The vision statement for John Wesley United Methodist Church (JWUMC) is to “Reach the Individual … Touch the Community … and Serve the World.” The church is currently undertaking a very bold, unique outreach initiative to “Touch the Community”. While community pools are closing all over the country, JWUMC’s involvement is saving the Pleasant Run Farms Swim Club from permanent closure and is expected to keep it open for many years to come.
Background: John Wesley UMC has long been active doing construction projects. As part of their mission outreach, over a dozen week-long mission trips have been taken after hurricanes in New Orleans, New Jersey, Houston and North Carolina to help with the rebuilding. They've done major construction on the church grounds. Now, this project is enabling them to leverage their skills and take God’s ministry directly into the neighboring community.
JWUMC has a long-standing relationship with the Pleasant Run Farms Civic Association (PRFCA). During an October 2022 meeting, PRFCA described a huge issue with the PRF Swim Club. The 50+ year-old complex was dealing with deteriorating concrete and plumbing issues that threatened the viability of keeping the pools open. They did not have the needed skills to address the issues, even to stay open one more year. The community was formed before the HOA era, so they had no revenue stream to pay for needed repairs. One vendor had indicated that full restoration could easily reach $150,000, but he doubted contractors would even bid on the project given the limited access to the pool area and the age of the pools. The PRFCA asked if there was any way that JWUMC could help, even if it was to keep the pool open one more year. JWUMC boldly said that they would not only help, but also co-lead the effort.
Their Project Became God’s Project: The initial effort of JWUMC volunteers (mostly retirees) was the removal of a strip of concrete 2.5 feet wide and 30 feet long across the end of the full-size pool. It was late November 2022, so they covered the area for winter with plans to pour this one yard of concrete in the spring.
Before they poured the concrete in April 2023, the Hand of God intervened. A Christian business owner and friend of the church became aware of what they were doing. He challenged them to show the true power of God working in the community by partnering with him and do far more than the church could ever do by itself. He offered to remove about 80 cubic yards of deteriorating concrete surrounding all three pools and pour the new concrete at NO CHARGE for the labor or equipment, just the concrete cost. He asked to remain anonymous so the focus would be on the project as a collaboration of the church and a Christian business owner, which is exactly how it turned out.
While his offer was exciting, it presented three major challenges:
- Expertise: None of the church volunteers had expertise on pools. While they had handyman skills, none of them had spent their career in the construction trades. Finding resources to guide and/or do some of the construction work would be a requirement.
- Time Commitment: If the church agreed with the bigger project scope, the required volunteer time commitment would be undefined. All they knew for sure was that the project would take all of 2023 to complete, maybe longer. Volunteers met to decide. It was clear to all that this was no longer their own project. God was challenging them to have the faith to be bold … to Touch the Community and prevent this community gem from closing. Everyone agreed to take on the bigger scope, knowing that God would guide them through the uncertainty that was ahead of them!
- Cost. The original work described in 2022 was expected to cost about $500. The new, bigger opportunity was expected to cost at least $20,000 in materials alone. With no time available to organize fundraising before the work started --- and with PRFCA having little money --- they had to get started. They also agreed to proceed despite all the unknowns.
Status: When they started talking about the Christian/community partnership that is driving this work, the response of the business community was overwhelming. An owner of a business that specializes in older pools has consulted at no charge. A contractor loaned their demolition tools and scaffolding for months that could have costs thousands of dollars, also at no charge. An architect provided free advice. A plumbing company juggled their tight schedule to be available whenever they were needed. The list goes on and on, including those who helped provide funds.
At this time, most of the concrete decking has been replaced, the big pool skimmer boxes have all been replaced, new drainage around the three-pool complex has been installed, the walls on the metal toddler pool that were collapsing have been restored, numerous pipe leaks were identified and repaired, as well as the replacement of all older pipes leading from the pumphouse to the big pool. JWUMC volunteers have contributed close to 2000 hours, many on the hottest days of summer. The Christian business owner's employees have donated over 800 hours. They are close to having raised enough funds to complete the restoration of the three pools. While there is still much work to be done, all appears to be on track to re-open the Swim Club on Memorial Day 2024!
God’s Hand Has Been Ever Present: The project encountered more major roadblocks than they could have imagined. Yet, they know God guided them through every obstacle they were face with. Social media, community communication and curious neighbors stopping by have all heard a consistent message - the work is being accomplished by committed Christians who are doing God’s work in the community!