THE COLONY, TEXAS
Members of The Colony Ward, in the Frisco, Texas Stake, welcomed the community to their Church building on Good Friday.
Events of the day began with a short devotional, during which Bishop Jon Dansie and Paul Byrne, the ward's Sunday School president, spoke of the Savior's Resurrection and Atonement. Ward members and community visitors then moved to the cultural hall to prepare 200 hygiene kits, a truckload of non-perishable food and several hand-tied quilts that were later donated to a food pantry, run locally by First United Methodist Church. Several ward members went door to door to collect food for the event, and area dentists donated enough dental supplies to fill hundreds of hygiene kits.
Mark Warner, mission leader for The Colony Ward, said the event helped members to reach out to the community and to start building relationships with other local denominations.
"We want to be engaged as part of the community," Brother Warner said. "The Good Friday event has opened the door to communication between our congregation and the Methodists. They were extremely appreciative of our efforts on behalf of the food pantry, and I think they'll be more open in the future to calling on us when there's a need."
The Methodist food pantry serves about 30 local families in need each week, and the donations provided by The Colony Ward will be a big help, said Dr. Marsha Middleton, reverend at First United Methodist Church.
"We typically have not had a lot of toiletry donations, so the hygiene kits will be especially helpful," she said.
The fact that the project also helped to build a new relationship between the two churches is a good thing, Dr. Middleton said. "The more churches can work together, the better. It's a great benefit to the entire community."
