Billie K. Fidlin, Director of Outreach
The Desert Southwest Conference, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, brought Sidewalk Sunday School Ministries to the region in 1999. Sidewalk Sunday School uses a converted box truck to become the traveling church. As Becky Cowart, a former Desert Southwest Conference Sidewalk Director from Tucson, AZ has always said, the truck is the ‘pied piper’ for God.
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Nov 2014: Most of the ministries of the St. Luke Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Ozan, Arkansas are centered on the needs of children. We have a back to school funfest day every Labor Day on the church ground. On this day we serve food, supply articles of clothing and give out school supplies to children in our community and the surrounding area.
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Nov 2013: Freeman Chapel CME Church (Ashdown, Arkansas) has dedicated itself to addressing the needs of children in poverty. Working in partnership with the Pan-Methodist Campaign for Children in Poverty, the Church has decided to:
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Apr 2016: Mt Zion CME Church in Hope, Arkansas hosted the Kids in the Kitchen event this past Summer 2015. Kids of the community came out to learn fundamental kitchen skills, focusing on measuring, mixing, following recipes, kitchen safety, healthy food choices, & even table etiquette. All food was provided free of charge.
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Nov 2012: On November 15, the Pan-Methodist Commission visited an exciting program in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that focuses on neglected, abused, and abandoned children and their at-risk families. The program is called “Kids in Distress” (KID). Commission members were amazed at the array of both preventive and intervention programs that protect children.
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Big Bethel AME Church’s Saturday School Creatively Cares for Children
Program Collaborations
Through a robotics partnership, the Saturday School is in the process of developing its own technology based ROBO-KIDS EXPERIENCE. This ministry emphasizes developing discipline and critical thinking, teamwork skills, increase attention span, and promote creativity. The students create models using Legos, that will be programmed using appropriate music and sound.
Our continued partnerships with other faith communities and organizations like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Women, Inc., Bridging the Gap Mentoring Program, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Operation P.E.A.C.E. After-School Program, the Butler Street Community Development Corporation has resulted in providing tutoring assistance, mentoring connections, resources and opportunities for our youth. They are exposed to the arts, college and professional team sports, the Georgia Aquarium, the Civil Rights Museum, the Apex Museum, the Auburn Ave Library, and much more.
The school’s computer lab allows the students to enhance their areas of weakness in reading, math and science utilizing a special program subscription provided by a partner donor each year.
The Saturday School gained significant support from Georgia State University and foodservice businesses in the community. This collaboration has opened doors for establishing partnerships in gardening in the church's “outdoor classroom”/amphitheater. The program, called Noodle Cave, is sponsored by a young woman from Michigan who saw us one day trying to do some planting with the children. She will return to Atlanta this April to introduce four-week workshops to students. The produce will be prepared and eaten before the end of the school year.
Lifting Interfaith Ministry
We are entering a one-year program with the Interfaith Children's Movement, Inc. to work on strengthening families. The program, allows the diverse group of enrolled parents to hold leadership positions to develop and/or strengthen them in the area of basic life skills to become role models for others in their communities. There are approximately 25-30 students every week. The church provides transportation to and from four communities throughout Metro Atlanta. The full, productive day program begins at 10:00 am ends at 3:00 pm. and provides meals or snacks. We thank God for his grace and favor shown this vital ministry. We have been blessed beyond measure with God’s help and the support and vision Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. John Foster. Supporter Report submitted by Rev. Bessie Donaldson.
Jul 2015: At the 2015 annual meeting of the Pan-Methodist Commission in Atlanta, Ms. Pamela Perkins Carn presented the work of the Interfaith Children’s Movement (ICM) in Georgia. The realities she presented on child commercial sexual exploitation, suspensions in schools, and juvenile justice practices are distressing. The work and accomplishments of ICM in response to these realities are inspiring. Clearly child advocacy is crucial to improving the lives of thousands of children. The Commission heard her moving testimony on the differences that people of faith can and do make for children, their families, and in the discipleship witness of our congregations.
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Sep 2014:
A huge success for the 252 volunteers
for Good Neighbor Day 2013 who completed
786 hours of services in ONE day.
Good Neighbor Day 2014: September 6.
At Glenn Memorial, we believe God's love for the world is an active and engaged love, a love seeking justice and liberty. As Christians, we are called to honor the commandments to “love God” and “love neighbor.” In the Gospel of Luke, when a clever lawyer responds to the latter mandate with the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus responds with a parable that reframes the concept to an instructive “How to be a neighbor.” The Rev. Fred Craddock points out that the intent of the lesson was to leave the lawyer with the imperative “Go and do.”
Glenn Good Neighbor Day is one of our opportunities to “go and do” those acts that help us to be the right kind of neighbor. Like Christmas and Easter, Good Neighbor Day has become one of our community’s annual traditions. Some at Glenn may even call it a Holy Day. For 20 years, the community has gathered on a Saturday in September, sending hundreds of Glenn members, young and old, out into Atlanta to demonstrate their love of God and neighbor through service to the community.
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Apr 2015: By Shiann W. Williamson, West Georgia Region (CME)
At Holsey Chapel CME Church, God’s Mighty Fortress on Eight Street in Columbus, Georgia former pastor Rev. Jamie L. Capers made it mandatory for all auxiliaries of the church to have a working ministry. The Church School reached out to the school system to identify seniors who were having difficulty graduating. The Muscogee County School District’s Director of Counseling led us to a student who had witnessed the death of his mother and who was homeless. These circumstances challenged the strength of this nineteen year-old black male who also needed funds to pay for two classes required for graduation. This young man was taking special needs classes and had passed all parts of the graduation test, yet he still needed additional credits to graduate with his class and receive a regular diploma.
