3 minute read
TAKE 5: Congregation outreach
TAKE 5
by BEN STEELMAN photo by TERAH HOOBLER
KELLEY FINCH is the lead pastor at Mosaic New Faith Community, a group working to build an “affirming and inclusive” church in Wilmington. Formed under the auspices of the United Methodist Church, the congregation-to-be seeks to reach out to groups other churches don’t reach, including racial and ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ community, and the physically and mentally disabled. A native of Emerald Isle, Finch was ordained last year and is the former director of family ministries at Grace United Methodist Church in Wilmington. She studied at the University of Barcelona in Spain and was an exchange student in Morocco.
HOW DID MOSAIC GET STARTED? “It all began in the summer of 2021. We’re basically what is known as a ‘pioneer plant.’ Right now, we’re meeting twice a month at Hope Recovery church (the former Devon Park United Methodist Church at 3404 Winston Boulevard). About 5,000 people join in by social media, and maybe thirty-five people show up in person. We had a hundred families come to our Pride Picnic in July. We’re calling our process ‘Mary’s Path.’ It took Mary nine months to have Jesus, and we think it will take us nine months to get launched. Right now, our plans call for regular worship services to begin in January.” WHERE WILL THE CHURCH BE? “We’re partnering with community groups on the Northside. Our commitment is to social justice, so our plans call for a building that we can use on Sunday and which can be used as a multipurpose community center the rest of the week. We’d like to include a community laundry since that’s been identified as a need. Right now, we’re scouting possible locations.” HOW DO YOU MAKE AN INCLUSIVE CHURCH? “We have a motto: Nothing for us, without us. Instead of going in and telling people what we’re going to do for them, we try to ask what people want or need, and then help them reach their goals. We have three keywords: Sanctuary, Community, and Empowerment. We aim to provide a safe place where people can discover God, where they can reach out to others and grow into what they can become. Right now, we’re looking into things like a housing ministry and a prison ministry. We have a really good volunteer, a professional who’s just moved to Wilmington, who’s taking charge of our youth program. That’s already meeting twice a month, and we’ve already reached out to B’nai Israel synagogue and the Temple of Israel.” HOW DID YOU FIND YOUR WAY INTO THE MINISTRY? “I’ve always been interested in religion, and even when I was very young, I think I saw myself in a pulpit someday. My dad was a Baptist minister who founded his own church, so I was always involved in the church with him. In college, I was really interested in world religions. I traveled around, and I saw that people around the world worshiped God in their own way, and it was OK. I took three years off, following the Grateful Dead in a van, but then I had a moment of conscience. I started in the Baptist Church because my family were Baptists, but then the men in my congregation decided that women shouldn’t speak up in church, so I migrated over to the Methodists.” HOW DO YOU REACH OUT TO PEOPLE? “I just go into restaurants or Folks Cafe or places like that, and people come up to me. I think I’m known as ‘the Bible Lady.’ Particularly if I’m wearing my collar, they’ll ask me questions about what the Bible really says or about faith or morals. People are seeking; we need to reach to them.”W
