Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…(James 1:27)
The term “religion” has fallen into disrepute of late, but it simply refers to our worship and service of God. That is, what God requires of us. The Gospel tells us what God has done for us (Sending His Son to save us and His Spirit to sanctify us). We may think of religion as our proper response to the Gospel. It certainly covers a wide array of behavior, but James insists that however wide we extend our arms, we must always include the widows and orphans in our midst. That is, those most vulnerable and in need of the protection and provision of the God’s church.
With James’ exhortation in mind, our elders met together last Fall and determined to focus our attention on two specific areas of ministry in 2010: Children and Seniors in Nursing Homes. We saw these as the greatest areas of need and opportunity for us as a congregation. This is why I am very pleased to announce two significant developments in our religion at MSBC.
New Director of Children and Family Ministry
With all the competing interests in our culture and the frenzied pace of life for young families in our community, ministry to our children and their parents has been a significant challenge. At this point, we are still trying to figure out how best to lead our children and encourage our parents into life-long discipleship.
To help better focus our attention on this work, we have called Ruth Kerr to be our Director of Children and Family Ministry. This will be a part-time position with a two-fold purpose:
- To equip and assist the parents of MSBC in the training of our children in the teachings of the Scriptures and the doctrines of the faith.
- To connect the children and families of MSBC with the larger church body.
Ruth has a wonderful ability to creatively engage and instruct children on their level and has many years of experience as a teacher and parent. She also has a discerning mind and a tender heart that makes her particularly well-suited for this position. Those of us who know Ruth have observed these gifts and there was no hesitation in our calling her into this role.
She will begin serving in this role in June and will be working closely with the Elders and with the assistance of our MSC Missionary (Tamra Thompson) and our deacons of Children’s Ministry.
Nursing Home Services open at Maplewood
In the last several months, we’ve been trying to bring “church” to our local nursing homes. For the last few years, several members of our church have been going to Amesbury Village Nursing Home every Sunday morning to lead worship and encourage the residents. I still marvel at what a blessing and difference this simple act of love and faithfulness has proven in the lives of these precious saints. Providing opportunities for worship on Sundays sends a powerful message that they are still an essential part of the Body of Christ that gathers together every Lord’s day. So great was the response, we determined to see this happen in the other three homes where we regularly visit.
It’s taken longer than I’d hoped, but we’ve finally been able to make some progress. Starting June 6th, there will be Sunday afternoon services at Maplewood Nursing Home in Amesbury (formerly Harborside, 6 Morrill St...across from the Middle School). Tim Regis (our good friend from First United Methodist) will be taking this on. Services will be held on the first and third Sundays of every month from 2:15 – 3:00 pm.
Tim will be leading the services, but he certainly could use your help, even just to sing along and encourage the residents with your presence. If you are willing and able to help out, please call the church office or e-mail me at mejohn@verizon.net. We are also hoping to start Sunday services at Country Manor and Port Rehab in Newburyport.
So to our church family, please continue to be in prayer for our children and seniors and for Tim and Ruth as they take on these new roles.