Stories

The Pause Made Us Better – NCCU Wesley Fellowship

Stories Published on
March 3, 2021

All the best laid plans may have been disrupted by a pandemic, but the NC Central University Wesley Campus Ministry Fellowship has continued mission and ministry in the past year thanks to a remarkable grant of $90,000 from The Duke Endowment (TDE).

“This was a powerful opportunity to showcase who we are and what God is doing and also how God is making a way… We were really excited to know that as one of the first Wesley Campus at an historically-black college, in this conference, they [TDE] felt this was a good investment. They really wanted to hear our story and hear how these funds would impact leadership among the campus, but also the leadership within The United Methodist Church because currently in our (NC) conference, there is no other Wesley Campus Ministry at an historically-black college or university. So we’re the first and this funding really helps to make sure our students get the training and support, but also organizationally, we are able to do a lot,” said the Rev. Gloria Winston, campus minister at NCCU.

Rev. Winston said that actually the COVID-19 pandemic has led to deeper discussions with students about how faith might affect these new and uncharted experiences in their lives – voting, social justice, racism, isolation, and grief. While in-person worship was not available, Rev. Winston says the students were struggling with where to go to find spiritual answers to situations they were experiencing and found a refuge in the Wesley Campus Ministry Fellowship.

In applying for the grant, the program knew they had a good number of participants and good programs, but were lacking in leadership development so a huge focus of the grant is training and equipping six Wesley Fellows to be ambassadors of hope. The intent is for Wesley Fellows to also train others on campus in different areas – not to just receive training but to pass it on to others. Wesley Fellows began study in summer 2020 so they would be prepared when classes began. The Wesley Fellows, using a program from the General Board of Higher Education Ministries and Discipleship Ministries titled “The Awakened Life,” delved into their own spiritual practices and did a deep evaluation of themselves in self-discovery including their call and social justice.

NCCU Voices of Faith in Action on Election Day

Although opportunities to travel and participate in summer learning and service projects had to be canceled because of pandemic restrictions, the Wesley Fellows were prepared at the beginning of the academic year to lead worship services, prayer groups, and Bible studies – all through Zoom, thanks to the offering of Zoom accounts from the NC Conference. One large part of the Fellowship’s ministry is Voices of Faith in Action Initiative which helps students stand on their faith and address issues in the world with action steps. 2020 brought many issues and experiences that the ministry would focus on – the election, racial trauma, domestic violence, suicide prevention, breast cancer, and grief. There have also been opportunities for Christian service including doing public service announcements about why students should vote, being at the campus polling location to share bottled water, masks, and snacks to those in line, and collecting over 500 food and personal care items which were delivered to Honduras in response to Hurricane Eta.

The ministry has seen a great number of students needing to find a spiritual connection as they have had to adjust to pandemic restrictions, online learning, and many incidences of grief including the deaths of George Floyd, Beonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and even two of their NCCU classmates. Since students were not allowed to go home or attend face-to-face church, they migrated to the Fellowship for a connection with people who were struggling with the same issues and questions. They needed a place to talk about their grief and trauma, their stress and fear, and their interest in trying to be instruments of change. The daily prayer times of 6:30 a.m. and noon extended longer as more people came online for prayer and to offer prayers. The Fellowship has also seen parents joining some of the online worship offerings to be spiritually closer to their children who were not traveling home.

There are plans for the spring semester, including opportunities to engage in ministry with other Wesley Campus Ministries at NC State University, Duke University, and the UNC in socially-safe ways.

“The pause we had to take this year [because of COVID] made us be a better campus ministry, made us be better leaders, thoughtful leaders, generous leaders with our whole heart,” Winston said.

All the campus Wesley Fellowships, including NC Central University are conference Advance specials and welcome your financial support. The list with Advance numbers can be found in the 2021 Mission & Service book, page 22.

NCCU Wesley Fellows preparing donations to be sent to Honduras

Antioch Kitchen Sisters Serving Community

Stories Published on
February 18, 2021

The Antioch Kitchen Sisters have been serving their neighbors with a free Wednesday meal since 2012, bolstered mainly by willing volunteers and random financial and food donations. Based out of Antioch United Methodist Church in Garland, the Kitchen Sisters prepare and deliver a weekly meal, snack pack, friendship, prayer, and special message to any person needing some assistance in their small rural community regardless of race, age, gender, nationality, religious preference or political leanings.

