The Journey Outward: What is the Journey Outward? It is the response to our Journey Inward. Our Journey Inward prepares our hearts and our lives to live outside ourselves. Therefore, we are called to love our neighbor as ourselves, and to engage that call authentically and joyfully. We seek to love our neighbor not because we have to, but because we want to, out of the deep gratitude we have to God for our life in God. The Journey Outward is utterly dependant on the foundation of our Journey Inward. Yet our Journey Inward is incomplete without an authentic Journey Outward. We have often used, as an example, a dove. A dove needs two wings to fly. A dove cannot assume flight without two wings. If one wing is damaged or broken while in flight, it will plummet to the ground. We see the Journey Inward and the Journey Outward as the two wings of that dove, and we pray that these two journeys bring about the peace, the shalom, that the dove represents. Covenant has a long history as a servant church. All of our servan ministries have emerged from a vision of one or more members of the Covenant family. These visions have then been shared with the Covenant family, to discern if the vision becomes a call. There is no specific formula for this discernment. It is as unique as each individual or group of individuals. It might be said that these visions never come from the top down. Rather, they come from within. Within a heart, or a small group of hearts, or the entire congregation. Some visions become a call and a ministry, and some do not. All are challenged to seek and to risk and to dream. Please find below an overview of our current Neighborhood Ministries that define our Journey Outward.
Barney Maffett's: Barney Maffetts is a small cafe at the corner of Barney and Maffett streets in Muskegon Heights. Barney Maffetts began its life in 1997, when the Covenant Church Board of Deacons purchased the former Boelkins Grocery Store after 80 wonderful years of business. Rumor had it that someone wanted to buy the building and turn it into a liquor store. So our Deacons immediately paid five hundred dollars in earnest money, and the congregation completed the purchase soon after. Our deacons and other church members then spent six months in prayer and action to discern what might be done with the space. Considerations included reopening as a low cost grocery store, to have additional storage space for church and ministry needs, as additional office space, or as a small cafe. Why a cafe? Because that is what our neighbors wanted after surveying the residents all around Barney Maffetts. The Cafe, after a full year of renovations by church members and friends, opened for five years of ministry in 1998. The mission, to be a beautiful, character fille coffee shop where the gospel is gently shared through kindness and service. It is a safe gathering place bringing diverse people and cultures together through avenues of art, music and conversation, and where great coffee and food are served was faithfully lived out in joy, in struggle, in deep and rich fellowship with neighbors near and far. In 2003, Barney Maffetts closed as a business, but ministry lived on there. Soon after closing, a local storefront congregation, called The Church, pastored by Rev. Jim Clark, began worshiping at Barney Maffetts on Sunday mornings, and met for Bible study and prayer on Tuesday evenings. Early in 2005, tragedy struck the neighboring YMCA Youth Activity Center. Arson was committed on two different occasions by some young men from the neighborhood, and the center suffered extensive damage. As the center went through an extensive and beautiful remodeling process, the kids and staff met at Barney Maffetts on a daily basis. In the fall of 2005, they were able to return to the center, and we were deeply grateful to have had Barney Maffetts available on weekdays for their purposes. Barney Maffetts also continued to be used for special gatherings by both Covenant and the community. And now, a new day has dawned for Barneys! After more than a year, a collaboration has emerged, including Muskegon/Muskegon Heights Weed and Seed, Pioneer Resources, and Covenant Church. Because of the fine efforts and cooperation of all involved, Barney Maffetts reopened in April of 2006 as a the wonderful cafe it once was, and now even better under the excellent food service expertise of Pioneer Resources, AND, as a Safe Haven, called the Barney Maffett Empowerment Center. Sponsored and funded by Weed and Seed, the Empowerment Center provides internet and computer services to all who are present at Barney Maffetts, with special regard for immediate residents, and their interest in and need for computer training and education. Exciting days await our neighborhood as this collaboration unfolds!
