When Chandler United Methodist Church began IMPACT, a revitalization process for smaller churches, we were very excited about the process and ready for the challenge. Chandler is a small town in southern Indiana with a population of around 3,000 people. We were hoping to find a way to connect with the community and IMPACT equipped and enabled us to do just that! Our church has a large back yard that was not being used for anything; it was just mowed. The IMPACT team saw this as an opportunity to not only connect with people, we saw it as an opportunity to serve as well.
We asked for volunteers to help prepare the ground for a “comity garden” and then publicized the availability. The response was overwhelming! We were able to fill the space quickly and along the way we have made new connections with some who now attend the church. The garden this year has grown by three rows and we did not have to publicize it.
IMPACT was a very real help in this process. Our participation helped us to think outside the church and develop a vision to connect with new people in order to be more effective at making disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World.
Thank you IMPACT!
Christina G Poehlein, Pastor, Chandler UMC