With the Mission Fair coming up in October, this issue of the Mission Memo is focused on service. Service is a major tenet of the United Methodist Church. From the Book of Discipline in the section discussing The Process for Carrying Out Our Mission, we find:

Sure, it can be hard to make that first step to engage in community service, but the Mission Committee aims to make that step a little easier by bringing in local agencies to discuss their programs and answer your questions. Tables will be set up around Coy Hall for each of the organizations represented, such as The Salvation Army and Colorado Kids Belong. Of course there will be snacks and refreshments available for everyone. So plan on sticking around after church service on October 15th to discover and learn about all the good that is going on in our community.

Since this publication is a product of the Mission Committee, it can sometimes feel like we are espousing mission in an echo chamber. So for this issue, we solicited (coerced?😉) other perspectives. We even received a volunteered response to the solicitation in the last issue of the Mission Memo. Enjoy their mission experiences.

Tea and Tissues

Betsy, Phyllis, and I came to carry supplies to Truscott on August 14th. This is the day that kindergartners come to school for the first day with their parents. Phyllis brought cookies and limonade. I brought deviled eggs topped with chorizo. Two or three families came over to snack. I chased down everybody and anybody to see if they were interested in my English or Spanish class. I ended up talking to one couple about the Unity group that meets on Monday. We wondered if they are accepting newcomers.

I plan to go back on September 7th with a tri-fold board to talk to parents about the English/Spanish class.

Carolyn Bouchard

Caring for the Children

My mission experience at FUMC started one fall afternoon when I pulled into the parking lot and noticed a group of boys lounging around on the front lawn. They told me that they were waiting for younger sibs to be dismissed from Truscott so that the Bill Reid students could be sure that the younger kids would get home safely.

I learned that, in winter, the kids basically huddled together on the lawn for half an hour until their sibs were dismissed.

Forget the meeting! I knocked on Pastor Jane's office door and explained the kids' situation. Surely we could do "something" to provide shelter. And, of course, we Methodists are all about food. So...in cooperation with the schools, we started our after-school ministry. Complete with snacks..and, sometimes, homework help. Or to buy a winter coat for a girl who came warmed only by a threadbare sweater in late October.

That ministry lasted nearly until the pandemic. But it reinforced, for me, the necessity of looking "closer" into the lives of people who have no affiliation with us. It wasn't as "sexy" as building a house where a family had none (which is clearly important). We weren't motivated by a desire to "get new members". But we reached out to kids who had no one else to care for/about them and their families. We fed them. We hugged them and we listened to them. We even helped with their homework!

I remain thankful for our members who showed up daily to assist in this ministry. And I am thankful for "our" kids (now young adults) who still greet me at Walmart or on a street corner with a big hug. Ministry works both ways.

Sue Mullins

On the evening of June 22, 2023, the youth and adults met at the church to load the trailer and van to leave bright and early on the 23rd. We only took the van and the small trailer, so it was difficult to make everything fit within the limited area. Luckily, we had Judy Graff with us! Judy masterfully fit all our food in luggage into the confined space almost like magic. The morning of the 23rd we set off on our one-day drive to Kansas City where we stayed at Wood’s Chapel United Methodist Church’s student building.

We also spent a significant amount of time working at the Kansas City Community Assistance Center (CAC). Here we did a variety of tasks. The CAC functions as a food pantry and empowerment center. Some of our volunteers helped guests select their food in the food pantry. Some enthusiastically did more landscaping work outside (apparently, they didn't get enough of it at Saint Luke). The rest of our volunteers helped organize and restock shelves. We came back a second day to do much of the same work, but also to do some deep cleaning of the building.

Despite having a relatively small group of volunteers, we still accomplished much more than was expected and at a faster rate. Because of this, we had some extra time to help Jim Bruns with some housework. Jim helped organize all our work on the trip and had some things around his house that needed to be done that otherwise would not have. We were happy to help him and his wife however we could.

More Photos of the Trip

Work/play balance

What does Mission mean for our youth?

Isaiah 4:6 - "There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain."

Earlier this summer, several of us felt "the heat by day" working on a Habitat for Humanity home. A dozen of us, including five from Loveland FUMC, did exterior painting on a home in the Sierra Valley neighborhood of South Loveland. As the late July sun climbed in the sky, we tried to maneuver and work on the west side of the home and then the north side. But there was no getting around the fact that the east and south sides needed work too. Into the bright sunshine we went with ladders and buckets and rollers.

Reflecting at home later, I realized that if we had been smart, we would have started on the sunnier sides of the house when the sun wasn't as fierce. Life is often like that: we don't know what we should have done until it's too late to have done it.

And that's when I realized my blessing. Here I was in my quiet cool home, drinking iced tea, and reflecting on what was merely part of my day. The home we worked on was going to be a family's shelter, their cool home in the heat, their dry home in the storm, their quiet home for times of reflection.

As we continue to explore ways to serve God by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service, consider joining a Habitat work day. Even when physically taxing, it is always spiritually rewarding.

Neal Anderson