warmed by the friendly atmosphere as well as the warm meal. They arrive alone, or in families, as couples, or with friends. We are told the food is wonderful and we serve a variety of types of meals.

It is one way to serve others, as Christ has asked us to. Hospitality is an important part of our faith tradition...breaking bread and sharing the common cup...with all. It comes from a spirit of gratefulness and realizing the need...right where we are planted.



Possible Water provides a link to a resource for congregations seeking to address issues around faithful stewardship of natural resources:


If you scroll down, there's a booklet to download, and a link to info about the grants.

And Sally Coleman links us to information about her group's unique ministry of getting the Christian Spiritual Path a hearing at New Age/Alternative Spirituality Fairs and Conferences.
Journey Into Wholeness article for rev gals.doc





We'll be back next month. If you have a mission project you would like to highlight, click the Mission Moment button on the sidebar and tell us all about it.

Monday Mission Moment: Computer Core

Today's Monday Mission Moment was suggested by Jan Edmiston of A Church For Starving Artists.

Jan wrote us about a project at her church that trains residents of a local shelter in computer skills that enable them to have jobs that provide both income and benefits for their families. Here is the story in her own words:

Several years ago, a church member who had recently served dinner at a local shelter commented "Wouldn't it be great to teach the residents of that shelter job skills so they could sustain themselves in a home with a job, etc." The whole "teach a person to fish" idea.

She was a computer science major who drew up a plan to open a computer lab in our church building for low income residents. The elders voted to give her a chunk of money (the first miracle) and several rooms. She quit her regular job and now -- five years later -- we have an award-winning mission that involves:

- adult students invited via the reduced-lunch list in schools (they are parents of reduced-lunch kids in local public schools)

- 6 months of computer and employment skills and mentoring for $100 staffed by over 60 volunteers

- presentation of computers six weeks into the program to take home and keep, (which means that their children now have computers for homework, etc.)

- graduation at the end of the course in what has become the most inspiring event in the life of our congregation. Better than Easter. More inspiring than ordination!

Students come from many countries and arrive with no skills but leave with jobs, dental benefits, etc. It is awesome. Check it out at: http://www.computercore.org/

Thanks, Jan, for sharing this unique and exciting approach to job training and mission. If you have a suggestion for the monthly Monday Mission Moment feature at RevGalBlogPals please email us at Mission Moment--click the link on the right sidebar of the RGBP blog.

Monday Mission Moment

Today's Mission Moment comes from Jan at A Church for Starving Artists. In September the Monday Mission Moment will become the Monthly Mission Moment and will be posted the third Monday of every month. You can still send your suggestions for mission posts by clicking the Mission Moment button on the sidebar.

Several years ago, a church member who had recently served dinner at a local shelter commented "Wouldn't it be great to teach the residents of that shelter job skills so they could sustain themselves in a home with a job, etc." The whole "teach a person to fish" idea.

She was a computer science major who drew up a plan to open a computer lab in our church building for low income residents. The elders voted to give her a chunk of money (the first miracle) and several rooms. She quit her regular job and now -- five years later -- we have an award-winning mission that involves:
- adult students invited via the reduced-lunch list in schools (they are parents of reduced-lunch kids in local public schools)
- 6 months of computer and employment skills and mentoring for $100 staffed by over 60 volunteers
- presentation of computers six weeks into the program to take home and keep, (which means that their children now have computers for homework, etc.)
- graduation at the end of the course in what has become the most inspiring event in the life of our congregation. Better than Easter. More inspiring than ordination.

Students come from many countries and arrive with no skills but leave with jobs, dental benefits, etc. It is awesome. Check it out at: http://www.computercore.org/

Mission Moment Highlights Welcome Bags

Thanks to Mary (Minnesota Preacher Woman) for contributing to Monday Mission Moment today. “ Welcome to the Community Bags” are part of the church’s evangelism efforts as well as a service to new residents of the community. Here is Mary’s description of the project:

"The Welcome Bags have worked well for our congregation to welcome newcomers into our community. As a background, our community has a population of 2,500, is growing very rapidly and is a bedroom community to a larger city. The program is based upon a “Welcome Wagon” idea – and there was no Welcome Wagon in our community.

We went to a screen print store and bought large tote bags and had“Welcome to (our community) from (our church)” printed on the front along with the city logo. At the same time that we had the bags made, we solicited each area business to be a part of the Welcome Bags. They paid $100 to be included in the bags for a period of 2 years. The businesses were encouraged to include brochures or information about their business along with any goodies that they wanted to include. Some businesses used coupons or “2 for one” deals.