Summer Recreation: Summer Rec. will celebrate its 10th year of ministry in 2006. The Covenant Church Neighborhood Ministry Group, meeting in 1995 and 1996, was seeking out a bold new initiative for an authentic way to touch the lives of our wonderful immediate neighbors. After much prayer, discussion, and conversations with neighbors, the group proposed to Covenant Church, that we initiate a new recreation program, with a focus on elementary and middle school aged kids. The first priority, after the congregation affirmed this vision and call, was to get a site ready. We resurfaced an old church parking lot across Leahy Street, fenced it in at the request of our neighbors, put up four basketball hoops, and placed three new picnic tables in one corner for arts and crafts. Nothing fancy, but the costs incurred were significant, and the support of the Synod of the Great Lakes, the Muskegon Classis, both entities of the Reformed Church in America, and of the Community Foundation for Muskegon County were indispensable. Along with that, of course, were the generous hearts and hands of the Covenant family. It all looked pretty good! For ten years now, our neighborhood has enjoyed weekday basketball, jump rope, games, foursquare, kickball, street hockey, and arts and crafts throughout the summer, supervised by paid staff persons and many servants from the congregation. Summer Rec. was the catalyst for almost all the other ministries that make up our Journey Outward. Only healthCARE and Tutoring has been around longer. Something seemed to have challenged and called us to a new level of servanthood. Summer Rec. has been a witness of faithfulness, including a LOT of fun, but also some struggle. Our children who attend every day are starved for attention and life giving activity. Days get very hot, and staff and volunteers get tired. Then multiply that by 10 years of consistent and loving ministry! But we pray that God will continue to bless and guide this ministry, as we seek renewal and new vision for a ministry that very directly touches the lives and hearts of children, right here, in this neighborhood, and in this church. Staff and servants have been touched, too, and we pray for many renewed years of Summer Rec. to come. Come and help us out this summer. All our children need is your presence and attention.
Homework House: Covenant Church has been tutoring at Lindbergh Elementary School for about 35 years. Our church members, and other friends and neighbors, tutor in the school, which is "kitty corner" from our church location. The teachers at Lindbergh set the agenda for us. First, all turoring is one on one. Second, each student they select for tutoring has special needs unique to who they are. So, every situation will be different. In other words, we don't have a "canned" approach to tutoring. We listen to the student's teachers, and respond according to their wishes for their students. They set the agenda, and we seek to respond accordingly. We usually have about ten to fifteen tutors every year. We need many, many more. If you or your organization would like to partner with us, we would be most grateful. This ministry makes profound differences in children's lives, and it doesn't cost the church or anyone else a penny. We just need people who want to help some very vulnerable children become better students, in the hope that tutoring will make a life long positive difference in a child's life. If you are interested, contact our church ffice at 231-737-1491.
Health Care: The mission of healthCARE is to improve the health status and health education of minoority groups and those with limited resources in Muskegon and Muskegon Heights. HealthCARE promotes health among the poor throughChristianAdvocacyReferral, andEducationhealthCARE is a Christian organization, dedicated to promoting health using a lay health worker model, where friends and neighbors educate, challenge, and support one another to improve their health, and that of the community. Under this model, "natural helpers" in the community are certified with 30hours of specialized health training. Then these healthCARE Workers pass on this information to others in their churches and neighborhoods. We strongly emphasize providing services that are relationship-based, and based on the felt needs of the participant.We partner primarily with African-American churches to target medically under-served, low-income, minority persons. Our healthCARE Workers are "interpreters" of health related information between those in the poor communities and those in the health professions.We provide services in many settings, primarily in the African-American community. Our most effective services are provided in the participant's own home. In addition, we regularly serve people in community settings such as churches, schools, and community centers.We use a tracking tool called a "Personal Health Improvement Plan" with every particiapant we serve. This tool helps the healthCARE Workers and participants agree on a plan to take concrete steps to improve the participant's health. In addition, we are able to carefully track the progress the participant is making in taking responsiblity for their own health. Wilmer Cullen has been the full time coordinator for healthCARE for over sixteen years, and leads a dedicated staff of over 20 fully trained volunteers, and together serve over 10,000 units of service annually, including 2,750 early detection screenings and 1,200 home visits annually. Monthly programming for children includes over 70 kids per month.
