Roots of Peoples United Methodist Church
Part 49 Being Involved and Being Sensitive To Others Needs
History is the story of those who participate, who do the work, who end up in the columns of historic documents, but every once in a while there is a statement made by someone that hints at the need for more folks to be involved in the life of an institution.
In an Administrative Board meeting held in 1984, Pastor Lin with the blessings of the chairman of the board pleaded with members of the Board that if you are going to be a member of the church and if you have been elected to an office or volunteered to serve the church and the Lord in some manner then you need to do just that. The title for this episode in the life of Peoples came from that same statement. If you have chosen or been selected for service then it is absolutely necessary to be involved in the life that we share together. While not all of us may be in agreement with where that involvement should be we all need to be continuously sensitive to the thoughts and needs of others, both in the church and in the community around us, however, broadly we interpret community. Even in the time that this article is being written this should be an important statement for all of us to consider rather than leaving everything for just a few members to be responsible for.
Another thought associated with this statement is that there needs to be room for all to share both leadership and followership roles in the life of the church.
One of the means of sharing that all of us need commitment to is raising of funds that will keep the church vital financially. While we would like to think that the primary reason for existence of a church is spiritual it cannot exist without financial campaigns. Several different themes have been used for stewardship campaigns over the years. Pam Harris as Stewardship Chairperson in 1986-87 and those who assisted her ran a program called Pony Express. Several satchels were prepared with pledge cards in the satchel. The intent was that the first person on a list in each satchel would fill out their card and deposit it in the satchel then that person would deliver the satchel to the next person on the list. The process would continue until the last person on the list would return it to the stewardship committee. A system of monitoring where the satchels were kept each satchel moving within a time limit. The system did not permit people filling out cards to see what others already had filled out. One advantage of the system was that people would also get at least one visit from someone else in the congregation. Some folks felt this was an imposing process and didn’t like the program while others found that the visit brightened their day. In retrospect it was one program that got most of the church folks involved in the process.
While during the life of Peoples a number of programs had engaged members of the church in serving others. We have heard about many of those groups and activities throughout the pages of the Roots series. During the mid- 1980’s Reverend Lewis Beckford and his wife Joan co-chaired the Council of Ministries. Lew had been a Methodist pastor for many years and throughout his service to the Methodist church had been an activist when it came to community issues. This husband and wife team continued their interests by bringing a number of social concerns speakers to Peoples. Interest in Social Concerns led to a congregational survey created by the Beckfords to see what feelings folks had about the issues of the day. The survey found that the church should first be supporting family concerns and their relationship to the U.S. Government and what it supports. They found that church members were concerned especially with budget cuts effecting children and families. They found that more should also be available for making it possible to reduce nuclear arms. A third area of concern analyzed from the results was in the area of stress related to job security.
One of the results from the survey was that a well-attended Stress-related workshop was held and led by the Beckfords and the Hladkys. This workshop was followed up by a series of speakers. Others from the congregation assisted the Beckfords and Hladkys in putting this series of program on.
Active involvement in church life was certainly a prominent feature of the music program of Peoples also. Boasting 18 to 20 singers in the mid to late ‘80’s, the choir under the direction of Dr.Malcolm Cass, sang every Sunday until after the Annual Maine or New England Conference from September through June. Many of these singers would be among the soloists who sang during the summer services. Ron Tripp, David Swanson, Norm Jewett, Kevin Tordoff, Lou and Anthony Harvey, Kit and Randy Pike, Ellen Randall (Dunn), Chris Darling, Carolyn Teeter and Marilyn Voter were all on the soloist list for the summer of 1987. Special singing sessions were mentioned in the previous episode of Roots and included singing on a regular basis at 75 State Street and at least once a summer the Choir trekked to Empire Grove Campground in Poland for Vespers on a Sunday night. They also were prominently featured on Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Hanging of the Greens and Christmas Eve. Commitment was not just in these named sessions, but with a regular choir practice each week. While choir members were busy in making music, most of the members were also active in other aspects of church life as well.
