When New Life Christian Church made the decision to relocate to their current building, the congregation made a list of goals they had for the ministry. The goals were arranged by categories of immediate, intermediate and long-term.
The immediate goals are going gangbusters.
“We were thinking, for the immediate goals, we would want to minister to the people in this area of town,” Pastor John Harwell explained. “And it started small, but now we have been doing the mobile food pantry for a year.”
New Life Christian Church had previously been located on North Barron Road in Poplar Bluff, but saw room for growth and an opportunity to relocate in May 2022. They settled into their new home at the former First Presbyterian Church on 301 N. Main St. in Downtown Poplar Bluff.
Located across the street from the Poplar Bluff Library, the New Life Christian Church did their first mobile food pantry in January 2023.
“A couple of our members started putting packages together with food for people, and it quickly expanded into a food pantry,” Harwell recalled. “Things were going well, and I had posted on Facebook to remind my congregants to bring food for the food pantry; and a friend of mine in Cape Girardeau saw it... Next thing you know we had a truck from the SEMO Food Bank delivering food.”
Harwell went on to explain the SEMO Food Bank has continued to provide a truck of food each month.
“We have a walk-in food pantry the first Friday of every month, and we generally try to do the mobile pantry on the third Friday of every month,” Harwell noted. “We haven’t yet had to pay for a (food) truck from congregational funds. And I think that’s a testament to everyone who gets involved to help.”
Harwell said he is greatly encouraged by this fact, and that it encourages himself and his congregation as they move forward with more ministry plans.
“We initially moved into this property on a one-year lease with an option to buy after that first year,” Harwell stated. “Moving forward, we would need to own the property because we would need some renovations done in order to accommodate what we want to do. But it’s exciting to see how we’re able to serve people at this basic level of need.”
One particular area the church is working to serve the community involves being partnered with the Missouri Highlands Health Care to provide HIV education and testing.
“It’s about helping our neighbors,” Harwell remarked. “That’s what it’s all about.”
New Life church is a united congregation affiliated with both the Disciples of Christ and the United Church of Christ denominations. The church was originally formed in 1985.