Christ’s Love Was Visible at Union Chapel
throughout Mission Month

You might recall from the first Sunday in October that the stated goal of Mission Month was threefold: to highlight the impacts of Union Chapel’s existing missions, to revisit and revitalize a past mission, and to introduce a new mission opportunity. These were the utilitarian, measurable goals set - which every initiative has to have, in order to determine at its conclusion whether or not it has been successful.  The true goal, though, underlying these three, and somewhat more difficult to measure, was for Union Chapel to demonstrate Christ’s love to our community in abundance.

And I’m glad to report – we met all of these goals with resounding success!    

To underscore our existing missions, we showed up with food to restock our emergency pantry.  We showed up to help make our second Fair Trade Fair a success – by supporting local, sustainable, and fair trade businesses with our purchases, and by supporting the preparation and execution of the event itself.  We showed up for record turnouts at our Hearts and Hands ministry, Family Art Night, Trunk or Treat, and Community Dinner.  And at each of these, we showed up with smiles, welcoming greetings, kind words, and messages of love for those from our community who came seeking fellowship.

In returning to a past mission, we sent a small but mighty team to Habitat for Humanity’s Interfaith Build.  Members of our congregation joined those of other denominations and other faiths to show love for a family in need of a place to call home.  The team came back with stories of new skills learned, new connections made, and most importantly, a rewarding day of service to others.

And on the new missions front, not only did we reach our goal, but doubled it!  Through the congregation’s generosity, we were able to stock a new Personal Care Pantry for Washington Township middle and high school students. But in the process of doing so, we learned of a new need for mentoring outreach opportunities with some of the township’s middle schoolers.  This new mission kicked off on October 30th, and the group will now be coming to Union Chapel on a regular basis to volunteer in our ministries, while receiving loving support and guidance from caring members of our congregation.

But beyond checking the boxes of those three demonstrable goals we hoped to achieve during Mission Month, we did so much more.  Most importantly, we bore God’s love to our neighbors in each and every one of these efforts, helping them to see and feel the love that is always flowing through Union Chapel.  Mission Month may have helped us focus a spotlight on it, but it didn’t just start on October 1^st.  And the best news of all?  None of it ended on October 31^st.  Each of these ministries will go on, growing and transforming as we continue to show up, continue to give, and continue to strive toward that one underlying goal - reflecting the love of God to our neighbors, in abundance.

Want to get involved in any of these ongoing ministries?  Your next opportunities are:

-Wednesday, November 13, 10:00 – 11:00 - Washington Township Middle School Mentoring Opportunity

-Wednesday, November 27, 6:15 - Community Dinner