In 1959 West Nash UMC was established as a $10 Club church in a white house on the outskirts of downtown Wilson. When I joined in 1978, the house had been replaced by a sanctuary and education building surrounded by restaurants, banks, offices, retail stores, and lots of street traffic. To get breathing room, we purchased an adjacent lot with two buildings.
We used our buildings for worship, Sunday School, Girl and Boy Scouts, and VBS. Eighteen years ago, our classrooms became a daily preschool, and five years ago, we began hosting a Summer Literacy Program where struggling 1st and 2nd graders become proficient readers, and their parents’ support skills are nourished. Our fellowship hall is the site for regular blood drives, sorting food for needy families, and collecting tables full of school supplies. Our hallway has space for a little red wagon regularly filled with items for a local food pantry.
The adjacent buildings are now a youth center and a thriving thrift store, which sells clothing and household goods for low prices and donates $6000 in profits to community assistance organizations every month.
For decades our parking lot has provided a discreet entry for Al-Anon meetings, and it is perfect for our drive-through prayer events. Our latest venture is sharing worship, Sunday school, and office space with Winstead UMC as they await the construction of their new building located on what is now the outskirts of downtown Wilson.
We are commanded in Matthew 22 to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We sing, “the church is not a building…the church is the people.” But, as church people, we use our buildings to feed, clothe, educate, heal, comfort, shelter, support, and love our neighbors and ourselves. Taken literally, our table is a piece of furniture where nourishing things are served. By extension, our church is a building where nourishment is served.
Gracious God, help us to add extensions and pull up chairs to your table. May our buildings become banquet halls where the bodies, minds, and souls of our members and our neighbors are nourished by your love and grace. Amen.
Linda Proseus serves as the Lay Leader at West Nash UMC in Wilson, NC.
Our theme for this year’s Lenten reflections is Graceful Hospitality. 2023 marks the 70th anniversary of the Ten Dollar Club, now known as the New Room Society. We give thanks for our Conference’s ongoing commitment to co-creating new places for new people to gather in communion with Jesus Christ and extending graceful hospitality to all of God’s children.