I am pleased to welcome this morning two members of the congregation to assist with the message. Most of you know Carol Boone and David Dimmick. Carol, who offers the Children's Message each Sunday is a Certified Lay Speaker. David does lots of jobs around the Church, but his staff position is Director of Community Relations. In addition, he also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of FaithCentre. Welcome, Carol, David.

We have an interesting scripture passage this morning from Acts, probably one that most of us have not heard before. A Greek woman, perhaps not even Jewish, named Tabitha, became ill and died. She was known to be a Christian who ministered to the poor and those in need. So her friends sent two men to request that the Apostle Peter come and minister to them. After he listened to their grief and their words of celebration for her life, he asked them to leave the room. Then praying over her dead body, he called for the power of Christ to raise her from the dead. “Tabitha, get up.” Which she did to the great surprise of every one.

In a sense that's what we Christian disciples are all about, giving new life to the dead. Oh, not in the sense of someone dying physically and then coming back to life, but to someone who has lost hope and promise in his or her life, who no longer dreams of what life can become, who has lost purpose, who wearily gives up and just waits for life to be over. Don't we as Christians, followers of Christ, have something to give to people who are dead in their spirits? Perhaps hope and promise and a dream and love and grace, a new life filled with God in Christ Jesus? Resurrecting someone from the dead can be giving someone a new chance at living. 

What I find equally interesting in this story is that we don't know who Tabitha was. In the story, we know that she was a Christian, a disciple or follower of Christ, and we know that she was Greek, for she had a Greek name: Dorcas. But was she originally of the Jewish faith or a non-Jew, someone called a Gentile? We don't know, but what we do know was that she was not like the other followers of Jesus. She was different in background, probably different in custom and dress. So here was Peter, a Jew from the Jewish nation, now a Christian, bringing new life to a person who was not like the first followers of Jesus. Which means that the Christian message and new life in Christ are not just for people like us, but it is for everybody, especially those not like us.

Doyle: Carol, speaking of people who are not like us, tell us about your experience one Sunday before Easter as people were coming into the 8:15 am worship service. I believe you enlisted the aid of an actor to play a homeless man. How did that come about?

Carol: Well, I was in the process of preparing my children's message on charity when my co-worker and I decided to leave work in State College and go over to St. Paul's church for their Lenten lunch. As we crossed the street, a young man, about 19-20 years old, approached us and he asked us if we had any spare change. Without either of us giving it another thought, we said No and proceeded to the church for lunch. Well, as we approached the entrance to the church the light bulb went on and we both realized that we hadn't handled that situation in a Christian manner. We both had money in our pockets, but neither one of us offered him any; and we were within arm's reach of the church, but neither one of us asked him in for food. Wesley Student Building was next door, but we didn't ask him if he would like some help from them.

Doyle: I would guess that that realization created some discussion over your lunchtime.

Carol: It certainly did. We continued to discuss what we should have done, and when I got back to the office I received an email about a woman who received a letter from God telling her that he would join her for lunch that day and how she was on the way home from the market with her purchases for God's lunch when she was approached by a couple that was down on their luck. Of course the woman gave away the food that she had purchased for God and was well rewarded when she got home, receiving another letter from God thanking her for providing him with food that afternoon. This story hit too close to home. 

Doyle: Of course, given your creativity and your wonderful ability to deliver children's messages, you knew you had to use this experience in your story telling.

Carol: I have always told you that God is in complete control of my preparation for children's messages. I felt that not only would I share this story with the children, but I also wanted someone to be in the parking lot that morning asking for money so that both children and adults could benefit from this message. But just like my coworker and me, that morning many of the congregation was surprised to find someone in the parking lot asking for money. They too were caught off guard and they too were uncomfortable with the situation. Some of them did give the gentleman money, but most of them were like me. As I stood in the back of the church and observed the people coming into the service, some shared with you and with Al the head usher that there was someone in the parking lot asking for money. Some shared with others comparing notes as to how they handled it. Others shared out loud what they should have done. “We should have asked him in for coffee or cookies.” “We should have asked him if he wanted to talk to the Pastor.” “We should have taken coffee and cookies to him.” But no one did any of those things. 

Doyle: It's a difficult decision. What do you do when a stranger begging for money approaches you? Like your experience, it so catches you off guard that you don't know what to do until after you've left that person. 

Carol: One shining moment from that day that I'll remember for a long time was the gentlemen who stood up during prayer concerns and asked for prayers for the young man in the parking lot. No one realized that the beggar was one of our own congregational members acting a part. But once people thought about it, they were genuinely concerned with the conditions that create homelessness and hunger.

Doyle: Prayer is definitely a good start, but thanks to the support of this congregation we also have another way that we can begin to help more people, and that is through FaithCentre. David, remind us about the purpose of FaithCentre. 

David: FaithCentre is a community outreach center that is faith based. It is an umbrella of programs, services and facilities that will minister to people of all ages, from infant to old age. Most know that we opened a thrift store as the first ministry of FaithCentre last June. At that site, we not only sold and gave away clothes, but we also began a bible study with the Senior Center, worked with community agencies and programs to provide clothing for their clients, and shipped an overabundance of clothes to mission areas. Within six months we knew we needed a larger area.  So, after some searching, we were able to open our new site at the old Bellefonte Bakery on High Street. With the added space, we will now be able to expand our programs and do so much more in the area of meeting people's spiritual needs.

Doyle: Up until this point, the thrift store has been the most visible and largest ministry of FaithCentre. However, the new location will involve a lot more ministries so that the thrift store will be just one of the parts of FaithCentre. What else is involved in FaithCentre ?

