I began serving as sole pastor at Stony Creek United Methodist Church on July 1, 2020. This was right in the middle of the pandemic and brought a unique set of challenges and opportunities. The congregation at Stony Creek welcomed me, and my family, with open arms and hit the ground running. The congregation was eager to get back to ministry work, which had benn somewhat on hold at the outstart of the pandemic, but wanted to do so in safe and healthy ways. Through communication with the Lincoln Consolidated School District Superintendent, and the Principal at Bishop Elemenatry, the church was slowly ablet to get back to helping the students and teachers with school supplies, an on-site food pantry, weekend to-go bags of food, and donations of hygiene products.
The mission of Stony Creek UMC is: “We are called into deeper, meaningful, authentic relationships with God and with people.” Their vision is: “We strive to be this community’s catalyst for allowing that growth to take place by offering ourselves to the world in service, prayer, and fellowship.”
Since coming to serve alongside the Stony Creek UM Church, through shared co-leadership with the members of the Church Council and the Outreach team, we have added additional ministries including “Play Dates” (summer & school year dates for children and youth to come and hang out and play in a safe space, both indoors nd outdoors, with no proselytizing whatsoever, just fun games and yummy snacks), hosting summer camps for various non-profits (including the Washtenaw County Unique Care Connect), hosting the Washtenaw County Unique Care Connect‘s rummage sale (and several other events, with the goal to continue to work together on common goals and ministries going forward), and several other community-focused events and ministries. We have also been blessed to begin to see some new faces (and some familair ones too) on a more regular basis since moving the worship time to 10:45 A.M. on Sunday mornings. The congregation continues to be excited in the ministry work they are already engaged in, and are hopeful for future opportunities that still tie directly with our mission and vision.