The program was the dream of sisters Emily Coble and Carlene McIntyre after they retired. Realizing that there was no Meals-on-Wheels program in the Cypress Creek Township of Bladen County, they asked county officials about the possibility of organizing one and were told that there were no county funds for such a project. The sisters discussed how they could continue to make a difference in their community and Antioch Kitchen Sisters was born.

Kitchen Sisters are blessed to be able to use the facilities at their home church of Antioch UMC to prepare the meals with a few faithful volunteers but the church is not able to assist in funding the program outside of providing the kitchen space, gas, and electricity. Each delivered package includes a meal of meat, carbohydrate, and vegetable with an accompanying snack pack consisting of a peanut butter sandwich, fruit, and dessert delivered in reusable containers. They average distributing 54 meals each week.

Antioch Kitchen Sisters is an amazing example of how a small-membership church can have a huge impact in their community with vision and creativity. The program has been able to continue serving through the pandemic with random donations of $5, $10, or $20 and a few larger donations. If you would like to help Antioch Kitchen Sisters, donations are appreciated and may be mailed to Antioch UMC, 4404 NC Hwy. 210 W, Garland, NC 28441, designated for Antioch Kitchen Sisters on the memo line.

The Antioch Kitchen Sisters began as part of the church’s involvement in IMPACT, a rural church development program of the Center for Leadership Excellence partially funded by The Duke Endowment and led by the Rev. Francis Daniel.

An Encouragement for February

Stories Published on
February 10, 2021

“How are you?” I recently asked a church member.

“I’m stuck in a house with 2 teen boys and a husband!” she said. “You know what I realize? I miss missing them.”

I hope Hallmark is tracking with her! “I miss missing you” is a great pandemic word this Valentine’s Day. There is just no easy way to be this close for this long to other humans.

The same might even be true for beloved pets. Our dog now spends part of her day in the back of my closet! I’m convinced it’s her attempt to miss us.

For others of us, these words reflect a longing, in this season of isolation, for another human in the home—someone sitting at the table, a hand to hold, arms to hug. For you, it’s the missing that hurts.

Whether we are missing others or miss missing others, a pandemic Valentine’s is an opportunity to name what love looks like this year.

Read Mark 1:29-39:

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Reflect: In last Sunday’s gospel lesson, Simon’s mother-in-law is healed by Jesus to serve. The verb “to serve” is the same one Jesus uses to describe the essence of his ministry. In other words, the woman is not healed so Jesus has someone to cook him dinner! She’s healed and becomes the first person in Mark’s gospel to follow Jesus. Jesus describes this call, in Mark 12, as one that begins in love of God then love of self so to love others.

Take Action: What does it look like this Valentine’s to love God and yourself, so to love others?

I don’t have your answer. There are days I don’t even have my answer. But, as I reflect on 2020, I give thanks for some of the ways I’ve found to love God, myself, and others:

Marriage Counseling. We began this year. A friend asked how we’ve made it this long without it! Our conference provides financial assistance.
“Pastor, who is your pastor?” My spiritual director is an important part of my self-love.
Do you miss missing them? Run away for a day. $35/night to stay in one of our pastor’s cabins.
Do you miss others? Prayer texting, pet fostering, and walks with friends are ways I’ve watched others love themselves.

“Jesus lifted her up…and she began to serve.” May you likewise find ways to be lifted up in love this Valentine’s as you serve (love) God and self so to serve others.

In partnership,
Center for Leadership Excellence and the Commission on the Status and Role of Women

We are grateful to the Rev. Heather Rodrigues, Lead Pastor at Duke Memorial UMC, for writing this month’s issue of Encouragements.

North Carolina History – 250 years ago today: White Enslavers Receive Money for Execution of Enslaved Black People in North Carolina

Stories Published on
January 18, 2021

On January 18, 1771, the North Carolina General Assembly approved the disbursement of public funds to enslavers as compensation for the executions of Black people they held in bondage. Nearly a dozen enslavers received money from the state, including a white man in Duplin County who was given eighty pounds—the equivalent of over $18,000 today—following the government-led execution of a man he enslaved by the name of George.

