By Linda Cooper
With little fanfare, Millington First United Methodist Church is marking its 135th anniversary this year by quietly doing what it has always done.
That’s helping others in the name of Jesus. The church was founded in 1889 at the corner of Wilkinsville and School streets in the center of the city, where it still stands today.
Through the years as its buildings and congregation have grown and shifted, the hallmark of the people who attend FUMC has remained the same over time – serving others, as the hands and feet of Christ.
The congregation continues to love God and their neighbors through a wide range of ministries, reaching out into the Millington-area community, not just through its 10 a.m. Sunday worship services, but also beyond the doors of the church in myriad ways. FUMC’s current pastor Rev. Amanda Hartmann Westmoreland, a legacy pastor, whose grandfather previously served the church, and the first woman to shepherd the church in its 135-year history says, “FUMC is a church in the heart of town with the town at heart. I see God working through our church to reach out to others with the love of Christ as we meet our neighbor’s spiritual and physical needs.”
It’s no secret United Methodists love to eat. United Methodists share a longstanding tradition of potlucks and casseroles. So, it’s no surprise FUMC established its food pantry ministry sometime in the early 1980s when food baskets delivered at Christmastime by the local VFW Post 7175 grew into a greater need. The pantry is currently a satellite branch of the Mid-South Food Bank offering emergency food assistance to patrons on a quarterly basis. The pantry serves persons living in the 38053 zip code in Shelby County. Sammie Kyle, the FUMC volunteer who oversees the pantry estimates 60-80 families are served each month, or around 4,800 people annually. Donations of food are received from throughout the community, including from the Millington Kroger and Aldi grocery stores each week, from a ministry at Collierville First United Methodist Church which picks up donated items from Costco and Whole Foods and distributes them throughout the county, as well as from NSA Mid-South, Millington Municipal School can drives, civic organizations, and other churches and citizens in the community.
Staple items always needed in the pantry include: canned chicken and tuna, crackers, cereal, peanut butter, soups, macaroni and cheese, and ramen noodles.
The pantry hours have been extended in recent years to meet an increasing need in the community. Housed at the church, the pantry is open every Tuesday, first Thursday, and third Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Persons needing food may call (901) 872-2771, when the pantry is open to schedule an appointment to come and pick up food that day.
Staffing and stocking the pantry is a community-wide endeavor. In addition to volunteers from FUMC, volunteers from St. William Catholic Church and others are integral to this more than 40-year-old ministry. Employees from Indmar Marine Engines, located in Millington, will also soon be stepping up to offer volunteer assistance in the pantry as well.
“We provide a valuable service. We may not know each family’s circumstances, but there are many food insecure families in our community. Through this ministry, I feel I am serving God, my church, and my community. It keeps me busy, but it’s a good busy,” Kyle notes.
In addition to the food pantry, FUMC also has a weekend backpack ministry, providing meals to hungry students in Millington schools during the school year. Millington’s schools are federally designated as Title 1, meaning there are a significant number of students from low-income households in the community’s schools. Volunteers meet every other Tuesday on the church campus to pack food bags and deliver them to the Millington Primacy and Intermediate schools every Thursday, to go home with students on Fridays. Each bag typically contains two breakfast items, two lunch items, two dinner items, two snacks and two juices for the weekend. The foods are relatively easy for the children to eat and prepare on their own. Typically, a bag may contain breakfast bars, microwave macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, packs of peanut butter and crackers, and juice packs. Now in its seventh year, this ministry is currently serving 88 students each week.
For those wishing to join FUMC in lending a hand to hungry children in the community, ramen noodles, microwave macaroni and cheese, and Capri Sun juices are always needed. FUMC volunteers Kathryn Boyer and Megan Welch who co-lead this ministry estimate the cost to feed one child each month at $11. That’s only $117 for the entire school year. Anyone wishing to help sponsor a child may contact the church office at (901) 872-4414.
Boyer and Welch also are co-leading FUMC’s Christmas food box ministry this year. Much like the weekend backpack ministry, for the past several years, counselors from Millington Municipal Schools have provided the church with a list of local families in need. The local Save-A-Lot grocery in Millington has partnered with FUMC for the past several years providing pre-packed food bags their customers can purchase to be donated for this ministry. The bags typically
contain canned vegetables, stuffing mix and other items to help prepare a family holiday meal. Civic organizations also contribute monetary donations for the purchase of hams or turkeys included in the food boxes, which are delivered by church members to the families before Christmas.
“Megan and I both have a passion for kids, which is why we wanted to help with the backpack ministry. We see a need for these kids who are hungry, and we don’t want them to go without.
We see the Christmas food box ministry as an extension of the backpack ministry. Neither of us wants to see anyone go hungry,” Kathryn Boyer says.
In addition to its food-based ministries, FUMC offers Wednesday night programming for children and youth, which includes a meal; a prayer shawl ministry offering comfort to anyone who may be grieving or battling a health concern; grief support groups for those experiencing the loss of a loved one; and a host of annual community outreach events and activities including its school-year kick-off breakfast for Millington Municipal Schools, Golden Cross donation drive for the senior residents of the Wesley Independent Living Center in Millington, and much more.
FUMC Lay Leader Roy Hall notes, “Through our missions and ministries, actively reaching out to our neighbors, loving and serving others is at the heart of who we are as the people of Millington First United Methodist Church, yesterday, today, and as we continue to move forward with our community into the future. This is what we have been called to do as followers of Christ.”
Millington First United Methodist Church is located at 8029 Wilkinsville Road. For more
information about the church’s programs and ministries contact the church office at (901) 872-441or info@fumcmillington.org, or visit the church’s website at www.fumcmillington.org.