David: The thrift store will continue to be a major part of FaithCentre; in fact, it will be the first thing you see when you enter the building.  However, in addition to the thrift store, we now house the food pantry that used to be managed by Community Action. We have also closed our food pantry here at the church and moved it to FaithCentre. There will be a coffee shop for people to sit down and visit with one another and with staff. The Salvation Army is opening an office at FaithCentre as the resource of last resort. And we will be renting space to other community services which are consistent with our mission. Also, groups such as our singles ministry will hold their meetings there, classes will taught on such things as money management and nutrition, and we will plan to offer bible study groups, counseling, and eventually worship experiences. So you see, there will be much activity there.

Doyle: This is a pretty big operation. FaithCentre must need a lot of employees.

David: Actually we have only 1 employee, a part time thrift store manager. Some day in the future as our ministries grow, we will need an executive director to oversee all of the programs. Other than that every other job is volunteer. We need to remember that this is a ministry, not a job market.  Our mission is to minister to people in our community who have physical and spiritual needs. So we can say it is a call to discipleship for the people of Faith Church and for other Christians in our area.

Doyle: So volunteers are needed to run FaithCentre, from the thrift store and the food bank to helping the other ministries of FaithCentre to be effective.

David: Exactly, in fact, people can sign up in the Narthex at the Discipleship table to help at FaithCentre after worship today. Or they can go down to FaithCentre and sign up there. This morning after worship the congregation is invited to FaithCentre for a congregational open house to see what it looks like. We even have the bus available to take people down and back if they so desire. We hope that everybody will take the opportunity to discover FaithCentre's ministries and perhaps find a way to be involved.

Doyle: So tell us about the Board of Directors and why each one was asked to serve.

David: First, let me say that God continues to work in marvelous ways. In this case, we have been fortunate to have Him send to us a group of wonderful, talented and committed individuals. We have a small board of seven, five of whom are Faith Church members. We felt it wise to seek two from the community at large. Each has a specific function on the Board. Yours truly is the Chairman. Lee Mason is Vice-Chair but also looks after the facilities. Debbie Burger is Secretary and arranges events, such as the grand opening next Saturday. Joe Rothrock is Treasurer and pays attention to our complying with both state and federal tax agencies. Carol-Beth Book is responsible for overseeing children, youth and family programs, while Susan Hoover does the same for programs targeting the aging population. J. Doyle Corman helps us interact with government agencies – hopefully to get some money.And, of course, you are an Ex Officio member.

Doyle: Let me ask you a different question. I know that the thrift store makes money. But what happens to all that money?

David: The money that comes from sales at the thrift store is used for three purposes. The first is our expenses: salary for the thrift store manager, rent and utilities, insurance, and business supplies. However, when it comes to supplies, we are always looking for free items. The second use of our funds is for ministry programs. And the third is to build a reserve fund to keep FaithCentre going if something catastrophic happens to the building, like a fire for instance. We want funds to keep this ministry going even if there is a time period when we have no income. But foremost in the use of income is ministry. And in time, we hope to receive grants to further fund larger ministries.

Doyle: I suppose funds from the thrift store were used to renovate and prepare our new location?

David: Actually not. People have been very generous with large donations, and these donations were put into a building fund should we someday want to own our own building. At this point in time, it seems more advantageous to rent space, so the money in the building fund was used for renovations. We want the income from the store to be used for ministry.

Doyle: So how does Faith Church benefit from FaithCentre?

David: Well, if you mean, does the church get any of the profits from FaithCentre, the answer is no. FaithCentre is a tax exempt, non-profit corporation, a status that protects the church from any liability. All of the money stays with FaithCentre to fund its ministries. How Faith Church benefits is that we are able to work through FaithCentre to accomplish ministry throughout the area. Through FaithCentre we can make a difference by presenting Christ to the world. At the same time, it must be known that no Faith Church funds are used to support FaithCentre.

Doyle: Since FaithCentre is its own non-profit corporation, how is it connected to Faith Church?

David: Each Fall at our Church Conference, the board of directors will be elected and any changes to the bylaws will be passed. In other words, the voting members of the corporation are the Faith Church members who are present and voting at Church Conference. That allows our church to give direction to the ministry it established.

Doyle: Any thing else we should know about FaithCentre? 

David: I can think of two things. First, we have created a relationship called Community Partnerships, that is, community organizations and community businesses who will work with us and support our ministries. Currently our community partners are Community Action, the Salvation Army, and Affinity Mortgage. We expect others will join us to fulfill our ministry. The second thing that I want to emphasize is that everything we do will be done with quality. The quality with which we do everything reflects upon our church, highlights the ministry of FaithCentre, and gives us credibility in the community. If the discipleship of Christ is to have any influence in Bellefonte, we must symbolize it with the best quality we can. The appearance of our space and our windows testify to the quality of ministry that flows into the community.

Doyle: So Carol. Do you think FaithCentre could be another possibility to share with people in need, both the real kind you met in State College and the imaginary kind wandering around our parking lot?

Carol: Absolutely. Now I don't have to wonder what to do when I run into people in need. I also don't have to be surprised when someone walks up to me. With this kind of ministry, we should expect it. Maybe God is sending them to us so that we can give them new life like Tabitha in our scripture.

Doyle: That might make a good sermon sometime. Thank you, Carol and David. I hope the congregation will take advantage of checking out FaithCentre, if not today, then during the week. Christ has called us and has given us a wonderful opportunity to share the Good News of Christ Jesus. Like our scripture from Acts, we can give life with people who are different from us and have lost hope. And through FaithCentre, we can present Christ as God's new life. Let us pray.