The Children’s Home partners with New Story Church
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The Children’s Home has officially welcomed New Story Church to its campus. New Story undertook renovations of Woosley Chapel this summer, including painting, minor repairs, and new flooring.
Pastor Scott Osterberg said he is excited about reaching out to the children who live on The Children’s Home campus as well as the surrounding communities. This is New Story’s third campus and will be known as New Story West End.
On Sunday, Sept. 11, the first service was filled with joy and great energy, members reported. It included a celebration of 10 years of sobriety for one of New Story members. Pastor Scott commented that one-third to one-half of the New Story congregation is in recovery, “So if you don’t know where to turn for help, come to New Story!”
Katheryn Northington, Board Chair of The Children’s Home, led a prayer over the church and the Home, asking for the grownups to keep this space a safe and loving place for all the children who come here.
Chief Executive Officer Brett A. Loftis read from Scripture and told the New Story congregation, “We are glad we get to share our home with you.”
When the offertory was passed, children from The Children’s Home passed the baskets. Pastor Scott said the offertory was slated for two programs, half to support New Story’s homeless ministries and the remaining half to support kids’ and youth ministry at The Children’s Home and New Story West End.
In his sermon, Pastor Scott reminded the congregation that we all have a blank page and a chance to start over, regardless of our background. He said, “On your next page, you can choose love or hate, hope or despair, war or peace, life or death. God takes all the trash in our lives and weaves it into a thing of beauty.”
New Story’s beliefs tie directly into the mission of The Children’s Home, which helps children to write their own new stories, as they recover from the effects of trauma.
There were 250 adults and teens in attendance in Woosley Chapel, with 80 kids across the courtyard in KidStory and YouthStory. After the service, volunteers stayed to pack lunches for New Story’s homeless ministries. New Story West End will hold regular Sunday services at Woosley Chapel every Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m.
The Children’s Home, founded in 1909 by churches of the Western North Carolina Conference of United Methodist Churches , serves at-risk children and families in residential group foster homes, outpatient therapy and medications clinics, community foster care and adoptive homes, and day treatment at Kingswood School. For more information about The Children’s Home, please visit www.tchome.org.
New Story Church was founded five years ago by people who wanted to create a church for broken people. For more information about New Story church, please visit www.newstorychurch.org.