Many included goodies, like toothpaste from the dental office. The plumber included a box of great chocolates with the note that their customers deserve to be treated well. A travel agent included a travel mug. Our congregation included a brochure about ourselves and ourpreschool, along with a pen and some post-it notes.

Our city office provides the addresses of all the new residents from the past month. We put a nice tag on each bag along with an address of a newcomer. The bags hang on a coat rack in our entryway. Each week the announcement section of Sunday’s bulletin lists the new addresses we received from the post office that week. Members of the congregation take bags for their new neighbors.

The key to this program is that the bags are delivered by many members of the church. The outreach or evangelism is not just done by the pastor the evangelism committee, but it is done by the membership of the congregation. Many have commented how fun it has been to go and welcome newcomers to our community and invite them to our church.

We currently have 16 businesses involved of the program so the $1,600 completely paid for the tote bags and the goodies we included in the bags.

We made a contract for the businesses to sign – I would be willing to share a copy of the contract or answer any questions you may have about the program."

Don't forget to send your nominations for Wednesday Festival posts in today--use the handy email link on the sidebar. You can nominate one of your own posts, or someone else's. Your Festival hosts thank you for contributions! Keep sending ideas for Monday Mission Moment as well.

It's Mission Monday Again

For this Monday's Mission Moment we present a post by Songbird about this unique ministry at her congregation. Remember: if you have a mission project you want to tell others about, e-mail us at missionmoment@gmail.com and you may see your ministry featured on Monday someday soon.

I was sitting at a church meeting almost three years ago when I noticed a woman knitting what looked like an enormous blanket. It was actually a Prayer Shawl, a long rectangle, perfect for throwing around the shoulders, wide enough to wrap around a mother and her child, soft and comforting. I discovered that the idea for a Prayer Shawl Ministry had come from two women studying at Hartford Seminary, and I brought the idea home to Stevens Avenue Congregational Church.
I didn't expect to start knitting again myself. After a case of tendonitis, I had given up knitting. But the needles for a Prayer Shawl are so big, it occurred to me that I might be able to handle them. Soon a group of women at church were meeting to knit, and I was knitting with them.
Isn't it in 1 Thessalonians 5 that Paul admonishes us to knit without ceasing? Look it up!
Oh, well; maybe not. Perhaps he tells us to pray without ceasing, after all.
Knitting a Prayer Shawl is praying, I find. The pattern of knit 3, purl 3, is rhythmic as music. The yarn of choice is fussy enough that it requires focus from the knitter. It is inexpensive enough that cost is no barrier to participating. It comes in varied hues and solids. Many of its shades form surprising stripes that you would never expect when choosing a skein.
We made Prayer Shawls for homebound church members, for families with new babies, gave them to members in the hospital. We kept knitting when it seemed we had more than we could ever give away, and then they would be needed, and we would start again. Each Prayer Shawl has been blessed in church. On one Sunday, I brought a dozen shawls into the Sanctuary in a large basket and asked the children to hold them up so that the congregation could see the different shawls. Some children were reverently still, and others danced, and one simply spun around, the colorful shawl spread wide above her head. There are many ways to give God thanks and praise!
Twelve of the shawls spent three months last year traveling in a box to South Africa, where my friends Anne Marsh and Scott Lovaas were serving as United Church of Christ missionaries. Anne worked with a group of women who are HIV positive to develop a beadwork cooperative as a source of income. Around town I run into people wearing the little AIDS badges they beaded, hanging from safety pins, and we give each other a smile of recognition. Some are wearing pins I took off my coat to give away. Others bought them at church fairs. After two years of handling the work of the beading women's hands, my knitting ladies wanted to send the work of our hands to them. Click here for a picture of the ladies on the day they received their shawls.
Some have gone a shorter distance. My friend the Rev. Dr. Judith Blanchard is the Protestant Chaplain at Maine Medical Center. Her ministry is supported in large part by donations from Protestant churches all over the state of Maine. Our small church gives some money each year, but we also bring her shawls. Some have gone home with patients who didn't expect to ever leave the hospital. Others have been wrapped around patients who died there.
Our most recent adaptation of the Ministry is also for the hospital. Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at Maine Med has a constant population of infants born to addicted mothers, between four and eight on any given day. Some of these children will go home to their mothers, most to foster care. We are now knitting half-size prayer shawls for these babies, with the hope that whoever cares for them when they leave the hospital will see the shawls as a sign of the immeasurable value these children have in God's eyes.
When I first suggested knitting Prayer Shawls, someone told me we didn't have any knitters at church. To date, our circle of knitters is in double digits and still growing. For more information about knitting a prayer shawl, visit the Prayer Shawl Ministry website.

