United Methodists Are Bringing Light to the Year's Dark Places

Crisis Watch Dec. 21, 2021

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As I write this column, it’s the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Starting today, each day will bring a little more light, which we all sorely need. Consequently, I thought I’d make this final Crisis Watch column about the many ways that local churches are successfully bringing light in dark places this season, while acknowledging that the major crises of our lives – the coronvirus and climate emergencies – will still be with us as 2022 rolls around.

Here are excerpts from articles about United Methodists' outreach. Click on the links for full stories.

Knitted together: Trenton church collects blankets for tornado victims | WNCT

In Trenton, N.C., Trenton United Methodist Church is collected clean quilts and blankets to send to tornado victims in Kentucky. A fabric store in Kentucky reached out to Trenton UMC member Pam Forrester, letting her know it was serving as a collection point for such donations. Then Ms. Forrester spread the word around town. So far 25 blankets and quilts have been collected, and the church hopes to gather another 50 items to send after Christmas.

What a wonderful world: Two African girls to spend Christmas in Zionsville • Current Publishing

Zionsville (Ind.) United Methodist Church has welcomed Salha Mohamed, 17, of Tanzania and Farah Ben Salah, 17, of the Republic of Tunisia, for a year 's visit through a program that brings students from predominantly Muslim countries to the United States to experience America firsthand. The Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program was begun by the U.S. State Department after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Program participants are considered “youth ambassadors” from their home countries.

Farah and Salha have helped with Zionsville UMC’s Christmas program along with volunteering with other youth and civic organizations. Zionsville resident Amy Montgomery, a single mother with three college-age children, serves as the girls’ “host mother.”

Bellefonte's Faith UMC Community Christmas Dinner Is a Ministry of Homemade Service and Flavor – StateCollege.com

Faith United Methodist Church in Bellefonte, Pa., plans to resume its full-service Community Christmas Day Dinner. This year marks the dinner’s 24th event, although 2020 was conducted via take-out or delivered meals, according to Andy Morgan, lead pastor. Faith UMC expects to serve 700-800 people this Christmas Day.

Cape Henlopen Elks donate $2500 to Epworth food ministry – Cape Gazette

Epworth UMC in Lewes, Del., got a big boost this year for its Food and Love Ministry and food bank with a $2,500 donation from Cape Henlopen Elks Lodge 2540. The donation was in keeping with the Elks’ mission to fund “projects that improve the quality of life” in their local communities. Epworth UMC’s food ministry provides meals for many food-insecure residents, while other charities in the Lewes-Rehoboth community use the church as a distribution center.

The Melting Pot provides food, companionship to downtown homeless community | Local ... – Johnson City Press

Matthew 25 spurred Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church in Johnson City, Tenn., to set up a feeding ministry called The Melting Pot after a 1989 fire in a downtown apartment building killed 16 people and displaced the surviving residents.

“It’s not ambiguous,” Munsey Missions Coordinator Steve Wheeler told the Johnson City Press. “If we are going to call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ, that’s what we are supposed to do. Discipleship isn’t a spectator sport. It involves that we be fully participating in our world and in our community around us.”

Monday through Friday, The Melting Pot joins with Good Samaritan Ministries to host Our Daily Bread, a cooperative effort to provide lunches for homeless people. On Saturdays, The Melting Pot hosts The Shepherd’s Breakfast and on Sundays there’s a brunch before Munsey Memorial UMC’s “open door” worship at 11 a.m.

At every opportunity, volunteers are encouraged to sit with those being served and get to know them, Mr. Wheeler said. “We don’t turn anyone away. They’re all children of God.”

Winter clothing, care packages given to homeless in Jackson - WJTV

Anderson United Methodist Women’s Ministry in Jackson, Miss., distributed clothing and care packages to homeless people in Jackson on Dec.18. The goods collected during Jackson’s Share the Love Winter Drive were given out at Pittman Park. An event organizer told a local TV station that benefactors wanted recipients to know someone cares about them.

Divide Food Basket helps - Georgetown Gazette

The United Methodist Church in Georgetown, Calif., has marshaled nearly 10 other area churches to contribute to The Divide Food Basket, which has operated for more than 25 years. Current chairman Gary Johnson told the Georgetown Gazette that food is provided without question about the receipient’s status. Originally a Christmastime project, the food bank now serves the community year-round, Johnson said.

“We keep an eye out for different needs all year long in order to help community members,” Johnson told the Gazette. Most recently the DFB gathered donations to help a local church that was vandalized.

Gift-wrapping at Bristol church goes to a good cause – The Bristol Press

Youths at Prospect United Methodist Church in Bristol, Conn., spent their Advent wrapping gifts to raise money to benefit young patients at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

During the Sunday morning fellowship hour, Prospect UMC’s Junior Methodist Youth Fellowship wrapped gifts that church members brought for others. Members then donated money to the gift fund, which was guided by a “wish list” posted online by the children’s hospital. Twelve-year-old Gianna Zaldivar told a local news outlet that the project was “a great feeling.”

