10/28/2023
I just found this post from the summer of 2021☺️🙂 News from Anson county and New Hope made its way from Orlando Florida to Vienna Austria, Salt Lake City to untold places over the globe.
New Hope Methodist Church, a United Methodist connectional congregation in the Cason’s Oldfield community, has opened its doors to welcome local members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints so they may have a place for worship services on Sundays.
With church services for the two congregations being offered at staggering times on Sunday, members of each congregation are able to worship on Sunday at the New Hope location. The hospitality was extended by New Hope through Michael Williams, lay servant leader, to Bryan Jenkins, ecclesiastical leader for The Church of Jesus Christ in the area.
This interfaith relationship formed last fall when representatives from the Church of Jesus Christ were exploring locations where the small congregation could meet. When they knocked on the door of New Hope and asked about the possibility of a meeting space on Sundays, Williams welcomed the opportunity and said to them, “There is a need. We won’t hesitate.”
The small Latter-day Saint congregation seeks ways to show its gratitude for the shared space. In addition to helping with utility bills, they look for ways to serve New Hope. Recently, as many as thirty members of the Church’s larger Waxhaw congregation came to the Cason’s Oldfield church to help clear shrubbery, trim hedges and walkways, and perform other landscaping tasks to benefit their Methodist friends. Jenkins said, “We are so grateful for our dear brothers, sisters, and friends at New Hope. It has been a blessing to serve together and we look forward to working hand-in-hand to serve the community and others.”
Read more: https://ansonrecord.com/news/11977/congregation-finds-new-home-thanks-to-interfaith-friendship