Melvin UMC works to transform hurting community

By Rachel L. Toalson
Staff Writer
She is determined to spark transformation.
When Carrie Land was appointed to Melvin UMC, she saw a small McCulloch County community in West Texas wounded and scarred from loss.
Melvin, she said, had lost everything—its industry, its school district, its confidence.
Now she and her 19-member congregation are working to rekindle what was lost.
“You don’t have to travel all the way to Africa,” Land said. “There are people in these small towns who have no support.
“They’re 30, 40, 50 miles away from the nearest larger town. There is absolutely nothing in this small community for these people in terms of resources.
“(The community members) have no self-esteem or confidence in themselves.”


Land, a newly licensed local pastor who calls herself “more of a public administrator type of person,” hopes to prove to the townspeople that they have worth.
Melvin UMC has organized a Children’s Day Out program, which started in October with only nine children.
By December, 17 children participated in a Christmas Eve candlelight service that drew more than 75 worshipers.
Linda Webb, church treasurer and a member of the congregation for three years, said the Children’s Day Out program already has done much for the community.
“It’s bringing the community together,” Webb said. “We’re a happier church and a happier community.
“We thought we were going to have to close our (church) doors. But Carrie has done a lot. She’s just inspired us to want to be better than we used to be. And she doesn’t take any credit. She is God-inspired.”
Land said it was difficult to explain how God had empowered the community in such a short time. Church members had assessed community needs—there are many—and were now trying to address them one by one.
Their next project, Land said, is to establish a food bank.
During the Christmas holidays, church members became Santa Claus to many children who lost parents or families that needed assistance, purchasing clothes, toys and other supplies.
The church also sold Christmas tree ornaments. The ornaments had the church’s name printed on them—to raise awareness, Land said.
“I’m trying to incorporate that we are on the map, and we are important,” Land said. “One of the things I first had to do was get the congregation to see that they had the power to change. It’s cool to see how everybody is now going out to other communities and saying, ‘We count, too,’ and ‘We’re important, too.’
“I want this church to become the outreach or the community center, where people can come when they need help.”
The Rev. J. Michael Lowry, Southwest Texas Conference executive director of new church development and transformation, said Land’s work was a perfect example of the creative perspective that will save The United Methodist Church.
“The future of Methodism is going to revolve around people taking fresh, creative looks at the ministries people have written off,” Lowry said. “In innovative and creative ways, she is taking the gospel back into the world.
“There is a significant future for the church that will be quite different from what it has been in the past—but no less exciting. Some places want to see if they can reinvent 1950, but that’s not going to work. (Land) seems to instinctively get that. She sees a future for that place, but it can’t be its old past.”
Land said she believes God has sent her to Melvin for something important.
She remembers running late to a children’s rehearsal for the Christmas Eve candlelight service. When she pulled up to the church, two children were standing on a porch at a house beside the church.
“They went inside yelling, ‘They’re here, they’re here,’ and I saw this stream of kids pouring out of the house,” Land said. “They were just thrilled that we didn’t disappoint them.
“I guess what God is doing through me is allowing this community to see that they really count. They’re going from no self esteem to actually believing that they are worth something.
“And as a result of that, the church is growing.”