Music; it’s a gift from God. God gave us music so we could give it back to Him. We use it to teach, to worship, to praise. And, we also use it to support our efforts to feed the hungry and to house the poor.
On the evening of Sunday April 10, several local Methodist churches got together to present a concert to raise funds
LaPalmilla church with PUMC mission team
for our mission to La Palmilla Mexico. For many years, the limited financial resources of the church in this town have not been able to reach their boundless love and passion for serving the Lord. Their church is bursting at the seams, and we have been helping them construct a new sanctuary that can provide a home and shelter for their ministry.
As a result of Sunday’s concert and the generosity of the 150+ people who attended, we will be able to add over $1500 to La Palmilla’s construction efforts. Because God’s use of our music and offerings, the flooring on the main floor of this church’s sanctuary will be closer to completion. As Pastor Jim said in his benediction after the concert, is it a stretch to imagine that someday in heaven we’ll meet someone who was saved because we contributed our love and efforts on that night in April of 2016?
A Future with Hope
Glassboro UMC restoring a house in Long Branch
This isn’t the first time that our church’s praise bands have pulled together to raise funds for missions. This past January, the same bands met at the First United Methodist Church in Glassboro to help their youth group rebuild homes this summer that were damaged by hurricane Sandy several years ago.
The Greater NJ Annual Conference began “A Future with Hope” several years ago in response to the devastating storm (“Superstorm Sandy“) which hit our state in October of 2012. Since its inception, over 10,000 volunteers from all over NJ have helped to rebuild 204 homes (and the number is still climbing).
One of the churches sending volunteers to the construction areas is the First United Methodist Church of Glassboro. For the past two years, they have assisted in the rebuilding of homes in Long Branch and Atlantic City. This July, they are volunteering to help out again. They don’t know where they’ll be sent, but they are willing to go wherever the current need is. God is empowering us to “Come back with a flood of volunteers.”
Music in Action
From La Palmilla Mexico to Atlantic City NJ, we’re using music to help rebuild lives. Five churches were involved in Sunday’s concert:
- Pitman United Methodist Church
- Richwood United Methodist Church
- Trinity United Methodist Church (Mullica Hill)
- Mantua United Methodist Church
- First United Methodist Church (Glassboro).
Each band brought their own personalities of members, instruments, and musical styles. But as each rose to take the “stage”, each showed their passion for our Lord Jesus Christ. The concert was not only a celebration of music, but a joint celebration and praise for God. Far from a “battle of the bands”, it was a unified concert of love.
“In order of appearance”, here are the bands that shared in the concert…
Concert
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Pitman United Methodist Church “Praise Team” PUMC Music Not a fancy name, but we lead our 9:30 worship service every Sunday. We sang:
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Richwood United Methodist Church “Sanctified” Website Sang:
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Trinity United Methodist Church (Mullica Hill) “Synergy” Website The first of two bands coming from Trinity UMC. They sang:
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Mantua United Methodist Church “The EONS” Website EONS stands for Evangelists on Norris Street. They sang:
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First United Methodist Church (Glassboro) “Magnify” Website FUMC hosted our last Praise Band concert in January. They sang:
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Trinity United Methodist Church (Mullica Hill) “Stained Glass” Website Not to be outdone by Synergy, Stained Glass was the last band of the evening. They sang:
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Stained Glass, of the Trinity UMC, ended their set with the following rendition of Amazing Grace…
More Music in the Future
This wasn’t the first “Praise Band Concert”, and the needs around our state and around the globe continue. So be on the lookout for more Praise Band Concerts and additional opportunities to take part in the missions of these churches.
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To learn more about the music ministry at PUMC, click here: Music
To learn more about our mission to La Palmilla, click here: Mexico
