A celebration of our community

DES MOINES — Pastor Melinda Stonebraker says that what makes members of Greenfield United Methodist Church as well as the greater communities of Greenfield and Adair County so strong is that they work together.

This sentiment was probably no more evident than when the church sprang into action to help with recovery after the May 22, 2024 tornado.

While many churches sprang into action, GUMC specifically served daily meals for the community, housed lost and found items, made space available for open prayer and worship and has continued its existing food pantry.

It has also hosted community conversations, which are a regular time for sharing and conversation. Those will be transitioning to the 21st of each month going forward.

For all of this, GUMC earned the Bishop Inspire Award for Best Rural/Small Church Ministry at the Iowa Conference’s recent annual event.

“People don’t care what you know until they know that you care,” Stonebraker said. “Helping people to see that we care is helping us to be able to live our mission, which is God’s love to create a healthy community. We’re able to share God’s love with them by first tangibly showing them that we care.”

GUMC accepted help from numerous United Methodist congregations from throughout the region and beyond in providing meals and doing other tasks. They have continued providing meals when the need arises — usually when work crews are here helping.

“In some ways we’ve had to learn new things, but in other ways, we have built on our strengths. Even before the tornado, we already had a ministry supporting brain health, reducing the stigma around mental health treatment, being able to talk about it and suicide prevention,” Stonebraker said. “In some ways, we’re just continuing what’s been done before with more intensity and through a different lens.”

The pastor said the church can’t accept this award without acknowledging the entire community’s efforts since the tornado happened.

“We want to acknowledge to the community that while this award is important to our congregation, it’s not possible without the shared cooperation of the community,” Stonebraker said. “We think it’s a celebration of our community and we want to continue as a church and community to work together to celebrate that we’re not alone.”