News and Views

One of the shared values of the  Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delawares Areas is the freedom to try. Those involved in creating the New Hope Day Shelter in Edgewood, Maryland, have taken this value to heart as they seek to align themselves and their community with God’s love.

With hearts full of hope, dogged determination, a huge dream, and a longing to live out God’s call to serve the community, United Methodists, including those in Harford County, have embraced the need to keep moving forward in Jesus’ name.

It hasn’t been easy as they seek to rebuild the New Hope Day Shelter.  Obstacles have challenged their abilities and resolve. Still, they remain persistent, convinced that challenges and blessings are often intertwined in ways that aren’t always easy to understand.

While some board members weren’t there at the time, the journey that they’re on began 20 years ago, when United Methodists in Edgewood began a ministry to reach out to the poor and unhoused in the community. Many of the people they began to engage in ministry lived in the woods around a double-wide trailer, which the United Methodist servant volunteers, unhoused people, and other members of the Edgewood community began to use as a church building in 2007.

When they cut the ribbon on the worship and social service space, where 20 unhoused people gather each Sunday, James Harkins, the then Harford County Executive, praised their tenacity. “What has occurred here is phenomenal because some strong-willed people would not give up,” he said.

Today, the Rev. Ann Laprade echoes these words.  “In many ways, we are rebuilding this ministry from the beginning,” she said. “The way forward is not always clear-- and then God appears, revealing to us the next right step -- and we go forward.  This journey we are on is one where many people are working diligently together and with heart.”

The Rev. Dr. Marlon Tilghman, pastor of Ames UMC in Bel Aire and co-chair of the New Hope Day Shelter’s Board of Directors, is optimistic. Although permits have been resolved, transportation and structural issues around the triple-wide trailer that will house the day shelter are still problematic.

Tilghman hopes the issues will be resolved this winter and that the shelter will open its door to serve 25-30 unhoused people.  He explained that these people sleep in county-subsidized area motels but have nowhere to spend their days.

“And,” he noted, “winter is coming.”

Tilghman and the board envision a space where unhoused people have an address to receive their mail, where there are shower and laundry facilities, and resources to help them build their lives. They envision area churches providing and serving meals and a place where God’s love is shared.

Their optimism is grounded in the story of how God has already been at work in the project. 

The New Hope Day Shelter closed its doors during the pandemic and the church worshiped online. The double-wide trailer became unusable. When the pandemic was over, area United Methodists felt compelled to re-energize this ministry.

The challenges continued. A small remnant of people was meeting for worship at Mt. Vernon UMC, which has recently closed.  The Baltimore-Washington Conference’s Unified Funding Task Force no longer funded the pastor’s salary of the missional church, and county permit problems plagued the project.

During it all, people remained resilient. Two years ago, an application was submitted to the Baltimore-Washington Conference Board of Trustees and approved, making New Hope Day Shelter the first Missional Action Planning project in the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware Area. Whiting-Turner Construction sold them a triple-wide trailer for a low fee.

Missional Central Parish, led by the Rev. Karin Walker and comprised of 11 churches, has taken a leadership role in keeping the day shelter alive. In January, Cokesbury Memorial UMC in Abingdon, a member church of MCP, will open its doors to serve as the temporary shelter until New Hope is up and running.

Pastor Granderson Jones continues as the quarter-time pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship, keeping the worshiping community alive.

“When you consider the amount of effort, love, will, hope, and financial resources that have gone into this project, the fact that the structure is not yet complete is surprising to many involved,” Laprade said. “We look forward to the time when the ribbon-cutting can take place, and the ministry renewed. New Hope Day Shelter was so named for a reason. It’s meant to be a way for people who are on the edge or who have had the bottom of their lives drop out to claim hope and rebuild their lives. God has guided us every step of the way.”

Laprade and others are choosing to look at the project with eyes of faith, recognizing God’s call to be in ministry with the least and the lost. “The variety of relationships and alliances that were formed from the beginning around this ministry have endured over the years and through many changes.  That is an incredible blessing and expression of beloved community,” said Laprade. “Truly, this is a story of hope.”