New Hampshire

By Alexx Wood, New England Conference director of communications.

Throughout the world, United Methodists headed out their doors to serve their communities on April 24 and 25, as part of the denomination-wide Change the World event weekend. Congregations around the world were invited to schedule a community-based workday this weekend, and to support the fight against malaria through World Malaria Day activities and offerings on April 25.

New England United Methodists jumped right in, with churches of all shapes, sizes, and locations scheduling life-changing, world-changing mission opportunities and events!

Worcester, MA church hosts "24 Hours on the Street" to Change the World.

Wesley United Methodist Church in Worcester, MA, in partnership with StandUp For Kids, held a two-day Change the World event beginning on Friday night. Volunteers worked to raise awareness about the homeless and at risk youth population in Worcester through their 2nd annual “24 Hours on the Street” event. Activities throughout the event included a talent show, team trivia, a candlelight vigil, a picnic, a scavenger hunt, and a sleep out on Wesley’s front lawn. The entire community was invited to join in; some came just for one activity, some volunteered, and some spent the entire 24 hours participating in the event.

Some of the volunteers that helped organize the talent showcase at the 24 Hours on the Street event in Worcester, MA. Photo by Christine Flagg.

The event was an incredible outreach and witness to the community, which also raised funds and collected non-perishable food donations for the homeless.

StandUp For Kids (www.standupforkids.org) was founded with the mission to help homeless youth. They do this every day by going to the streets to find, help, and stabilize homeless and at risk youth. Wesley Church has been home to the StandUp for Kids Worcester program since 2008.

Dixmont UMC in Maine offers food and friendship to the community

The friends and members of the Dixmont United Methodist Church in Dixmont, ME filled baskets with food items including fruit and baked goods and delivered them to members of the community.

The congregation had identified individuals who were either recovering from surgery, elderly or shut ins, or even some that they thought would just appreciate a visit. Church members then delivered the baskets to them, along with a gift certificate for a free meal at one of the church’s monthly breakfasts.

It was a time of service, but also building relationships. “We enjoyed visiting with our neighbors,” said Robin Vile, lay leader at Dixmont UMC. “In addition to hopefully blessing those we served today, this day was a blessing for our congregation as well.”

Fitchburg, MA congregation gets involved in community-wide makeover of a local middle school.

Faith United Parish of Fitchburg, MA, a congregation of The United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ, connected with a larger community initiative by partnering with the local Outreach to Teach group to do an "extreme makeover" of an urban middle school in need of repair. They teamed up with a group of students from Fitchburg State College to provide the staff and students of the Longsjo Middle School with some freshly painted classrooms, an operating theater, and the love from many volunteers.

Volunteers in Fitchburg, MA scraped, painted, and worked to make an urban middle school a better place.

Rev. Justin Hildebrandt of Faith United Parish commented on the mission focus of the congregation. "Two years ago I challenged our small congregation to get their hands dirty for the sake of Christ's ministry. The congregation has stepped up to the plate with a youth mission trip, hosting a free medical van, and volunteering at a family shelter.” Helping to rejuvenate the Middle School, he said, which was the building where many of the congregation members graduated when it was a high school, was the next logical step. “Our hope is that people will come to know us not only as the church with a beautiful building but as the church that loves as Christ loved in service to the community."

"We're giving back to our community in faith and love as Jesus taught us to do,” agreed congregation member Warren Potts. “From a practical perspective, things are cleaner and crisper, making [the students] feel better and better able to learn."

Dozens of churches gather to learn and serve in Northern Maine.

In the Northern Maine District of the New England Conference, clergy and laity from more than 25 churches joined Bishop Peter Weaver and District Superintendent Rev. Pat MacHugh for a full day of mission learning, exploration, and service.

In the morning session, the clergy spent time with Bishop Weaver discussing and sharing ideas around the mission of the church, and how to better serve the needs of our communities for the sake of the Gospel. The laity spent the morning together learning about local and global ministry opportunities such as prayer shawl ministries, volunteer opportunities at Camp Mechuwana, and UMCOR kit assembly. In addition, the morning included gathering and providing books to volunteers for delivery to inmates of the jail, which is just a short walk away from the church. There was also a food collection for the local homeless shelter, as well as a collection of items for donation to a domestic violence shelter in the area.

Boxes of books were collected for inmates at the local jail at the Northern Maine Change the World event. Photo by Alexx Wood.

In the afternoon, the groups gathered together for worship centered around the Change the World theme, and then headed out into the community on a mission walk to explore the local community, understand some of the needs, and learn how to be in mission “right where we are”.

Bishop Weaver then witnessed to the impact of simply “being present” and paying attention to the situations and needs of the people in the community. He encouraged each congregation to continue to focus on being in mission in whatever way God has uniquely equipped them, wherever God has placed them to serve. “Imagine the impact of more than 600 churches in Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont all joining hearts and hands in their communities to love, to work with, and to serve our neighbors. Multiply this by churches across the globe, and together we can truly transform the world.”