Monday Mission Moment: Volunteer Optometrists

Welcome to the RGBP’s new Monday blog feature—Monday Mission Moment.

PureChristianIThink (of Rebel without a Pew) and I are teamed up to bring this to you each week. Our goal is to highlight an interesting mission that our blogging community is involved in. We hope these posts will inspire more mission and outreach as you find new ideas for Christian service. Today and next Monday we will describe projects that we are familiar with. But we want and need your ongoing participation for future posts, and a photo or two is always welcome. Email your suggestions for this feature to: missionmoment@gmail.com. Please include a description of the project and the sponsoring organization.

Today’s Monday Mission is Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH), a program that my good friend and fellow church member, Dorothy Goforth, participates in each year. The young man examining a patient in the photo here is her son, Marshall, who was part of this year’s team. Thank you, Dorothy, for the photos and the story!

Now I’ll let Dorothy tell you all about it.

“ My sister, Dr. Nancy Clark of Danville, Virginia has been participating in mission trips through VOSH for many years. She has traveled throughout Mexico and Central America. Her 21 year old daughter has been part of these trips since starting high school. Three years ago a program for computer matching the eyeglass inventory with prescriptions was developed and she needed someone familiar with computers to help in the dispensary so I volunteered! I have now completed three trips with Nancy, all in San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico. This past year my 18 year old son joined us as well. What a blessing that was!

San Cristobal is high in the mountains of southern Mexico. Most of our patients are rural villagers of Mayan descent. They speak various Mayan dialects and some speak Spanish. It makes for some very interesting conversation when you have to go through a double interpreter! English is rare with the Indians, although in the town it is fairly common. Also, for the past two years, we have had Dutch optometric students on board so things get really crazy. Most of the village men and young folk read a little, while the older women do not.

For the most part the women need reading glasses to help them with their beautiful embroidery and weaving. Sunglasses are really in demand for the farmers and the children love them as well. Glasses are a coveted item and we find that many of our patients don’t want to wear them all the time – they save them for special occasions.

In San Cristobal we set up shop in the Tzotzil Bible School, which is run under the auspices of the Mexican Presbyterian Church. (Tzotzil is one of the many Mayan dialects). The patients first undergo a screening process, where their name, age, occupation and very brief medical history is taken. The first vision test with an eyechart (symbols for non readers) is done next. They then have a more detailed vision screening, at which point they will finally see one of the doctors or optometric students. If an entire village has come together, as often happens when a bus is sent for them, this process can take half a day.

Cataracts and other acute vision problems are referred to an ophthalmologist, although we have begun to realize that this doesn’t usually mean much. However we try to focus on what we can accomplish, rather than what we cannot. The prescriptions are then brought to the dispensary, where we use the computer program to select the closest match available in our inventory. Our opticians make any necessary adjustments and explain about bifocals if necessary for some of the adults. It is surprising how often we can get very close to the needed prescription. For me the most gratifying part of this work is watching people look around them with needed eyeglasses, especially a child with very poor vision who has never worn glasses before. Leave-takings are often accompanied by a hug and a kiss and a very quiet “Gracias, Hermana”.

We bring as many eyeglasses as we can in our luggage since shipping is iffy at best. In San Cristobal, as well as other sites, there is often an inventory of glasses available from past mission groups as well, though it takes much longer to match prescriptions with eyeglasses that are not in the computer inventory.

The eyeglasses are obtained through the Lions Club, as well as donations from all our churches. This is a great way to get my church involved, even though only 2 of us actually go on the trip. Our work group this year contained members from Virginia, Texas, Iowa and Holland. In the 4 ½ days that the clinic was open, we saw about 800 people. Most of them left with eyeglasses, including lots of sunglasses and reading glasses, and smiling faces.”

VOSH is a national organization with different state chapters. You can check their website for more information and lists contacts for chapters in each state. This is a project that churches of any size can get involved in. Although specific skills are required for the volunteers that go on the trips, donations of prescription glasses and non-prescription sunglasses are always needed and can be a great project for small groups.