St. Mark's UMC Hosting Week

St. Mark's is having a great hosting week! Currently they are hosting 3 families as one of our families just moved into their new home in Middletown and we await the arrival of the next family. On Tuesday evening, we met Congregational coordinators Patti Weaver and Denise Lawton. In addition we met Denise's husband George Lawton and volunteers June Wright and Linda Edler. June and Linda met and became good friends while attending the Alpha Course (a 10 week introduction to the Christian Faith) that is offered at St. Mark's.


Denise has been involved with Family Promise since 2008, during the formative stages. We asked her if she could see herself doing this 5 years from now - her answer was an unequivocal: yes! Denise recalls a dream she had about homeless families on the street and the church getting involved in some way to help them. A friend of hers asked: " why don't you join the missions team?" After Denise attended an organizing meeting at Aldersgate UMC, she said to herself "this is my mission."

St. Mark's has about 30 volunteers involved in some capacity this hosting week, with a few new people joining in as they have learmed more about Family Promise. They have volunteers come in to do crafts with the children, the families love the playground and basketball court, and the folks at St. Mark's do their best to make their church feel like a home. As Denise says about St. Mark's culture: "The first day you come here, you're a guest. After that, you're family."