Making strides in ministry
Memphis Church Partners With Grocer To Feed The Poor

By Cathy Farmer

MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(UMNS) Smoked pork chops, potato salad, roast beef and pecan pie might not seem like your usual food pantry fare, but that's exactly what Capleville United Methodist Church in Memphis is sending every week.

As the result of CUMC's partnership with its neighboring Kroger grocery store, the church sends food to the United Methodist Neighborhood Centers of Memphis and to Reelfoot Rural Ministries, a Memphis Annual Conference outreach program to Northwest Tennessee.

"Our clients are totally delighted," says Ellen Peete, Neighborhood Centers director. "The families who come to our inner-city centers are mostly the working poor, people who live right on the line. These are people who have to choose between fixing a tire and buying food for their children. They don't receive any kind of assistance from the government. Being able to offer them the 'frills'--something besides the usual canned tuna fish or beef stew--makes us different."

Cathy Farmer is communications director of the United Methodist Church's Memphis Annual Conference. This story originally appeared in the conference edition of the United Methodist Reporter.

Tennessee Church Grows Up, Not Out

COOKEVILLE, TENN.--Can a building get bigger but stay the same size? You might think so if you measured the $3 million expansion and renovation at First Baptist Church of Cookeville in square feet alone.

"Even though the project doesn't increase the square footage, it increases the volume of the building," explains Frank Orr, AIA, of Hart Freeland Roberts Inc., in Nashville, Tenn. Orr says he plans to open up the existing floor area, then extend the roof to match the sanctuary roof. This way, he explains, the building is expanded vertically, but its overall size--95,000 square feet--is unchanged.

Expanding the sanctuary from 6,000 to 7,920 square feet involves converting spaces currently used for Sunday School and storage. "This expansion capability was built-in when we started adding our Family Life Center, music suite, media center, new kitchen and office complex back in 1983," notes Dwight Suiter, chairman of the church building committee.

The sanctuary also gains several new features and refinements. The pulpit platform will be much larger than in most churches--big enough to accommodate a 35-member orchestra as well as piano and organ consoles. A choir loft able to host 110 singers is also planned. The loft will be installed behind the platform and include interior stairs to the pulpit area below.

Spanish Priest Battles Every Cell Phone--and Wins!

(AP)--Fed up with mobile phones ringing during mass, a Roman Catholic priest in Moraira, Spain, recently chose a weapon that would end it: an "electronic jammer."

The Rev. Francisco Llopis, pastor of the Church of the Defenseless, says the beeps, tunes and other digital noises emitted by today's omnipresent cell phones are incompatible with quiet worship.

The church is the first in Spain to install the device, which transmits low-power radio signals, severing communications between cellular handsets and cellular base-stations.

Commercial jamming systems are currently illegal in the United States, Canada and Britain. However, other countries (including Spain, Australia and Japan) allow limited use.

Missouri Church Ministers To Faint-of-heart

HOLLISTER, Mo.--Visitors to Peace Lutheran Church in Hollister often ask, "Is that an AED sitting on the shelf?" They aren't imagining this unlikely sight. An Automated External Defibrillator (AED), a life-saving device, sits on the shelf as part of the church's ministry.

"It makes an impression on [visitors]," says spokesperson Sue Bachal. The church is near Branson, an area popular with retirees, she explains. As such, many members and visitors are elderly. Should a heart attack occur at the church, the portable defibrillator boosts the chance of survival, especially since a shock must be delivered within six minutes to save a victim. Sixteen church members earned CPR certifications and learned to use the defibrillator.

"We're glad we've got it to help someone," Bachal says. "And we're glad we haven't had to use it yet."

--Reprinted with permission from The Lutheran© (March 2002) by Augsburg Fortress.

Florida Building Project Takes Congregation Under Its "wing"

ORLANDO, Fla.--Recently, a 50- by 112-foot "angel's wing" landed at First Presbyterian Church in Orlando. The wing, a massive lightweight canopy, covers a unique, 6,000-square-foot outdoor room, according to architects and FPC leaders.

This new outdoor area serves a dual purpose, explains Rick Conant, managing principal of Foster Conant and Associates landscape architecture firm. First, it functions as a protected driveway for school pick-ups and drop-offs during the week. It also acts as an outdoor gathering place for parishioners before and after services and for special events.

Angel Wing's flexible plaza design began with concrete floors, seating areas anchored with stone planters, teak benches, concrete trash compartments, accent and decorative lighting and lampposts. However, according to FPC Business Administrator Ben McKenney, the real challenge was connecting the non-parallel buildings with a roof that would not "fight" their architectural styles. The decision to use the canopy (made by Starnet International Corporation in Longwood, Fla.) seemed logical, he says.