Tower South Worship Ministry: Reaching Out Beyond our Walls
This worship service is a direct result of a letter to our church in April 2009 from the Tower South Tenants Council,asking if we could provide a regular traditional worship service for the residents of the Schuylkill County Housing Authority's Tower South facility in Schuylkill Haven. Due to the immobility of many of the residents, they wanted the services to be held at their facility. The Tenants Council letter was read at a recognition breakfast for the Christ Servant Leaders of our Saturday Night Worship Service. Mary Tharpe volunteered her husband, Moffette, (and herself) to respond to this request; Ted Staller volunteered to assist them in this outreach ministry.
Moffette took the lead and we moved forward in faith and the Lord has provided. The services began in the Tower South's multi-purpose room on Sunday, July 5, 2009, at 7:00 PM, and have continued weekly ever since.
The services are provided as a gift to Tower South from our church and others in the United Methodist Christ Servant Ministry Program in Schuylkill County. With this core of loving Christians to call on, we have nearly 30 volunteers to give the message and/or provide the music. This group includes six pastors who speak and provide Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month. We have been blessed to receive pastoral participation from other denominations when it has been sought.
The services are scheduled three months in advance. Ted Staller serves as “coordinator” between the speakers and the musicians; he receives the pertinent information 10 days in advance of the worship date, relays it to Moffette and Mary, Mary prepares the bulletins, and Debra Catterton (daughter of Moffette and Mary) then designs/prints them. Ted also usually serves as the Liturgist at each worship service.
Coordination and planning meetings are held regularly with our team, the Tower South representative, and our senior pastor, Rev. Dr. Christopher Fisher.
Since the start of this ministry, a number of items have been gifted to the service, including 20 additional hymnals from the Schuylkill County Housing Authority, and these items from our worship providers and residents: a complete set of paraments; a handmade wooden altar cross; a communion set; a folding altar table; a pianist hymnal binder; and (frequently) fresh flowers to adorn the altar.
The regular attendance ranges from 25-35. An offering is taken at each service; it is shared 50/50 between our church and the Tower South to cover related expenses and contributions to Christian causes. There is a social time after each service; refreshments are provided by the Tower South residents and/or other volunteers.
In response to a request from Tower South, a weekly Bible Study ministry was introduced on March 22, 2010, and is held each Monday at 6:00 pm. We are grateful to Bill & Connie Parrish, of our church, who felt called to respond to this need. At this point, there are about a dozen residents who faithfully participate in this extended ministry.
The Lord is truly at work here. What has evolved is a new small group of worshippers that are experiencing a feeling of community, joy, and sharing among themselves. Many lives are being touched each week and there are many testimonies. Not only are the residents' lives truly being changed by this outreach ministry, but those persons providing the service are also being blessed by their participation.
We invite you to join us in providing this rewarding ministry! Please contact FUMC's church office or Moffette Tharpe if you feel called.
Tower South Worship Ministry: Reaching Out Beyond our Walls
This worship service is a direct result of a letter to our church in April 2009 from the Tower South Tenants Council,asking if we could provide a regular traditional worship service for the residents of the Schuylkill County Housing Authority's Tower South facility in Schuylkill Haven. Due to the immobility of many of the residents, they wanted the services to be held at their facility. The Tenants Council letter was read at a recognition breakfast for the Christ Servant Leaders of our Saturday Night Worship Service. Mary Tharpe volunteered her husband, Moffette, (and herself) to respond to this request; Ted Staller volunteered to assist them in this outreach ministry.
Moffette took the lead and we moved forward in faith and the Lord has provided. The services began in the Tower South's multi-purpose room on Sunday, July 5, 2009, at 7:00 PM, and have continued weekly ever since.
The services are provided as a gift to Tower South from our church and others in the United Methodist Christ Servant Ministry Program in Schuylkill County. With this core of loving Christians to call on, we have nearly 30 volunteers to give the message and/or provide the music. This group includes six pastors who speak and provide Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month. We have been blessed to receive pastoral participation from other denominations when it has been sought.
The services are scheduled three months in advance. Ted Staller serves as “coordinator” between the speakers and the musicians; he receives the pertinent information 10 days in advance of the worship date, relays it to Moffette and Mary, Mary prepares the bulletins, and Debra Catterton (daughter of Moffette and Mary) then designs/prints them. Ted also usually serves as the Liturgist at each worship service.
Coordination and planning meetings are held regularly with our team, the Tower South representative, and our senior pastor, Rev. Dr. Christopher Fisher.
Since the start of this ministry, a number of items have been gifted to the service, including 20 additional hymnals from the Schuylkill County Housing Authority, and these items from our worship providers and residents: a complete set of paraments; a handmade wooden altar cross; a communion set; a folding altar table; a pianist hymnal binder; and (frequently) fresh flowers to adorn the altar.
The regular attendance ranges from 25-35. An offering is taken at each service; it is shared 50/50 between our church and the Tower South to cover related expenses and contributions to Christian causes. There is a social time after each service; refreshments are provided by the Tower South residents and/or other volunteers.
In response to a request from Tower South, a weekly Bible Study ministry was introduced on March 22, 2010, and is held each Monday at 6:00 pm. We are grateful to Bill & Connie Parrish, of our church, who felt called to respond to this need. At this point, there are about a dozen residents who faithfully participate in this extended ministry.
The Lord is truly at work here. What has evolved is a new small group of worshippers that are experiencing a feeling of community, joy, and sharing among themselves. Many lives are being touched each week and there are many testimonies. Not only are the residents' lives truly being changed by this outreach ministry, but those persons providing the service are also being blessed by their participation.
We invite you to join us in providing this rewarding ministry! Please contact FUMC's church office or Moffette Tharpe if you feel called.