news article

Churches plan Charge Conference mission project

November 6, 2014 / By Beth DiCocco / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Churches in the Oneonta District have participated in joint, regional Charge Conferences for the past couple of years. But this year, one group of churches is trying something new: Using part of that time to do a mission project together.

The 12 churches that call themselves Gospel Hills Ministries will be creating "care packs" for distribution in their communities. The care packs will include personal-care items such as soap, tissues, Band Aids, hairbrushes, etc. that are not covered by SNAP (Food Stamp) benefits.

The plan is to create the packs during the Charge Conference and then distribute them on Sunday, Nov.16, 2014.

The Gospel Hills churches are: Afton, Bainbridge, Coventry (in Greene), Union Valley (in Bainbridge), Franklin, Treadwell, Guilford, North Afton, Sidney, Unadilla, Unadilla Center and Sand Hill (in Unadilla) UMCs. The name comes from the former Gospel Hills Cooperative Parish.

Terri Bickford is lay leader and president of the church council at the Coventry UMC. Bickford admitted to initially resisting the idea of adding more duties to the already busy agenda of the Charge Conference, but fully embraces the project.

"The Oneonta District is trying to make the churches more visible and make plain the fact that we're there to help, there to reach out to other people," Bickford said.

Bickford hopes that by joining forces and distributing the care packs at the same time, it will "make the mission plain," creating greater visibility.

Bringing the churches together by region, Bickford said, may help churches find other ways to cooperate as well. "It all goes back to making disciples for Jesus Christ," she said.

Oneonta District Superintendent the Rev. Jan Rowell thinks so, too, and said she's pleased that the churches came up with this idea and are reaching out to other community groups to bring the project together.

"I'm excited that they are collaborating in this way," she said. "That's the thing I hope others see, the opportunity for collaboration in ministry."

For members of smaller congregations, coming together at Charge Conference can be empowering, Rev. Rowell said.

"Some of the people who come to the Charge Conference may not have had that experience of worshiping with so many people who all share the values and the work," she said.

And the mission project only expands that feeling of connection, she said.

"It's an opportunity for people from local congregations to feel their strength together and to understand how they can be in mission in wider ways," she said. "It's an experience that they have of being part of the wider Church."

Bickford is a lifelong member of the Coventry UMC, which was her grandmother and parents' church as well. She said she believes the key to thriving is reaching out to the community, and as a small church, that can be done better with other churches as partners.

"My church is very important to me, and that's probably true of most people who have been in the church for a long time," Bickford said. "Members of smaller churches don't want to see their church closed, but we need to make a difference. We need to let people know we're here and that there's somebody in their community who truly cares."