I’ve done a LOT more work on the church website over the past six months than I ever anticipated needing to do in ministry. New pages, new features, new graphics, a blog, fifty-nine (!) sermon audio files and counting, plus editing and updating information that was already there and trying to make everything as user-friendly as possible–it’s been a learning experience and a labor of love (with occasional bouts of frustration and impolite words when I couldn’t figure out how to program a page to do what I wanted it to do).
And yet, despite all of these innovations, the website page that I’m perhaps most proud of is one that existed before I came along, one that I’ve been routinely editing and adding to for several years: our Mission page, which sketches out some of the many projects and collections we’ve led or taken part in just over the past five or so years. This week, I wanted to share just the first five entries of the (alphabetized) list. You can read about more next week, or click here to find the full list!
BOOK BUDDIES
In 2018, we started a “Book Buddies” program, in which volunteers take shifts to read with second graders at Paddock Elementary School right across the street. Every Wednesday while school is in session, we get to hear stories as the kids practice reading out loud!
BUNNY MONEY
We started a new Easter tradition in 2019 by filling the plastic eggs at our egg hunt with plastic “bunny money.” We had one basket designated for a summer camp scholarship and one basket designated for “Books on Bikes,” and the kids used their plastic coins to vote for the charity they wanted to receive a donation. On behalf of the youth of Peoples, and at their request, we wrote a check to “Books on Bikes”!
CANOPY ON THE CORNER
On Halloween, we host a “canopy on the corner,” offering cookies and hot cider to trick-or-treaters and their parents!
GREEN TAPE SUNDAYS
We believe that there’s no “red tape” in helping to solve hunger in our community. On the first Sunday of each month, we push a shopping cart up the aisle to collect food. Giving food to Aid in Milan, a local food pantry, is just as much an offering as the money we place in the plates.