| Saving Stations:
Summer tent ministries return by MELISSA LAUBER UMCONNECTION STAFF  With its sirens blaring, an ambulance left the Hyattsville fire department June 24. But the people on the lawn across the street didnt hear it. They were busy worshipping God.
Under the large white tent, members of First UMC, residents from the surrounding community and a band and choir from Emory UMC in Washington, D.C., kicked off this summers Saving Stations, which will be held a week at a time at six Washington area churches. The Saving Stations concept was created by Bishop Felton Edwin May in 1990 when he was on special assignment for the Council of Bishops. He brought together 14 churches in Washington, D.C., to move beyond the walls of the church to minister directly to the community.  The idea for Saving Stations, Bishop May said, came from the late Rev. Everett Stevenson of A.P. Shaw UMC, who had a traumatic experience at the church that changed his ministry. During a meeting, church leaders heard gunfire outside of the building. When they unlocked and opened the doors, they found two young men lying murdered on the front steps of the church.
Todays Saving Stations combine unique mixtures of childrens ministries and Vacation Bible School, drug deliverance ministries and other social services along with worship and revival services. Each church customizes the events it offers under the tent to suit the gifts of its congregation, the volunteers who participate and the needs of the community. At First UMC in Hyattsville, the tent on the front lawn is a visual sign that the church is doing something new and different, said the Rev. Vance Ross. For Ross, the tent is a metaphor that speaks directly to peoples hearts, symbolizing the tents of Gods chosen people in the Old Testament and the sites of old-fashioned Methodist revival meetings for which the denomination was so well known. Were going back to the future to reach the people for Jesus Christ, he said. Reaching out so intentionally into the community may disturb some church members comfort, Ross added. However, this reminds the congregation that when it becomes our church, were missing the point. The tent is one outpost of the kingdom of Christ, he said.  For associate pastor, the Rev. Miguel Balderas, this summers Saving Station is very different from the one First UMC participated in last year with Ager Road UMC, near the barrio.
Crowds of people attended last years event. This years location on the churchs front lawn, in a more suburban setting, drew crowds of less than 20 most evenings. Its easy to believe in multitudes, said Balderas, who added that even one soul makes it worth everything. In addition to the weeklong Washington area Saving Stations, a two-month Saving Station will be held in July and August at the intersection of Milton Avenue and Oliver Street in east Baltimore. Close to the site, the Baltimore-Washington Conference will also open in July a facility to assist drug addicts while they wait for openings in recovery programs. The new facility, named Hesed House, will work in conjunction with the drug deliverance Hesed ministries that continue to be part of the Saving Stations program. | 
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