'Church Wide Open' spreads contagious hope
If you had showed up at any of the United Methodist Church buildings in Dundalk and Edgemere at 10:15 a.m. July 26th, you would have found something quite peculiar for a Sunday morning.
The parking lots would have been vacant, the doors of all the churches closed, pews empty and organs silent. But fear not … though the buildings were all closed for the day, I can truly attest that Church was in fact wide open. 
I had the privilege of worshipping with more than 300 United Methodists from all of the area churches (Dundalk, Graceland, Patapsco–Lodge Forest, and St. Matthews) at Chesterwood Park in Dundalk.
This “Church Wide Open” event was the first of what we hope will be many combined ministry events taking place in the area in coming months.
The event came about as a result of ongoing discussions between the five churches over the future of United Methodism in this area.
Though each church has done good ministry on its own, they all recognize financial and other realities that make it difficult for any one congregation to effectively respond to the many and varied needs of our community.
By partnering together in ministry (both formally and informally) we truly believe we can make a greater impact for good than we can as five churches working independently. Working together, we can begin to “be the change we want to see” in our community and help to give ourselves and others in Dundalk and Edgemere (and beyond) a future with hope.
The five churches worked together to organize a joint outdoor worship service and celebratory picnic as a visible sign to the community that our connections as United Methodists remain strong and that we remain united in our commitment to minister to the people of Dundalk and Edgemere.
Though the morning started out dreary and cloudy, the sun broke through and we had great weather for the morning and early afternoon. All of the logistical and technical issues that plagued us as we planned the service seemed to melt away with the morning overcast and showers, and we had a great time of worship and celebration together.
Clergy from all five churches participated in the worship service, as did laity from each.
The Rev. Dred Scott, of St. Matthew’s, delivered the message for the morning and reminded those gathered in the park that day that “It’s All About Love.”
Scott reminded us that love is more than an emotion; it’s a choice we must make each and every day. When we choose to love others over and above ourselves we are merely following the example of God. God loved this world so much that God sent Jesus to restore relationships as they were meant to be — both with God and with one another.
Not only is love a choice, but Scott said, it’s also a skill that we have to learn. Loving others more than we love ourselves is not something that we human beings do automatically, but like playing a musical instrument, or any other skill we learn, it gets easier and more natural with practice.
These combined ministry discussions and events are wonderful opportunities to practice love, says Scott, because we will inevitably come into contact with others, and in many cases these others will be people that are quite a bit different than us. It’s easy to love someone when they are just like you, but the real test of love comes in forming relationships with those who are very different from you.
The success of our efforts to partner in ministry (in Southeast Baltimore and beyond) may rest on how effectively we can live out Jesus’ command to “love one another as I have loved you.”
After worship, everyone enjoyed a picnic lunch put together by the five churches.
This was only a beginning to our work together but it was a very encouraging first step. There are certainly many practical barriers to overcome as we begin to contemplate more sustained combined ministry efforts, but hopefully these are obstacles we can eventually overcome.
I pray that this successful combined gathering gives us a sense of positive momentum, and gives everyone a hopeful vision of what might be possible if we put aside our “excuses” for why it can’t work, and continue to work together with God and with one another to create the future God dreams of for this region.
I pray that as we continue to strengthen our connections with one another among our five churches, it will truly be a thing of beauty that the people of this community will respond to.
Alan Ward is a freelance writer and member of Lodge Forest UMC.
Login/Register to leave comment