Mission Together
Ministry Resources and Ideas for Church Leaders
April | 2021
Churches Engaged in Mission:
First Christian Church of Adel
Operating our monthly Kids Clothes Closet has been more challenging than usual, but it doesn't mean we gave up. When coronavirus invaded a year ago, we were scrambling to know how best to respond to continue to serve while keeping people safe. Our generous congregation and community have consistently provided us with quality used clothing and new underwear and socks, but suddenly distribution became our biggest problem. We ended up closing our regular monthly shopping sessions and offering by-appointment-only meetings. This was used by fewer people, and our supplies soared.

In August we moved our clothing to the parking lot. We kept the clothing sorted by size and by gender so it still felt like a shopping experience. Church members stepped up to manage and organize tables. We gave away hundreds of articles of clothing and still had tubs to spare. So, we partnered up with a school in Omaha and hauled our tubs there for another parking lot event. We shared and recycled the abundance of our Clothes Closet with dozens of families.

From that we stepped into our annual new coat giveaway. Again in our parking lot, we, along with the Adel Rotary, St. John's Catholic Church, and the Adel Women's Club, distributed over 250 coats, plus many hats, mittens, boots, and snow pants. 

Once again our supply is building up, and we continue to seek opportunities to walk the walk. Most recently, we have bagged up outfits for school-aged students and delivered them to a school nurse who saw a need and taken our overrun of adult winter coats to Joppa. We still have individual appointments and are looking forward to opening up more as spring progresses. We have been so richly blessed. 

—Della Weems, Outreach Chair, First Christian Church of Adel, IA
We Want to Hear about Your Ministry
Is your church doing something new or creative? Are you finding a unique way to serve a need in your community? We want to hear about it and share your story with the rest of the church! Our goal is to share at least one new idea from a congregation each time we publish this newsletter.

Send your story to Tiff Williams, Associate Regional Minister, and she will get in contact with you about your ministry. Sharing your church's story could spark a new idea in a sister congregation. As Disciples Together, we will be stronger in our ministry to the world when we share what God is doing through us in our communities.