Wesley United Methodist Church Making a Difference in Wiping Out Hunger | | news-journal.com – Longview News-Journal

Members of Wesley United Methodist Church in Longview, Texas, have been practicing a “Reverse Advent Calendar” tradition in which they fill bags with food to bring to the church Christmas Eve for Our Daily Bread Food Pantry. Wesley UMC recently received the food pantry’s “Hunger Heroes of Distinction” award for its ongoing support.

On a “Wesley Saturday” at Our Daily Bread, church members help fill bags and baskets for food-insecure families while the church’s pastor, the Rev. Bill Fisackerly, offers to pray with recipients waiting in line.

Wesley UMC recently became a distribution center for Our Daily Bread’s “Baby Basics” program that provides diapers and other necessities for infants.

Church thanks Carthage hospital workers with gift bags - WWNY

Carthage (NY) United Methodist Church said thank you to more than 500 health care workers at Carthage Area Hospital on Dec. 15 with gift bags containing hot chocolate mix, popcorn, chips, and candy. The bags were distributed at the hospital, which also gave each worker a blanket. Carthage UMC members told a local TV station that they wanted to express their gratitude to the staff for their work during the coronavirus pandemic.

Cleveland Restoration Society unveils first Civil Rights Trail marker at Cory Church – Freshwater Cleveland

Cory United Methodist Church— describe as “a significant historical and cultural landmark in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood” – became the first site to receive a historical marker designating  Cleveland’s African American Civil Rights Trail  Dec. 10 from the Cleveland Restoration Society.

Freshwater Cleveland reported: “Earlier this year the CRS received a $500,000 grant from the National Park Service African American Civil Rights Historic Preservation Fund for exterior restoration of the church,  which continues to be the center of a faith community, for social transformation, and rebirthing of the Glenville neighborhood. … Cory was chosen for one of the 10 markers for its role in the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.”

In opening remarks, pastor Gregory Kendrick described Cory UM as “a place of justice, a place of hope, and a place of love.” He also shared greetings from United Methodist Church Ohio East Bishop Tracy Smith Malone.

A tornado destroyed their church. But this Mayfield congregation's faith is not shaken– Louisville Courier-Journal

Mayfield (Ky.) First United Methodist Church has seen love put into action since an EF4 tornado devastated the community on Dec. 11. The congregation met for worship Dec. 19 in nearby Christ UMC because the tornado severely damaged its own sanctuary.

Longtime church member Nanette Easley, who joined Mayfield First United Methodist in the 1970s, told the Louisville Courier-Journal: “We're just all in shock to see our history, our heritage just wiped away. I think to come together for this shared time of worship is what we rely on in times like this."

See photos from this service at Church Services held in Mayfield after devastating Western Kentucky tornadoes - Courier-Journal

And now the sobering news

Good as these reports are, we can’t ignore the fact that, as The Guardian reported Dec. 20:

“Omicron is the dominant version of Covid in the US, federal health officials have announced, racing ahead of Delta and other variants and accounting for 73% of new infections last week.”

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showed an almost sixfold increase in Omicron’s share of infections in only one week.

“In much of the country, its prevalence is even higher. It is responsible for an estimated 90% of new infections in the New York area, the south-east, the industrial mid-west and the Pacific north-west.

“Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has also declared 2022 to be the year ‘we end the pandemic,’ while sounding a new warning about Omicron and calling for some events over the festive period to be postponed.

  • "Should we be sticking to our holiday plans? Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, has warned that festivities could lead to increased cases, overwhelmed health systems and more deaths, adding: “An event cancelled is better than a life cancelled.”
  • "What is Joe Biden doing about Omicron? Half a billion at-home coronavirus tests will be sent free to the American public in an effort to fight the surging variant, the president … announce[d] ...”

If you’re going ahead with Christmas festivities (as I imagine most will, needing social contact after long separation), please follow established protocols for masking, distancing, sanitizing, and immunizations.

If you didn’t like 2021’s weather …

… Be prepared for the likelihood that 2022 will bring more extreme weather events.

In 2021 we had outrageous extremes: killing heat in the Northwest, deadly cold in the Midwest and Texas, hurricanes and widespread flooding in the Southeast, and lethal tornadoes in December. To get a clear picture of the year’s meteorlogical disasters, read this Washington Post article: Cold, heat, fires, hurricanes and tornadoes: The year in weather disasters.

As bad as things were this year, they were just as bad or worse when Jesus was born. That he was born at all remains a central mystery and miracle of the Christian faith. Despite our circumstances, let’s celebrate the Christmas season with hope, comforting one another in our losses and rejoicing at the love we give and receive. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011 with sponsorship from St. Stephen United Methodist Church in Mesquite, Texas.