After getting to know the different ministries and work the church does, I’ve continued to appreciate\u00a0how\u00a0much the congregation, and associated volunteers, really enjoy their service\u00a0to the community of\u00a0Redmond. Every Wednesday evening from 5-7pm the church opens up its fellowship hall and invites the community to come and enjoy a warm meal. This weekly event is called Open Kitchen<\/em>. Though it is open to everyone, it is focused on providing a meal for the homeless community.<\/p>\n The passion that this church has to serve and love is heartwarming and I truly see joy in the faces that volunteer. Being involved with the outward<\/em> ministries of this church has\u00a0helped me to form a better understanding of the work and commitment needed to engage\u00a0the local community. Aside from time, committed volunteers and effective communication to different organizations are key\u00a0practices of an outward oriented ministry. Redmond\u00a0is helping me realize how simple it can be given the right resources. Though the technical takeaways have been beneficial, I believe the spiritual growth I have experienced is much more rewarding.<\/p>\n The type of work I have been doing during my internship has helped me to grow spiritually through the people I work with. God\u2019s love is so big and always present; I have felt that presence throughout my internship. I have always been called to ministries involving people because I find it easy to connect with others. Through my experiences so far, I have connected with many people, sometimes even without using words. Sharing a meal, serving the community, these things are spiritual practices. The sense of community and kindness that this church instills is amazing and I really enjoy being a part of it all.<\/p>\n Coming into my fifth week of this internship the church\u2019s mission statement is\u00a0becoming very clear, and very personal, to me. Love. Serve. Grow.<\/strong> <\/em>is a perfect representation of my experiences so far at Redmond United Methodist Church and I am blessed to have been chosen and placed in this church. I am excited for what God has to offer in the last five weeks of this internship and I know that I will learn so much more in the weeks to come.<\/p>\n Anthony Sy\u00a0is spending his\u00a0summer\u00a0serving at\u00a0Redmond United Methodist\u00a0Church, an\u00a0intergenerational faith community serving the people of Redmond, Washington. He is one of seven young adults spending the summer in ministry internships across the Greater Northwest Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church.\u00a0<\/i>Support received from the\u00a0Young Clergy Initiative<\/a>\u00a0has helped to make Anthony’s\u00a0internship possible.\u00a0<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n This post has been excerpted and edited for clarity from his\u00a0mid-term reflection.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Anthony Sy\u00a0| Ministry Intern serving at\u00a0Redmond United Methodist Church Coming from a church (Beacon United Methodist) whose practices are focused\u00a0inward\u00a0upon\u00a0faith formation and spiritual growth, I’ve experienced my summer placement at Redmond UMC to be\u00a0quite different. As Redmond’s Pastor, Lara Bolger, described it to me when we were first getting to know each other, Redmond […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":10543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[32,435,112],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10541","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-seattle-districts","9":"category-ministries-with-young-people"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/anthony-Sy.jpg?fit=700%2C365&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-2K1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10541"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10550,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10541\/revisions\/10550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"redmond-derby\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/redmond-derby-300x156.jpg?resize=300%2C156\")
<\/a>Another way the church has decided to help the homeless community this year is through Redmond\u2019s Derby Days. Derby Days\u00a0is an annual parade\/fair that celebrates competition, games, and races. The church has been a part of it\u00a0for a number of\u00a0years now and is dedicated in its participation. This year is special because members of the church planned to start an annual food drive during the parade. The donations would benefit local organizations that help feed the hungry within Redmond. This year was the kickoff, in hopes that the years to come will encourage more and more people to take part in a community event that will benefit this in need.<\/p>\n
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