Wellspring United Methodist Church
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Open Hearts Open Minds Open Doors
  
Verse of the Day...
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Albums Living NativityWellspring has been worshipping at Dean Park on Christmas Eve for quite a few years now. Several years ago, we added a Living Nativity to our celebration. Volunteers from the congregation participate as angels, Mary, Joseph, the cow, the donkey, shepherds, etc. That makes for a beautiful and moving experience! View Album  Mission - Camp WanakeeA group of Wellspring volunteers participated in a mission trip to the United Methodist Church Camp Wanakee in New Hampshire two years in a row. We stayed in a beautiful chalet and enjoyed great fellowship while working on painting, digging, etc. View Album  Mission - Project LinusProject Linus is a non-profit organization with an amazing mission: To provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.”
View Album  Outreach - Car Wash“Free service offers a picture of the grace of God, a priceless gift which can never be repaid.” – Rick Warren, Conspiracy of Kindness.
THAT was fun! We held this free car wash at the WalMart in Northborough; we made it a youth event too so the kids could join the fun. People could not believe it was free (yes, no donations accepted either!). Some said we made their day. One woman was so amazed, she stopped by again on her way out of the store to drop off drinks and munchies for the crew.
What a great, fun (and wet) way to spread seeds of love in the community!
View Album  Outreach - Garden at Abby's House WorcesterWellspring has focused on what we call “Horticulture Evangelism”, planting seeds in the hearts of people and sometimes in the ground too! In 2005, 2006, and 2007, a team of dedicated “gardeners” created a little piece of heaven in an alley between two old brick buildings in the heart of Worcester. Wellspring has volunteered to adopt Abby’s House* “Garden” in Worcester, which will allow women and children finding shelter within the building to spend some time outside in a beautiful environment during the summer months. The project was pretty ambitious and involved landscaping, planting, and also requesting donations of plants. It was a tremendous success and the feedback was amazing.
Check out Abby's House
View Album  Outreach - Give-awaysAgain, another way to reach out to our community and spread the seeds of God's love for all: We have organized several very successful hot chocolate give-aways in front of the Christmas Tree Shoppes in Shrewsbury during the winter months. At each event, we have served over 8 gallons of hot chocolate to the local shoppers. Each cup was given away with a “God Loves You” card.
This hot chocolate give-away event was modified to become an Easter chocolate and free children craft event before the Easter holiday.
Sweet events in more ways than one!!
View Album  Spirit of Shrewsbury 2005Every year, we participate in the Spirit of Shrewsbury festival in September. We usually host a Wellspring booth. We distributed over 900 cups to the crowd!. We also participate in the parade with our own Wellspring float.
Check out the Spirit of Shrewsbury events at www.spiritofshrewsbury.com.
View Album  Spirit of Shrewsbury 2006Every year, we participate in the Spirit of Shrewsbury festival in September. We usually host a Wellspring booth. In the past, we gave away free popcorn (distributed over 900 cups to the crowd at each event). In 2006 for the first time, we gave away away custom label water bottles. We also participate in the parade with our own Wellspring float.
Check out the Spirit of Shrewsbury events at www.spiritofshrewsbury.com.
View Album  Spirit of Shrewsbury 2007Every year, we participate in the Spirit of Shrewsbury festival in September. We usually host a Wellspring booth. We gave away custom label water bottles. We also participate in the parade with our own Wellspring float.
Check out the Spirit of Shrewsbury events at www.spiritofshrewsbury.com.
View Album  Vacation Bible School - July 2008July 14th-18th found the whole church involved in our first annual VBS program. Our congregation partnered with Trinity Episcopal Church in Shrewsbury to sponsor, what turned out to be, a fabulous week of working with 18 students ages 4 years-5th grade, 4 children in the Nursery and 25 volunteers from both congregations. The Great Bible Reef curriculum featured lessons on what God's people do as disciples of Jesus - CARE, HELP, TRUST, BELIEVE and LISTEN. The setting was the Great Barrier Reef just off the shores of Australia. The children learned many interesting things about nature below the surface of the ocean and the critters that live there. Each day the children rotated through 4 learning centers - Coral Crafts, Seawater Science, Reef Rhythm and Deep Sea Storytelling. One of the highlights of each day was Scuba Snacks time. Each day the snack ladies presented wonderful edible treats that always related to the Bible story of the day and the Bible Critter of the day.
Our mission project was to raise money for supplying bees, hives and training through Heifer Project International. Our goal was to raise $100. By the end of the week we had raised over $180 - enough to purchase 6 hives. We were all thrilled by this achievement.
The children loved Jonah and Molly in the daily Storytelling DVD, puppet shows, acting out the Bible stories and experiencing the Bible story in interesting ways, doing wonderful creative crafts, diving, swimming and floating through active movement centered music and great fun science experiments that illustrated the lessons of caring, helping, trusting, believing and listening. At the end of the week each child took home a set of critter trading cards and little reef critters in their name tag pouch.
On Sunday, several children and their families came to sing at each of the services, both at Trinity Episcopal Church and at Wellspring United Methodist Church.
The children weren't the only ones to benefit from Vacation Bible School. I think, if you were to ask any of the 25 volunteers if the week at Bible School was worth all the work, they would all agree that it was a blessing to have been there. We worked together, bonded with each other, and enjoyed experiencing God with the children.
What an inspiration to hear the individual stories of children learned to pray at Bible School, heard about God for the first time, loved Bible School, and wanted to come back next year. We had been praying that God would send us children who needed to feel the love of Jesus and He answered our prayers . We planted seeds that will produce a rich harvest in the hearts and lives of these children we touched. Thanks be to God!
Stay tuned for more VBS news. Next year's theme is DISCOVERY CANYON, Exploring the Wonders of God's World!
The dates for next year are June 22-26, 2009. Save these days and plan now to enroll your children for a fun filled week. We would love to have 25-30 children enrolled next year. Plan on volunteering your time and support for this special ministry.
View Album  Wellspring Drama TeamWellspring is proud to have a dynamic drama team (which includes our own troop of Wellspring Puppeteers!), which liven up the worship services from time to time. Children often participate to the skits, which go from funny stories to deep, moving short plays. View Album  Wellspring EventsView Album  Worship ServicesWellspring has amazing worship services. We let God's Spirit take over, and sometimes, it means some improvisation! But moving "God" moments as well, fun, spirit-filled spaces, music, stories and so much more. Whether we are outside at Dean Park or in our worship space, you can count on some amazing moments! View Album |
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