Many Hearts – Many Hands McDonough
Two Local Congregations Unite for a Great Day of Service
Congregants from two historic local churches, McDonough First United Methodist Church and Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church have established a collaborative ministry designed to provide community service and assistance to the citizens of our McDonough community. In June 2008, the North Georgia United Methodist Church Annual Conference conducted its own “Great Day of Service” in Athens Georgia during its yearly conference with great success. Church Cabinet members along with Pastors, and Lay delegates from all across North Georgia participated in various mission projects to the delight of the City of Athens and its residents.
Armed with a passionate desire to share that experience with their members, Pastor Sharma Lewis of Wesley Chapel UMC, Pastors Dana A. Everhart and Mike Broome of McDonough First UMC discussed a similar idea and vision for their congregations and the McDonough area. In their words, “this day of service shall be one of kindness, generosity, friendship, and outreach and will serve to make the McDonough community a better place to live, work and raise our children.” Named “Many Hearts, Many Hands McDonough”, congregational members of both congregations will team together for a day of community service and outreach across the City of McDonough on 7 November 2009 from 7:30am – 2:30pm.
With the help of subject matter experts and professional contractors from both congregations, the objective of this day of service will be to perform general maintenance in and around homes and public-use facilities/organizations; complete light repairs and minor construction; provide outdoor beautification and lawn cleanup; as well as light exterior painting and visitation projects around town. Teams of volunteers will also converge on the downtown city square to hand out free bottles of water to pedestrians and automobile occupants and offer meals to on-duty public safety officials.
With the generous support and help from Wilson Brothers Nursery, Chick-Fil-A (Hwy 20/81), Crown Distributors, Publix (Hwy 81), Marco’s Pizza, Shane’s Rib Shack (Hwy 81) and other local business contributors and individual supporters, the kickoff for this day of service is scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. at McDonough 1st UMC with breakfast followed by a worship celebration and work team orientations. Free child-care will be provided at both church locations. Teams of 4 – 10 volunteers will be dispatched to their work locations and will work until 12:30. Volunteers will return to Wesley Chapel UMC for lunch and will conclude the day with a Worship celebration and video presentation of the day’s volunteer activities. Team members from both churches will attend each church the following day to share their personal mission and service experiences with the congregations.
To help defray costs associated with this event, McDonough First UMC will designate a portion of its proceeds from its 4th Annual Golf Tournament on 23 Oct 2009 at the Cotton Fields Golf Club to support this community service event. For more information and specific details about this upcoming project, sponsorship, participation and the golf tournament, please contact McDonough First UMC at 770-957-4150 or Wesley Chapel UMC at 770-957-4728 or visit the churches websites at www.mcdfirst.org and www.wesleychapelumc.org.