It was actually during this period of time, for example, that Chris Ward became the chairman of the annual Christmas Fair and many choir members would assist her in that endeavor which is perhaps the activity longest in duration in the life of Peoples. There is arguably no other single activity in the life of Peoples that has exemplified the spirit of a large group of parishioners working together for a common cause. While it was primarily an activity of the women of the church it was during the ‘80’s that men were active with a booth. Men actually put on a ham supper on the evening of the Fair as well as preparing a variety of products. Some very fine wooden articles were usually made by the men and sold at their table. The Sunday school also became involved in preparing their own items to be sold, proceeds of which usually went to Sunday school projects. Usually all of the rest of the money earned would filter through the UMW and much of the money served as a gift to the church at the end of the year.
A major financial commitment of the 1980’s was for the church to begin to make the sanctuary accessable to the handicapped. This project would also ensure that Peoples was open to all folks handicapped or able bodied. Prior to this major change entrance to the sanctuary was across a very narrow wooden platform at the main door and up the steep stairs to the worship area. With a gift in memory of Lou McGouldrick followed by gifts from several others a fund was established to provide easier access. Bernie Bruce and his company began by building a platform of cement and brick at the main entrance of the church. Ordering several sections of precast concrete that would serve as a ramp to the platform followed this. According to the records of Mr. Bruce he believed that it was Belle Graney that recommended that the facing of the project should blend with the church proper and therefore brick was used for that.
Once the building of the entrance was complete then the installation of an elevator took place. Cleverly the building and installation of a two stop elevator used space that was to the left of the entrance lobby and would exit in what was once a men’s cloak closet on the sanctuary level. While few folks availed themselves of its use over the early years in more recent times it has grown in use by not only those folks that use wheelchairs, but those that find it difficult to use the many steps that at one time were the only connectors to the sanctuary.
Part 49 Being Involved and Being Sensitive To Others Needs
History is the story of those who participate, who do the work, who end up in the columns of historic documents, but every once in a while there is a statement made by someone that hints at the need for more folks to be involved in the life of an institution.
In an Administrative Board meeting held in 1984, Pastor Lin with the blessings of the chairman of the board pleaded with members of the Board that if you are going to be a member of the church and if you have been elected to an office or volunteered to serve the church and the Lord in some manner then you need to do just that. The title for this episode in the life of Peoples came from that same statement. If you have chosen or been selected for service then it is absolutely necessary to be involved in the life that we share together. While not all of us may be in agreement with where that involvement should be we all need to be continuously sensitive to the thoughts and needs of others, both in the church and in the community around us, however, broadly we interpret community. Even in the time that this article is being written this should be an important statement for all of us to consider rather than leaving everything for just a few members to be responsible for.
Another thought associated with this statement is that there needs to be room for all to share both leadership and followership roles in the life of the church.
One of the means of sharing that all of us need commitment to is raising of funds that will keep the church vital financially. While we would like to think that the primary reason for existence of a church is spiritual it cannot exist without financial campaigns. Several different themes have been used for stewardship campaigns over the years. Pam Harris as Stewardship Chairperson in 1986-87 and those who assisted her ran a program called Pony Express. Several satchels were prepared with pledge cards in the satchel. The intent was that the first person on a list in each satchel would fill out their card and deposit it in the satchel then that person would deliver the satchel to the next person on the list. The process would continue until the last person on the list would return it to the stewardship committee. A system of monitoring where the satchels were kept each satchel moving within a time limit. The system did not permit people filling out cards to see what others already had filled out. One advantage of the system was that people would also get at least one visit from someone else in the congregation. Some folks felt this was an imposing process and didn’t like the program while others found that the visit brightened their day. In retrospect it was one program that got most of the church folks involved in the process.
