Dansville Community Center - by Diane Lantzy

I was privileged to visit the Dansville Community Center a few weeks ago.  As many of you may already know, Redeemer’s Thanksgiving Offering will be given to support this Center.   I was not aware of the need in this area prior to my visit – nearly 40% of the people in the Dansville area live at, or below, the poverty level.  So, the needs that this Community Center serves are real and pressing.  It is a real world demonstration of faith in action as James 1:27 instructs us “to look after orphans and widows in their distress.”  The prayer is that those who are touched by this generosity will someday have an open heart for learning about our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Pastor Jeremy Wicks is the Pastor of Millville United Methodist Church and is spearheading this initiative.  He was formerly the pastor of Dansville United Methodist Church – his first appointment and at the time of his appointment, he knew that the Dansville UMC would be closed.  Subsequently, he was appointed to Millville United Methodist Church seven miles away that was also a small, struggling church.

Jeremy shared a huge, seemingly impossible, vision with this small congregation.  Convert an empty church building into a community center to serve their needs and as Jeremy said “Just love on that community.”  He knew this would take a huge step of faith and commitment from every member of this small congregation.  And they rose to the challenge and have made it happen.

What is particularly uplifting is that this generosity of time, talent and gifts that the Millville UMC church family has shown has revitalized their own spirituality.  This is demonstrated by a story that Jeremy related to me. They were preparing to open for their first morning of their Coffee Lounge and a member of the Millville United Methodist Church stopped by.  She didn’t stop by to get in the way, to interfere or because she was curious; she stopped by because she wanted to pray for the people who would arrive in a few hours.  She spent almost 30 minutes praying for those she did not know and might not ever meet.  That and other similar stories made it clear to me that this growing generosity of spirit is impacting the spiritual walk of the Millville church family as much as, if not more than,  those who they are serving.

 My prayer is that the Redeemer church family here in DeWitt, will be generous with their Thanksgiving offering so that the Millville church family is encouraged and the Dansville Community Center can continue to move forward with their remarkable vision.  If you would like to make an donation, you can simply mark any envelope "Thanksgiving Offering" and place it in the offering plate or click here to give online.