The vision of the East Ohio Conference` calls churches to “being disciples, making disciples, and maturing disciples of Jesus Christ; being God’s agents of transformation in our communities and throughout the world; and being bold and courageous leaders in reaching new people, younger people, and a more diverse people.” To catch this vision a church will sometimes find itself thinking outside the box of traditional ministry.
Smithville United Methodist Church (Central Valley District) has built a strong connection with a select group of youth – and their families – in the Smithville area over the last several years by hosting Liberty Preparatory School in its building as an outreach to the community.
“Liberty Preparatory School is a dropout prevention school high school,” said Smithville UMC Pastor James Lance. “They are a state-funded, state-run, separate entity that rents our space. We are working on being in more and more relationship with them and seeing what that looks like.”
One such part of the relationship that the church shares with Liberty Prep is a baccalaureate service held for graduating seniors the night before graduation. A special meal was prepared for this year’s baccalaureate, families were invited, and a spirit of joy was in the air. Church members had signed cards of encouragement for the graduates, encouraging them on into their next steps in life and yet there was a sense of trepidation. Lance shared that was because for some Liberty Preparatory students, graduation is not solely a joyous occasion.
“Some of the students have families that never graduated high school, for some of them this is the only graduation they will have, and for some of them it was a real effort to get there. So, this is trying to let them know this is a time of celebration and a good thing. Some of them struggle with graduation because they don’t know what they are doing next or because Liberty Prep has been a safe haven for them, and so they don’t always see graduation as a good thing.”
As a dropout prevention school, the student body of Liberty Preparatory is unique, coming from varied backgrounds and enrolling for many different reasons. Ashley Wilson serves as a security guard for the school and offered her perspective.
“A lot of time kids coming here are very credit deficient, and some of them have even been kicked out of their previous schools. They kind of feel like this is their last option to really get their diploma and we try to work with them and make that happen,” she said.
That collaboration has been a genuine benefit to many students.
Smithville UMC’s support of the student body – and the staff of Liberty Preparatory – is not limited to providing space Monday through Friday and hosting a baccalaureate service. In the past Pastor Lance shared how the church has provided gift cards for the staff, and each year they provide students with what they call “turkey bags.”
Turkey bags is a small step the church is taking to help with the food insecurity that many students wrestle with. Providing resources for food banks in the area is another step.
The partnership Smithville UMC has built with Liberty Preparatory is one that has also allowed the church to be an effective force for the Gospel in Smithville and the surrounding area. It has allowed many teenagers to accomplish something they would not have been able to otherwise. It has given them another chance to learn what it means to finish what they started.
“Don’t give up, don’t stop because if you stop it’s so much harder to keep going so much harder to get back on that horse so don’t stop even though something gets hard. Don’t stop,” shared Alayna.
excerpt from a story by Brett Hetherington, Communications specialist for the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.
This story represents how United Methodist local churches through their Annual Conferences are living as Vital Congregations. A vital congregation is the body of Christ making and engaging disciples for the transformation of the world. Vital congregations are shaped by and witnessed through four focus areas: calling and shaping principled Christian leaders; creating and sustaining new places for new people; ministries with poor people and communities; and abundant health for all.
