The center of most churches is the sanctuary, where congregants worship each Sunday. But at First Assembly of God Church in Westernport, the heart of the place resides as well in playrooms alive with the sound of children, in meeting rooms where single mothers gather for fellowship, and in an upstairs storage area known as “The Clothing Closet.”
Since arriving at the church three years ago, Rev. Greg Hammond has commissioned the members of his flock to engage and serve the community through a variety of outreach programs, including a monthly clothing giveaway being held this week.
“We weren’t aware of the extent of need in our community, until we started our outreach,” Hammond said. “We’re just trying to show the community the love of Christ; that there’s more to Jesus than just coming to church and ‘Give us your money’.”
The Clothing Closet program has been operated at the church for many years. Every third Thursday of the month – tomorrow – from 9 a.m. to noon, area residents can visit the church on Maryland Avenue – just past the big red caboose off of Md. 135 – and receive free clothing for themselves or family members.
“There’s no fee, no strings attached,” said Dee Ahern, a church volunteer who handles the clothing program. “A lot of folks just can’t afford clothes, especially now.”
The need for the Clothing Closet was driven home during the church’s recent Back to School Bash, where young people received free school supplies and clothes. About 300 people showed up to receive the assistance. Many members of the church had bought new children’s clothes and donated it to the program for back-to-school. Children who attended were also given snacks and, for those who were in need of a trim, free haircuts.
“We had quite a bit turn out this year,” Ahern said.
Beyond the back-to-school outreach, the Clothing Closet operates year-round. Church members and others donate gently used clothing articles, which are then arranged in the upstairs walk-in closet by gender and size. New items are also bought and donated to the program.
Ahern said the church currently has an excess supply of adult clothing – which will be donated to other area relief agencies like Keyser’s Faith in Action – but the church always welcomes donations of children’s clothing. “We’ll make room for the kids’ stuff,” she said.
In addition to the Clothing Closet, First Assembly also hosts a MOPS program for Mothers of Preschoolers, where women socialize, do crafts and recharge their batteries for their critical roles as mothers. Ahern and other church volunteers fill in to provide child care for the weekly Tuesday-morning meetings, freeing the moms to attend the MOPS program.
First Assembly also sponsors one or two weekend trips a year to the nation’s capital, not to visit monuments, but to serve food and share clothing with the homeless and destitute of one of the city’s worst neighborhoods.
As an outgrowth of that program, First Assembly also hosts young people from the same Washington, D.C. area for an annual summer camp-out under the church’s Royal Rangers – a youth program modeled after the Boy Scouts, but infused with a Christian theme.
The church is also hosting a harvest festival for area children on Halloween night, complete with a candy give-away and costumes, as an alternative to trick-or-treat.
Ahern said members o the nearly century-old church are simply trying to live their faith.
“It’s more than just one individual,” she said. “This is God working through us.”
For more information on tomorrow’s Clothing Closet, or other programs operated through the First Assembly of God, call the church at 301-359-9196.