Portland, Maine faith communities engage in “Random Acts of Kindness”

New Light and Chestnut UMC faith communities in Portland, ME worked to Change the World by coordinating a fun-filled day to put their faith into action in the community on Saturday, April 24. Activities included gathering for a light breakfast at Hope.Gate.Way., the community center and gathering place for the congregations , then moving out into the community to serve in a variety of opportunities to make a difference in the lives of their neighbors.

People of all ages were able to engage in one or more of the service opportunities, and everyone got involved in activities like a neighborhood clean-up along the streets and sidewalks of Portland's Parkside Neighborhood; making fleece blankets for homeless children and delivering them to the family shelter; face-painting at a "Family Expo" event sponsored by a social service organization in the city; or by participating in the cookie-baking project. The group made, bagged and delivered 400 cookies to doors at a housing complex which is home to many elderly and/or disabled members of the community. The bags of cookies were hung on doorknobs and mail boxes with a tag saying "You are loved."

Rev. Allen Ewing-Merrill said the congregation calls this kind of project a "random act of kindness" – an activity this faith community engages in regularly. "As a church and as the hands and feet of Jesus in our community, we try to change the world a little bit every day."

But the community was particularly excited about participating in the Change the World day of service. "Knowing that there were thousands of churches around the globe working in their communities, too, made us feel very connected," he said, adding the hope that this movement will continue to grow. "In the lives of those we touched on this day, we did change the world. And tomorrow, we'll try to change the world a little more. And the next day a little more, and the next day..."

See more New England Change the World events here.

As noted by both Bishop Weaver and Rev. Ewing-Merrill, changing the world is an ongoing effort. New England congregations are continuing to focus on mission and service through the Leap Into Mission effort throughout the year. Some of the upcoming events and ongoing activities include:

Samaritan Inn Residents and Westfield, MA downtown area benefit from congregation's efforts

Throughout Lent, a group at First United Methodist Church of Westfield, MA, brought a traveling worship service to the Samaritan Inn, the area homeless shelter. Led by The Rev. Valerie M. Roberts-Toler, they brought good coffee and home baked goods, and shared Scripture, their faith journeys, and lots of music. They also gave out Bibles. This Leap into Mission was very warmly received and they are planning to go back soon.

The congregation is taking an additional Leap into Mission as they take the lead in organizing a downtown clean up day on May 1st. All of the downtown churches are being invited to bring volunteers. In collaboration with the area clergy association, First UMC-Westfield will be providing both a cook-out and a band to celebrate when all are done with their community Spring Cleaning efforts.

Worship Service” To Have New Meaning for the United Parish of Upton

The United Parish of Upton in Upton, MA will on Sunday, May 2nd by sponsoring a "Faith in Action" Sunday. Immediately after an abbreviated worship service, they will head out to serve in the community. Activities will include doing yard clean up for seniors, picking up trash along public roads, helping to prepare the beds for the town's community garden, sorting clothes and making a meal for a shelter, and sewing reusable grocery bags to give away at the food pantry. The congregation considers this an exapansion of their worship service celebration to include many in their community.

Sudbury Methodist Church Collects School Supplies

The John Marshall Elementary School in Dorchester, MA benefited from the Leap into Mission that the nearby Sudbury United Methodist Church took this past February. A new ministry of collecting and donating school supplies resulted in the entire Third, Fourth and Fifth grades - or 292 children - receiving much needed school supplies. “This was the first year for such a collection and no one was sure how many school supplies might be donated,” said Beth Brykman, congregation member at Sudbury UMC. “The results far exceeded our ambitious goal of donating enough supplies for 200 children!”

The new supplies - 584 big pink erasers, 292 boxes of crayons, 292 boxes of markers, 292 boxes of colored pencils, 584 post-it pads, 3504 pencils, 584 glue sticks, 292 pairs of scissors, 292 binders, 292 spiral notebooks, 584 highlighters, and 292 calculators - were delivered classroom by classroom, so that each teacher could hand out the items as they are needed. “Since this was a huge success,” Ms. Brykman commented, “we plan to run the collection again next year, to expand to other grade levels needing these supplies.”

Loving and serving our neighbors is what it means to be the church. This Change the World event was an exciting and inspiring time of new ideas and new connections, but it was also simply one weekend in an ongoing journey as live out our faith day by day. It is a journey that leads us out beyond this one effort, beyond this one weekend, to continue to get involved and find new ways to serve in our communities, and to be a part of Christ's ongoing mission to transform the world!

Bishop Peter Weaver of the New England Conference encourages congregations to leap into mission in new and exciting ways this year. Photo by Alexx Wood.

So get involved. Change the world today!

For more information on the Change the World events in our local churches, and for volunteer opportunities and ideas for mission projects, visit www.neumc.org/missionleap.

Some of the individual stories mentioned above are available here:

See New England congregations in other Change the World news at umc.org...
Churches gear up to Change the World
Churches Change the World in many ways

For previous news on the Change the World event, click here.

The effort continues.

The way church should be.