Ogden, a town about 45 minutes north of Salt Lake City, Utah, isn’t the first place that comes to mind when you hear the phrase “Urban Ministry.” A university town that’s home to more than 80,000 people, Ogden is one of many small, quiet towns that dot the American landscape. Including the surrounding suburbs, 120,000 live in the Ogden area, many of them working at Hill Air Force Base in a town just south of Ogden.
Yet Ogden is a community that has a small-town feel with big-city issues. Utah has one of the nation’s highest rates of per capita methamphetamine use in the United States. In addition, Ogden made national news this past fall when the city issued an injunction making it illegal for members of the dangerous “Trece” gang to congregate anywhere within Ogden city limits.
Washington Heights Church–where I serve as the student pastor to high school students–is located in South Ogden, less than 10 minutes away from the heart of Ogden’s downtown area. Washington Heights always has had some presence in the local community during its 60-year history, supporting local ministries to the homeless and poor of the Ogden area. A few years ago, Jimi Pitts, our pastor for Missions and Connections, wondered if there might be a way we could do more–a lot more. His vision was not just for a few people to do a service project at a homeless shelter downtown, but for our entire church–children, youth and adults–to serve our city together.
When a local church desires to serve its local community, it can be difficult to know where and how to start. Jimi knew the people of Washington Heights could be mobilized to serve in a big way, but he wasn’t sure where to start. So, he went straight to Ogden City Hall. Jimi asked how Washington Heights could serve Ogden. The answer surprised Jimi at first: Paint fire hydrants. During the tough economic times, the city was not able to pay the staff required to paint the 2,000-plus fire hydrants. Could Washington Heights help out by asking volunteers to paint the hydrants? Jimi’s answer was a quick and excited yes.
Once Jimi had his marching orders, he and the Washington Heights Missions Team started working on its plans and organizing teams of volunteers. Then, on a Saturday in June, hundreds of volunteers from Washington Heights turned out to paint more than 2,000 fire hydrants green and yellow, as requested by the city. The city was so pleased with the results, it was eager to hear about any plans Jimi might have for the following year. Jimi had a big idea.
Each year, more than 100 people from Washington Heights attend short-term mission trips to foreign countries. A question had been nagging Jimi for quite some time: What if Washington Heights was to put those trips on hold for one year and commit to a large-scale, short-term mission trip in the heart of Ogden? After all, a mission trip is a mission trip, isn’t it? Why not ask people to spend a week on a short-term mission trip in their own home town? Ogden City representatives were excited at the possibilities, and they had an idea for how to mobilize hundreds of volunteers to make a big difference in their city.
As is true in many cities, most of the single-family homes in Ogden are small homes. Often, homeowners are able to keep up with the payments on their homes, but it can be tough to afford the routine maintenance that comes with owning a home. When neighborhoods fall into disrepair, home values decrease, and crime rates often increase. Ogden City has a program that offers assistance for homeowners who need help with the upkeep of their homes, but there are far more requests than there is money. Jeremy Smith, who works for Ogden City in its community development division, worked with Jimi on big idea: What if Washington Heights helped to renovate homes in downtown Ogden?
Jimi and the leadership of Washington Heights were thrilled about the idea and jumped into action. “Serve Ogden 2010” began to take shape. The city began to identify candidates in downtown Ogden who met certain requirements, which included owning the home in which they live and having an economic need. Attendees of Washington Heights Church were asked to take part in a short-term mission trip during the third week in June. Interested volunteers filled out commitment cards, and hundreds of people arranged to take a week off of work during Serve Ogden. In addition, Washington Heights committed $40,000 to the project, including a special offering in the weeks leading up to the event.
When the Monday of Serve Ogden came, hundreds of people converged on Washington Heights to meet their work teams. After some emotional words by Jimi, a heartfelt thank you from Jeremy Smith of Ogden City, and a quick breakfast donated by the local McDonald’s, the teams headed off to 24 homes in downtown Ogden to begin work. Each home had about a dozen volunteers in red Serve Ogden T-shirts scurrying around, painting, doing landscaping, replacing gutters and repairing fences. In addition, several of the homes received new porches and roofs.
Since the project focused on the downtown area, the red-shirted army became a familiar site in downtown Ogden by the end of the week. Anyone who was willing had some place to serve, including families with small children. Our junior high pastor and I intentionally did not have a “youth house” where all the students served in their own group. Instead, we encouraged students to serve with their families; and as a result, most houses had several generations serving side by side. As a youth pastor, one of my biggest joys during Serve Ogden was seeing students serve on just about every street in downtown Ogden, having conversations about serving Jesus with adults they may never have met within the walls of our church building.
In all, 550 people volunteered during the week of Serve Ogden. For most of us who volunteered, it was a fun week of work, new friends and getting to know the families who lived in the homes. We hadn’t truly understood the full impact of what had happened during the week until Jeremy told Jimi that in that one week we had accomplished what usually takes the city’s community development division a year and hundreds of thousands of dollars to do.
The biggest blessing of the week was not that porches were rebuilt, homes painted and new roofs installed. The biggest blessing was what God did in the midst of a community that had a heart to serve its city. Our students’ eyes were opened to the many needs and opportunities to serve that exist right in front of them. They realized they had the ability to make a huge impact in just a short amount of time. Months later, stories continue to be shared about homeowners who were impacted, how new relationships had been built. Our prayer is that people in downtown Ogden know God cares about them, as well as the people who follow Him. After all is said and done, that should be our main motivation for serving in the city.