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Sep 2014: [The following article is an edited version of Rev. Robinson-Donaldson’s testimony to the process of discipleship in caring for children in poverty.] Rev. Bessie Robinson-Donaldson, Ministerial Advisor; Big Bethel AME Church; Atlanta, GA
Oftentimes we, as Christian, feel that in order to do ministry, it has to be an ordained charge. To the contrary, ministry is no more nor no less than service to others. Approximately 25 years ago, I was blessed with a position in the Juvenile Justice System of Fulton County as a Judicial Assistant where I was afforded opportunity to experience connecting with many children and families who were in many of life’s struggles….poverty stricken, abused, neglected and rejected by family and society, deprived of normal relationships, etc. It was not long after being hired as a Judge’s Assistant that I came to realize via my supervisor, who was the Chief Judge of the Court, that what I had been blessed with was not a job, but an assignment.
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Mar 2011: Murray County (Georgia) Saturday Sacks began in the fall of 2008 when a group of educators and retired educators at the First United Methodist Church of Chatsworth gathered together to consider the needs of our schools and children. Over 70% of the children in the Murray County School system are eligible for free or reduced lunches because of their household income. For many of these children, outside of the meals they receive during the school year, hunger is a reality they have to face on a daily basis. This lack of consistent nutrition is manifested in numerous ways, from lethargy, to aggressive behavior, to hording of food at school, not to mention the academic consequences. In response to this need, Chatsworth First United Methodist Church started a program called “Murray County Saturday Sacks.”
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Sep 2013: To improve the life for children, the unprivileged, and persons with physical and spiritual needs in the neighborhood around the church as well as in nearby communities, the Ladies of the Cross of Melvin Hill Christian Methodist Episcopal Church Carnesville, Georgia held its first Health and Spiritual Community Fair mission outreach this summer at the office of Dr. Michelle (Morris) Patterson in Commerce, GA. The theme, Giving to God’s People in Need, was the fair’s primary focus. Our group believes that GIVING should be done FREELY, a belief from which our theme derived. After all, the first FREE gift came from GOD. Pictured: Ladies of the Cross L-R): Rhonda Whelchel, Raven Daniels, Dr. Michelle (Morris) Patterson, Cynthia Bailey, and Shirley Watson. Not pictured: Milton Whelchel and Katelyn Whelchel.
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July 2015: North Georgia United Methodist Churches have been involved with aiding children in poverty on many different levels. By collaborating with schools, communities, and other congregations, Methodists provide food, shelter, guidance, and more to needy children across the region.
Action Ministries challenged the entire conference this summer to collaborate in honor of their program Smart Lunch, Smart Kid. The goal was set for 200,000 healthy lunches to distribute to needy children when the school year ended.
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Mar 2011: Action Ministries, Inc. is a faith-based 501 (c) 3 organization serving Atlanta and north Georgia for over 50 years. Action Ministries offers programs that assist in feeding, clothing, children’s services, emergency assistance, transitional housing for families with children and addiction recovery. Our services are open to all who are in need. Our mission of pulling people back from the brink of hunger, homelessness, and addiction... and equipping them to prosper is fulfilled by seven unique programs served and administered by the Action Ministries corporate office, including programs in Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Decatur, Gainesville, Rome and a Transitional Housing Program covering all of north Georgia.
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Sep 2016: A Safe Harbor Fund for Georgia's Children: You can help raise awareness! Click Read More for details.
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Apr 2015: The Kentucky Annual Conference continues its activism to make a difference in the lives of children in poverty. Rev. Lillian Grinter, Campaign liaison, works with her Campaign team in implementing ministries to children throughout the Conference. She has scheduled “check up meetings” to receive reports from her team. The following six reported projects on their ministries to children in poverty have been exciting involvements for the churches and their members.
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Dec 2015: Ms. Ruth Gough, Liaison for the New England Annual Conference (AMEZ Church), reported that the Green Memorial AMEZ Church sponsored a “Walk Against Bullying” in Portland, Maine. The goal of this event was: “to raise awareness about the importance of bullying prevention, and to unite for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion!” The message for children in the community was: “You are not alone, we’re here for you.”
Green Memorial also gave 80 backpacks to 2nd through 5th grade students in the LearningWorks after-school program at the East End Elementary School in Portland.
Jan 2014: Hunter Memorial AME Church in Prince Georges County in Suitland, MD held its 2nd Annual Children’s Sabbath Interfaith Celebration this past November. The focus this year was “Creating Safer Communities for Our Children.” In this event, we gave thanks for and emphasized extending justice to the most vulnerable in our communities--our children. During our Children’s Sabbath celebrations, youth and adults learned about and led the congregation from various faith traditions through creative prayers, reflection, scripture, song, etc. A youth preached the homily and the service concluded with calls to action. We also had a prayer room transformed into a playground for prayer and three Unitarian inspired prayer stations (e.g., rock and water station, prayers on notecards, and candle station for youth impacted by violence in their communities). ~ Rev. Jennifer Gillyard, Executive Director, The Real Life Resource Center, Inc. (the community development arm of Hunter Memorial AME Church)