Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Grace Who???

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can,

at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

~John Wesley

That was our goal when we started: to do as much good as we could, in all the ways we could imagine, in all the places our small group could reach out to, throughout the months and years of our existence, to each soul that we might touch, for as long as the good Lord would allow us to exist. I still think that was a worthy and genuine goal for First United Methodist’s satellite church in Hopkinton. So, with a grant of $20,000 from the Annual Conference, and a contingent of about 27 people, we set about the work of doing the impossible with insufficient people and inadequate resources. We knew the odds were against us, we had detractors (still do), but we tried anyway.
Teilhard de Chardin said, “It is our duty as human beings to proceed as though the limits of our capabilities do not exist.” So the folks at Grace proceeded. We donated over 150 pairs of blue jeans to kids starting school; provided mosquito nets for families in Africa; gave solar cookers to refugee families in Darfur; raised funds for ophthalmic care in Afghanistan and contributed to Katrina Church recovery; sent devotional books to our troops deployed overseas; furnished thousands of dollars to UMCOR; donated hats, scarves and mittens to the Mustard Seed; sent money, supplies and missionaries to our friends in ParaĆ­so, D.R.; provided critical and confidential help to needy families; baptized babies; sang, praised, prayed and worshipped our triune God; served the Eucharist and confessed our sins; transfigured and transformed; walked for peace; taught children to work for peace; purchased a heifers, countless chicks, bees and geese; welcomed over 77 children to Vacation Bible School; made blankets for babies in Afghanistan; established a unique relationship with the Episcopal Church in Hopkinton; donated over 400 health kits to Haiti; and participated with 900 other United Methodist Churches to “Change the World” last weekend. We even paid mission shares when none were assessed and contributed to “Together for Tomorrow.”
Still, there are people who wonder who we are, what we do, where we do it, and why. There are people who question whether Grace has any future. After working in this ministry for nearly eight years, I can tell you, we are the ones who do the impossible, with insufficient people and inadequate resources. We are a satellite of First United Methodist Church, a dream that FUMC had in May of 2001, but most have forgotten. Of the 13 “Long-View Goals for the Year 2010” established at FUMC in 2001,the Grace satellite is one of a handful accomplished. We may not be the largest faith community in the area, but big hearts live at Grace. A local reporter asked me, “How do you do so much with so little?” “We believe,” is all I could say.