Bishop’s Day on the District

The Bishop’s Day on the District was held Saturday, April 17 at the Rochester UMC in NH. Bishop Peter Weaver led what is called a "missions walk!"

What is a mission walk? It is a chance to go out and walk 10 minutes in any direction from the church and 10 minutes back. In first 10 minutes take inventory of what is in neighborhood. What do you see? In 10 minutes walking back think about those places and how do we connect with the people who are in those places? How do we learn from them what they are experiencing, build friendship, build solidarity with folks who are different from us? After doing this, the group returns for conversation to connect the gifts we have with the needs we see represented. Those who prefer not to walk or drive can stay in prayer for those who are going out.

Unfortunately on our Bishop's Day it was raining! So we took a "virtual walk," trying to remember things we saw as we drove to the church from different directions. Here are some of the things we saw: Walgreens, another church, Friendly’s, pizza place, funeral parlor, fire department, park, salvation army, dunkin donuts, saw repair place, hospital, gas station, auto repair, apartments, library, homes, traffic, all-you-can-eat restaurant, graffiti, river, fair grounds.

We then discussed together the gifts in our church that could meet spiritual and physical needs in these areas. We came up with ideas such as hosting small group studies in the low income housing area, leading worship or Vacation Bible Camp in the local park, visiting people in the hospital, hosting worship in a retirement home, starting a tutoring group in the library, providing children's activities at a fair (or Art in the Park!), or helping a local business clean up graffiti.

Bishop Weaver challenged EVERY church to participate in the 2010 Mission Leap Forward. The challenge is for every United Methodist Church to engage every member of the congregation in some new hands on ministry and mission. What will you do?!