In nine of thirteen colonies, laws provided economic support and compensation to white people after the execution of Black people they enslaved, with the earliest compensation law established in 1705 in Virginia. In a system that subsidized enslavers and permitted the continued trafficking of humans and their summary execution, the state could enact capital punishment without consequence or complaint from enslavers. For decades, if an enslaved person was executed by the state or if an enslaved person died from injuries induced during any other corporal punishment, enslavers could receive an uncapped sum of money and up to 80 pounds by the late 1700s in North Carolina.

Consequently, between 1734 and 1786, the North Carolina government authorized the execution of eighty-six enslaved people that involved compensation to enslavers. Critically, these executions were carried out without any formal legal process. North Carolina’s Slave Code of 1741 denied enslaved people their right to due process, founded in the belief that enslaved people were not suitable for the legal system. Enslaved people were tried before a tribunal composed of enslavers who were quick to deliver convictions and punishments, often on the same day. In 1793, this practice was re-codified in North Carolina as enslaved people were only entitled to a “trial” made up of a jury of “good and lawful men, owners of slaves.” Before imposing execution, the enslaver tribunal assigned a monetary amount that would be given to enslavers.

Half of the claims approved by the North Carolina General Assembly on January 18 came in the wake of executions of enslaved people who committed “felonies” which were loosely defined and took the form of petty crimes, arson, “witchcraft,” or attempts to escape bondage.

In the wake of these executions, on January 18, North Carolina dispersed nearly 1,000 pounds, or the equivalent of $230,000 dollars today, to enslavers following the executions of thirteen enslaved people.

Source: Equal Justice Initiative

An Encouragement for January

Stories Published on
January 14, 2021

How many roles do you occupy in life? How many different “hats” do you wear? Pastor? Mother? Grandmother? Aunt? Friend? Spouse? Teacher? I could name a million more. If I sense one common thread from my female friends and colleagues of all ages, it is that we feel so pulled in many different directions. We may even think that this is a good thing – something we are called to live with. After all, read what Paul writes in Corinthians:

Read 1 Corinthians 9:19-23:

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Reflect: How do you read this passage, as a woman, working in many roles? At first glance, it could be used to affirm our busyness and frantic pace – we think we have to be whatever others expect us to be. The truth, however, is that Paul is really talking about the ways he communicated the one, main message. In other words, he was always himself, just communicating in the way that was right for each situation. The call for us, here, is to be ourselves, and not to give in to the many directions other people would pull us, but to know what God is calling us to do.

For me, for example, I find that the times I feel like “superwoman” and feel the need to accomplish everything at a crazy pace – those are the times I actually need to slow down. For me, that is the first stage of burn-out, when I try to work even harder to combat my fatigue. The only thing that really works is to slow down, rest, and spend time with God and the people I love. As myself.

Take Action: I invite you, since it is a new year, to write down each of your roles on a small index card or slip of paper. Write as many as you can. Then in a time of prayer, look slowly at each one. Sense how it makes you feel in your body, and how the Holy Spirit is calling you. Some roles you may want to do more of, while others you may feel called to put aside. I pray that God will lead you to be YOURSELF for all people, for the sake of the good news of Jesus.

In partnership,
Center for Leadership Excellence and the Commission on the Status and Role of Women

We are grateful to the Rev. Monica Beacham, pastor of Cedar Grove UMC, for writing this month’s issue of Encouragements.

Ann Street Ministry to Children during Pandemic

Stories Published on
January 11, 2021

In response to the pandemic, Ann Street United Methodist Church started an Alternate School Care (ASC) program in 2020 for elementary school students. A grant from the conference COVID-19 Response Fund made it possible for us to hire staff and keep the program affordable for working parents.

When elementary students returned to week-long in-person classroom instruction in Carteret County, ASC became After School Care. It has served as many as 55 local students. With the exception of the Boys and Girls Club, we believe it might be the only after school program in Beaufort. Church members have volunteered by driving the church bus to pick up children after school, tutoring, sending lesson plans and craft supplies, and donating funds.

Parents have sent us notes of appreciation:
“So much thanks for providing this program. I do not know what we would do without it!!!”
“You have saved us!! Thank you so much for offering this program.”
“Praise you and your team!”

We are very grateful for the conference grant that helps us help the people of our community!

Story submitted by the Rev. Taylor Mills and Julia Royall Johnson (Children & Youth Director)

*If your church needs assistance to begin or continue a pandemic-related outreach ministry, apply for a COVID-19 Relief grant.

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