{"id":24782,"date":"2025-01-10T07:50:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T07:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/?p=24782"},"modified":"2025-01-16T19:53:56","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T19:53:56","slug":"mountville-seeks-justice-for-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2025\/mountville-seeks-justice-for-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountville congregation seeks justice for local school children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Contributed to Newsline by Larry Booz<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does justice look like to an elementary child?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a first grader is cold on the playground, justice may look like a warm coat if the rest of his class has them. Or to a fourth-grade girl, justice may look like clothes that fit if Mom and Dad can\u2019t afford to replace the ones she\u2019s outgrown. Justice may look like a new toy at Christmas for a third-grade child for whom, unlike his friends, Santa never comes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mountville (Pa.) Church of the Brethren congregation has embraced the role of \u201cJesus in the neighborhood\u201d by partnering with teachers and staff at the nearby Mountville Elementary School. During the summer of 2018, knowing a high percentage of students at the school were from low-income families, two representatives of the church arranged to meet with the school\u2019s counselor along with the principal to discuss how the church best could support needy students and families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since that initial meeting, the counselor has acted as conduit between the school and the church. Because classroom teachers are aware when students chronically come to school hungry, inadequately clothed, or with other needs, they are best positioned to report to the school counselor–who emails a church contact, who in turn works with church members to fulfill the specific needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, Mountville has provided new and used clothing, grocery store gift cards, even funds for utility bills and overdue lunch accounts. Every December, teachers have solicited Christmas wish-lists from the lowest of low-income parents. Year after year, willing church members have eagerly shopped for and provided items from these lists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnership has blessed all who\u2019ve been involved. Two factors have been crucial to its success. First, and likely most important, is that individual students and parents have remained anonymous to church members thus preserving dignity for the families. Second is the element of mutual trust. The church trusts the discretion of school staff to triage and report needs appropriately and the school trusts the church to respond in kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mountville congregation recently has embraced \u201cjustice\u201d as one of its core values. What better way to embody God\u2019s justice than by acting as \u201cJesus in the neighborhood\u201d for the children of local families in need?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Larry Booz is a member of Mountville Church of the Brethren near Lancaster, Pa.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

———-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find more Church of the Brethren news:<\/p>\n\n\n