While during the life of Peoples a number of programs had engaged members of the church in serving others. We have heard about many of those groups and activities throughout the pages of the Roots series. During the mid- 1980’s Reverend Lewis Beckford and his wife Joan co-chaired the Council of Ministries. Lew had been a Methodist pastor for many years and throughout his service to the Methodist church had been an activist when it came to community issues. This husband and wife team continued their interests by bringing a number of social concerns speakers to Peoples. Interest in Social Concerns led to a congregational survey created by the Beckfords to see what feelings folks had about the issues of the day. The survey found that the church should first be supporting family concerns and their relationship to the U.S. Government and what it supports. They found that church members were concerned especially with budget cuts effecting children and families. They found that more should also be available for making it possible to reduce nuclear arms. A third area of concern analyzed from the results was in the area of stress related to job security.
One of the results from the survey was that a well-attended Stress-related workshop was held and led by the Beckfords and the Hladkys. This workshop was followed up by a series of speakers. Others from the congregation assisted the Beckfords and Hladkys in putting this series of program on.
Active involvement in church life was certainly a prominent feature of the music program of Peoples also. Boasting 18 to 20 singers in the mid to late ‘80’s, the choir under the direction of Dr.Malcolm Cass, sang every Sunday until after the Annual Maine or New England Conference from September through June. Many of these singers would be among the soloists who sang during the summer services. Ron Tripp, David Swanson, Norm Jewett, Kevin Tordoff, Lou and Anthony Harvey, Kit and Randy Pike, Ellen Randall (Dunn), Chris Darling, Carolyn Teeter and Marilyn Voter were all on the soloist list for the summer of 1987. Special singing sessions were mentioned in the previous episode of Roots and included singing on a regular basis at 75 State Street and at least once a summer the Choir trekked to Empire Grove Campground in Poland for Vespers on a Sunday night. They also were prominently featured on Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Hanging of the Greens and Christmas Eve. Commitment was not just in these named sessions, but with a regular choir practice each week. While choir members were busy in making music, most of the members were also active in other aspects of church life as well.
It was actually during this period of time, for example, that Chris Ward became the chairman of the annual Christmas Fair and many choir members would assist her in that endeavor which is perhaps the activity longest in duration in the life of Peoples. There is arguably no other single activity in the life of Peoples that has exemplified the spirit of a large group of parishioners working together for a common cause. While it was primarily an activity of the women of the church it was during the ‘80’s that men were active with a booth. Men actually put on a ham supper on the evening of the Fair as well as preparing a variety of products. Some very fine wooden articles were usually made by the men and sold at their table. The Sunday school also became involved in preparing their own items to be sold, proceeds of which usually went to Sunday school projects. Usually all of the rest of the money earned would filter through the UMW and much of the money served as a gift to the church at the end of the year.
A major financial commitment of the 1980’s was for the church to begin to make the sanctuary accessable to the handicapped. This project would also ensure that Peoples was open to all folks handicapped or able bodied. Prior to this major change entrance to the sanctuary was across a very narrow wooden platform at the main door and up the steep stairs to the worship area. With a gift in memory of Lou McGouldrick followed by gifts from several others a fund was established to provide easier access. Bernie Bruce and his company began by building a platform of cement and brick at the main entrance of the church. Ordering several sections of precast concrete that would serve as a ramp to the platform followed this. According to the records of Mr. Bruce he believed that it was Belle Graney that recommended that the facing of the project should blend with the church proper and therefore brick was used for that.
Once the building of the entrance was complete then the installation of an elevator took place. Cleverly the building and installation of a two stop elevator used space that was to the left of the entrance lobby and would exit in what was once a men’s cloak closet on the sanctuary level. While few folks availed themselves of its use over the early years in more recent times it has grown in use by not only those folks that use wheelchairs, but those that find it difficult to use the many steps that at one time were the only connectors to the sanctuary.
posted by Arthur Tordoff | 4:33 PM
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