COMM U N I T Y
HOME OF HOPE
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cFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church’s mission is “Changing Lives That Change the World.” The church is carrying out its mission in a number of ways, including a recent project to build a home in partnership with Cleveland County Habitat for Humanity. “We try to reflect our mission in everything we do,” shared Kristen Howard, the church’s director of communications. “This project is a great example of living up to that mission changing individual lives as it causes that ripple effect.” Scott Meier, the church’s director of missions and community outreach, is coordinating the build. “One of the things we are creating is a close relationship with Cleveland County Habitat for Humanity,” Meier said. “We wanted to make sure the home was done with someone with experience and done with a structure and organization that is bigger than us.” Habitat for Humanity President and CEO Randy Gardner and his father-in-law Bob Warner, who are both members of the church, have worked to make the connection seamless since this is the first time McFarlin has undertaken a project of this magnitude with Habitat for Humanity. But this is not the first construction project for the church. Volunteer builders at McFarlin have plenty of experience building homes. They have made it their yearly mission to travel to the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas for the past six years and build homes for families in need. The pandemic halted their trip this year, so the church decided to use it as an opportunity to help locally.
16 | July 2021
“The church was looking for a way to continue their mission and we wanted to get another project going in Noble,” Gardner said. The house being built in Noble will be about 1100 square feet with three bedrooms, a perfect fit for a small family of 3-4 people. The application period for homeownership recently closed and Habitat’s family selection committee, comprised completely of community volunteers, is fully engaged in selecting the homeowner. Although Habitat for Humanity has several home designs available, the church’s past experiences enabled them to merge one of Habitat’s designs with the design they’ve previously used in Texas, with a few modifications. Volunteers include McFarlin church members, Noble United Methodist Church members, as well as a few people that have worked with them on other service opportunities. The group is well versed in construction projects of this kind. “One of the things McFarlin is striving to be is a missional church and we really want to engage our members to be in