Hygiene Pantry: Hygiene Pantry at covenant Church is a response to the fact that food stamps do not cover hygiene products for those who use food stamps. In its sixth year of operation, our hygiene pantry is also a collaboration between Covenant Church and other helping agencies, organizations, and companies in and outside of Muskegon County.Like all of our neighborhood ministries, the backbone of our hygiene pantry is servants. Many are from Covenant Church, and there are many from our neighborhood, the greater Muskegon Heights and Muskegon neighborhood, and our wonderful friends from Goodwill. All serve faithfully, with positive attitudes and energy, and work very hard on the last Thursday of every month, where all our servants gather well before 11:00 am to prepare product for residents from all over Muskegon County. When the doors open at 11:00, we welcome anywhere from 100 to 150 people in to receive hygiene goods, including shampoo, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper, feminine hygiene, hand lotion, and more. Pfizer Corporation has been a very generous contributor of many products, and we are very grateful for their support. The persons we serve almost always represent more than just themselves. So, on a monthly basis, we sometimes serve households representing as many as five hundred people.There is a lot of planning that goes on between hygiene pantry days. Kathy McBride is our product coordinator. Kathy is one of our deacons, and has been a member of Covenant for about twenty years. Every month she has to figure out how to get thousands of pounds of product from various locations to Covenant. It is a huge task, and one of our favorite and most efficient ways of unloading and stocking takes place immediately after worship, where all who are able help unload the truck, which is parked right at the entrance to the sanctuary. Mary Alice DeWitt handles all the paperwork, who, along with her dedicated team of administrators, are always trying to fine tune our process.We are always looking for more servants, and, of course, monetary or product support. If you are interested, contact the church office at 231-737-1491.
Supper House: The good people of Temple United Methodist Church had a vision a number of years ago. It was to bring as many area churches as possible together for a great purpose: to feed the hungry through a ministry called Supper House. Covenant Church has had the privilege of being one of the 20 or 25 partners in this grace-filled endeavor ever since. Every fourth Thursday of each month, a group of 8 to 15 servants from Covenant meet at Temple at 3:30 for prayer, then serve a delicious meal in a restaurant setting to 80 to 150 people. Those who are served are treated with dignity, joy, and respect. They are seated and served, just like a nice restaurant. There are tablecloths and flowers, and of course, GREAT service! We also, along with all the other churches, cover the cost of the meal. Our coordinator is Lynn Forward. Lynn does a great job keeping everyone informed of the needs of Supper House, keeps in touch with all our servants, and always makes that fourth Thursday a lot of fun.The vision and power of this ministry initiated and maintained by Temple UMC cannot be overstated. We are so thankful for their faithfulness and ecumenical spirit. Please contact us if you would like to serve with us, or if you would like to make a contribution, especially to Temple, because they are always incurring expenses that are not covered by the rest of their partners in this exciting, yet very demanding ministry to the poor.
Simba Circle: The Simba Circle is an Africentric community grounded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that creates a space for listening, teaching, and responding to the needs of young African American males. Simba Circle is determined to RESCUE their gifts, RELEASE their potential, and RESTORE their promise.The Simba Circle is a national boys rites of passage program, created eleven years ago by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), with groups in Milwaukee, Chicago, Columbus, and, now, Muskegon Heights.A year ago (early 2005), the Stony Lake Conference of the ELCA collaborated with Covenant Church to begin a Simba Circle community in Muskegon Heights. We began with a retreat in April, that included about 20 neighborhood boys, and 6 potential mentors. Many of those boys also attended the Simba Circle camp that was held at Stony Lake this past summer. Simba Circle continues to grow, with the hiring of a part-time coordinator, Kimberly Simms, to facilitate mentors and regularly scheduled group meetings at Covenant Church. These weekly gatherings will include help with homework, and primarily focus on RESCUE, RELEASE, and RESTORE.Covenant Church is deeply grateful to the Stony Lake Conference of the ELCA for their vision and collaboration, and we are honored to walk beside them.
|
