Chambersburg First UMC
By Rev. Steven Livermore
First United Methodist Church in Chambersburg, in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Shippensburg and Chambersburg, has opened its doors to children who need internet access to do virtual learning for their classes. The Club is providing the staffing monitoring, the students, and providing before and after school care for children whose parents must work.
The tuition for the school is on a sliding scale and First Church, its members and friends, along with donations from other organizations are paying the weekly base tuition for all the students. Most students attend free. The Chambersburg School District supplies school lunches for the children.
The impact this ministry is having is significant to the children and their families. One church member shared the following story with the church’s pastor, Steve Livermore.
Today I was at church to meet a friend from the clothing mission. I arrived to see our church staff, Gail Vaughn, Toby Hamsher, and Pastor Steve Livermore moving furniture to accommodate the children from the Boys and Girls club program. The children sat quietly and listened to direction from their teacher, Arcadia.
As they were getting ready to work, I wandered to the door to meet my friend. While I was standing there, a gentleman arrived with his daughter. I asked him to wait for the teacher and he cheerfully agreed. After his child’s temperature was taken and she joined her classmates, I couldn’t help but hear his conversation with the director.
With concern on his face and in his voice he asked, “How much do I owe?” “How expensive is this program?” She smiled and reassured him that he didn’t owe anything. He couldn’t believe it and his face showed his relief. He went on to explain that he was a single dad and worked nights. He was concerned that his daughter would not be able to do her schoolwork alone and shouldn’t be alone during the day but he needed to get some sleep. He went on to tell us that he had prayed the night before for a solution to this situation. “God put this program here,” was his conclusion; and also mine. He thanked her sincerely and her parting comment was “Now go home so you can get some sleep.”
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The Journey Church
By Pastor Kristopher Sledge
The Journey Church is thrilled to partner with several organizations across the city of Harrisburg to provide Community Classrooms for elementary school students starting school fully on-line this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Community Classrooms is an initiative to provide safe spaces for students to have access to the internet and complete their schoolwork in a helpful, supportive environment. At the end of August, the Journey staff and volunteers decorated and re-purposed the fellowship hall of our building with 15 working spaces so students enrolled in the program have a consistent space to learn in every weekday from 8-11am.
At The Journey, we are incredibly excited to open our doors and use our building to love our families, students, and city in a tangible way. The pandemic has affected so many and we are thankful to be a church that can say “yes!” to our community when it needs us! We are eager to grow the program and find more ways we can be the hands and feet of Jesus to the families in our city throughout the coming months and beyond.
If you would like to enroll your student in a community classroom at The Journey or elsewhere in the city, you can find information at https://www.communityclassrooms.org.If you would like to volunteer as a part of our team, please contact Pastor Kris Sledge at ksledge@thejourneyhbg.org.
Aldersgate UMC
By Sandii Peiffer
Aldersgate UMC in Mechanicsburg held a drive-in Blessing of the Devices/Backpacks on the evening of August 24. Families were invited to bring their children along with school devices and/or backpacks, and park in the parking lot of the church where Rev. Jan Hughes, Children’s Ministry Director Melanie Feldner, and other friends interacted with them at a safe social distance before broadcasting a prayer over the radio for the students, families, teachers, devices, backpacks, and the school year ahead. Additionally, classroom cleaning and PPE supplies were collected to donate to the local school district when live-learning resumes.
The items most requested by teachers for when they resume live classes are:
- disposable masks
- disposable non-latex gloves
- heavy duty paper towels or washable
- microfiber cloths
- disinfecting wipes
- hand sanitizer
- antibacterial hand soap
- gallon zipper bags for organizing student school supplies and keeping them separated
- tissues
Please contact your local school district before you collect or donate any items, as school board permission for donations may be necessary.
