Church life

Church life
photo by Kevin Kalunian

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Messiah Baptist Church is one of the oldest and most active African-American churches in Brockton, Massachusetts. From youth programs to financial investment groups, the church finds new ways to engage members across generations.
Community service is the foundation of both the church and the members, a quiet tradition spanning decades.
Journalism students at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts, enrolled in Advanced Newswriting and Reporting taught by Prof. Maureen Boyle in the Spring of 2016, highlighted some of the service programs at Messiah Baptist Church to give the outside community a glimpse of the work church members do. As part of this class project, students used iPads to shoot photos and videos for the stories.
Special thanks to Rev. Michael Walker, pastor of the church, and everyone at Messiah Baptist for their help with the project. Also, thanks to the Community Based Learning program and Prof. Corey Dolgon at Stonehill, the iPad initiative programs sponsored by the college and Information Technology Department, Stonehill librarian Patricia McPherson and student liaison Liam Dacko for their assistance and support.

Service to community and the church

About Me

These stories and videos were written and produced by students at Stonehill College in the Advanced Newswriting and Reporting course, taught by Prof. Maureen Boyle. Students were supplied with iPads for the semester thanks to a technology grant and partnership with the Stonehill technology department. All of the student videos were shot on iPads and edited with the iMovie iPad app.

E-Giving Back to The Community

By Catherine Hulme



BROCKTON- Worshipping isn’t the only way Messiah Baptist Church knows how to give back.

The church, at 80 Legion Parkway in Brockton, launched special a program to raise money and  help people called E-Giving.
Miles Jackson, director of E-Giving, described it as helpful and an easy way to contribute to the community.

A link to E-Giving  on the Messiah Baptist Church’s website is used for donations.

Money can be donated to the Tithes, Offerings or given to The Restoring Living Hope, Sunday School, Food Pantry, or the Communication/ Arts department.

Jackson said that a majority of the parishioners at the church are elderly. Considering that the donations are given online, the leaders of the church worried that the elderly would not be aware of this option to donate or know how to do it.

Jackson said that the leaders make it clear during the services about the E-Giving option and tithes and it’s very popular and how they make it clear to the parishioners how important it is to give back to the community.

He describes the option of donation as convenient.

“E-Giving is very popular during snow days when parishioners can’t make it to our masses. It is a better option for them.”  

 Physical donations can be given at the donation drop off hours on Sunday mornings, Monday and Wednesday at 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Tuesdays, Wednesday, Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
One story that touched Jackson was when a former usher of the church and basketball coach passed away five years ago. The man, George Nauls, a grandfather of five and a great grandfather of seven, was also a U.S. Navy veteran.

On the day of his memorial, donations were made by members of the church and loved ones.
Jackson described Nauls as someone that lightened up the room and had an impact in the church’s community.

When a parishioner, Mark Gomes, had passed away from pancreatic cancer this past January donations from his memorial were sent to Dana Farber Cancer Institute to the Pancreatic Cancer Research.

Jackson described the church as the feeling of coming home.
“Messiah Baptist Church makes an effort to make everyone feel welcomed and that they are at home. The goal is to have others stay and enjoy themselves and to feel at peace.” 

                                           

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