Civic Dispatch: A History of Fellowship
Jean O’Connor-Snyder intern Madi Skinner describes how the combined efforts of a local church can overcome barriers to create a more inclusive and lasting relationship within the community.
The Domaine is a mobile home park just outside of Jasper, Alabama’s city limits. Even if you live in Jasper, you might not even know it is there, but it is home to over 200 people. Due to its “convenient” out-of-the-way location and the low socioeconomic status of its residents (who are primarily immigrants), the area is typically overlooked.
In November 2020, Glory Fellowship Baptist Church (GFBC) hosted their annual Operation Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving, GFBC shared full Thanksgiving meals with over 1,500 people at the Jasper Civic Center. At the end of the day, there were many leftovers, and the volunteers on clean-up duty decided to distribute them to anyone they could find in the Jasper community. They ended up in the Domaine, where they passed out meals to many of the families.
When word of the apparent need in the Domaine reached GFBC, the congregation realized they could not ignore this community less than two miles from their church campus. Operation Thanksgiving marked the beginning of GFBC’s outreach ministry in the Domaine.
I am spending the summer serving as a Jean O’Connor-Snyder Internship Program (JOIP) intern in Walker County, Alabama, as part of a partnership between The Walker Area Community Foundation, the Mathews Center, and the University of Alabama’s New College. My placement has focused on GFBC’s outreach ministry in the Domaine. My key role is to conduct an assessment to identify the area’s biggest needs. With the community’s needs in mind, I hope to develop practical, sustainable solutions, utilizing the many services and resources available in Walker County.
Following this realization in late 2020, GFBC began to assemble a group of church members who cared about the area and could consistently serve its community. A variety of career fields are represented on the team, including engineering, education, medicine and health, even real estate. Adam Brewer, GFBC’s Lead Pastor, and Michelle Howell, Director of Children’s Ministry, are also contributors. Over the past few years, this team has stayed about the same size to avoid overwhelming the Domaine residents with larger groups and to cultivate relationships. The main goal of the ministry, known as “Fellowship in the Domaine,” is to build trust between GFBC and the Domaine, which has proven difficult, due to a history of being taken advantage of or ignored.
About a year after the pivotal Operation Thanksgiving, GFBC purchased a strip of land abutting the neighborhood to give themselves a place to host events and programming. There had not been much success inviting the residents to events outside the Domaine. It was clear that GFBC had to go to the community, rather than expect the residents to come to them. First, they built a pavilion to have an intentional gathering place. Next, they built a playground. As outsiders to the community, they did not want to be intrusive. Today, the playground is used and loved by many of the kids who call the Domaine home.
The playground allowed the church to establish a reputation of selfless service. Through fall festivals and back-to-school celebrations hosted there, Howell noted that the residents have become more trusting. They are more likely to come to the pavilion for an event and have started asking when future events will be happening. It has been a slow process over the past few years, but GFBC is starting to form relationships with the residents.
The community is learning that the church wants to help them, simply to help them. However, it has not been an easy road—literally. The Domaine’s roads are falling apart—and have been for years. Another complication is that homes are not numbered in a logical order—you will notice trailer 205 next to trailer 72, and some houses have three different numbers spray painted on them. Further, people are constantly moving in, out, or elsewhere within the Domaine. This makes it hard to follow through on specific requests for service, such as distributing children’s Christmas gifts or connecting a pregnant woman with healthcare.
Despite the challenges, Howell and the Domaine team are starting to see tangible impacts. One of the team members drives a church bus to pick up children on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. Kids are starting to come, which shows that parents are more trusting and willing to engage these outsiders who want to help. Also, residents are more willing to open their doors to talk with GFBC’s team, which I experienced when I went door-to-door a couple weeks ago. Where Domaine residents were once suspicious or afraid of these visitors, they now see familiar, friendly faces.
In the coming months, GFBC will construct a community center next to the playground to allow the community to access more resources and services. The community has expressed interest in ESL classes, literacy classes, pop-up medical clinics, and other services. Even if it has, at times, overlooked residents of the Domaine, Walker County is equipped to serve this population. Due to language barriers and differences in cultural capital, Domaine residents are often unaware of resources available to them. The community center will help address these issues by bringing resources to their metaphorical backyard.
This time next year, Howell hopes that the community center is up and running. She hopes that GFBC establishes routine events and services so residents know that they can rely on GFBC. Dreaming bigger, in five years, Howell hopes that the Domaine’s own leaders will rise and take responsibility for their community. That they can find ways to serve each other and meet their physical and spiritual needs.
My time working with Glory Fellowship Baptist Church has been insightful and challenging. There are infinite ways to serve this underserved community. I hope to equip Glory with the tools they need to serve the Domaine community in the most impactful way.
From Waxhaw, North Carolina, Madi is pursuing a dual degree in public health and Spanish with a minor in social innovation and leadership. She is also a part of the Accelerated Masters Program, getting a masters degree in Public Health.
This photo of Madi was taken by the Walker Area Community Foundation as part of the students’ internship with them over the summer.