Our congregation has a long history of care and concern for our local community. We were an active part of the Interfaith Council years ago when it was a viable organization, and through it we supported the founding of the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter and the Food Bank currently housed at the Pleasant Street United Methodist Church. (By the way, I am participating in efforts to revive at least the clergy part of the Interfaith Council.) We provide and staff the Evening Sandwich Program on Wednesdays. We collect food for the Food Bank every Sunday in the grocery cart. We have supported the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. We offer emergency assistance through the Minister’s Discretionary Fund. We were founding members of the Kennebec Valley Organization, and I was the founding president, after being involved, along with the Maine Conference, in several years of planning. These are just highlights of our community involvement as a congregation. Many of our members are also involved as volunteers in areas ranging from hospital volunteers to mental health issues, and many more. The Kennebec Valley Organization currently needs our help. Several years ago, through a series of meetings, KVO identified jobs and health concerns as important issues in our community to concentrate their work on. They have had a number of successes, including getting mental health training for first responders and work on issues around direct care workers. Quite a few of our members have been involved in these efforts.

Now it is time for KVO to take another look at identifying the burning issues in our community. KVO is conducting a series of Community Conversations to listen to what people in our community think are the issues most needing work. Our Mission Committee has agreed to work along with KVO leadership to sponsor small group gatherings of members and friends of our congregation to facilitate our input in this process. Other member groups and additional organizations in the area will also have opportunities to offer input.

Next fall, KVO will hold a meeting at which input from the various Community Conversations will be collated and prioritized. Then committees of interested leaders will look at the general issues, do research, and make decisions about what parts of the issues we will be able to make a difference on.

I hope you will give a positive response when you receive an invitation to participate in this process. Although it may appear somewhat abstract and diffuse at the moment, it is vitally important to have input from a wide cross-section of people in the area in order to begin evaluating which issues KVO can successfully tackle in the coming year or two. By the time you are reading this, the 50+/- group will have already participated in a Community Conversation. Others will be held throughout the summer and early fall. And if you are willing and able to be a host/hostess or facilitator for a Community Conversation, the Mission Committee will be grateful for your help.

An indirect by-product of being a part of the Community Conversations is that we will have the opportunity to get to know each other in ways we do not have during fellowship time after worship or during committee meetings. The groups will include people who might not know each other. So you will have a chance to meet new friends and learn more about folks you may see but do not know well.

Jesus summarized the commandments by saying that we should love God and love our neighbors. These Community Conversations and the resulting work on community issues are one way of showing our love and concern for our neighbors. Won’t you join us?

Blessings;
Rev. Dr. David Anderman