Need clothes? Youth Group invites community to giveaway, with music and ministry

The First Presbyterian Church of Sparta’s Youth Ministry has been busy collecting gently used clothing for the disadvantaged. On Saturday, May 1, the community is invited to the church’s courtyard to retrieve whatever items their families may need.

“It’s a day of giving and fellowship as we minister to those in need,” said Bruce Piper, co-director with Melanie Williams of the Youth Group at First Presbyterian. “Our church’s youth has collected clothing for those who are less fortunate in Sussex County in need of everyday clothes or new clothes for interviews.”

Josh Enburg of Sparta joined the Youth Ministry about a year ago and also volunteers in the church food pantry. Josh, who is 15 and home-schooled, is looking forward to the event.

“I’m very excited because it’s going to be more than just clothing but also a chance to interact with members of the community,” he said. “It’s about meeting people and listening to them and what’s going on in their lives. If we should be ministering to people, we should feel for them and understand their situation.”

Emily Knuger is also 15 and attends Sparta High School. She had heard of the Youth Ministry as her family attended First Presbyterian but hadn’t looked into it until the pandemic hit and there was a virtual option.

“I’ve now been a member for about a year, and meeting virtually during the quarantine has helped us all build some great connections,” she said.

The group will come together outside on Saturday, May 1. The clothing give-away will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the First Presbyterian Church of Sparta, 32 Main Street. The rain date is Saturday, May 8.

“It’s going to be so much fun to be outside, be with my youth family and serve the community through help with clothing as well as outreach,” said Emily.

Born of another initiative

The impetus for this project started about 18 years ago, when a church friend at First Presbyterian Church of Sparta invited Piper to go along on a program in Elizabeth, N.J., that helped people struggling with addiction, homelessness, and other grave challenges.

“They had painted retired school buses white and fashioned them so that a side could come down like a serving bar,” Piper said. “We went to different poorer sections in the area, fed people hot soup and bread, listened to them and prayed with them. I walked away from that experience just floored. God just would not let me forget it.”

Piper desperately wanted to make something on a smaller scale, available in Sussex County, but knew it was a big undertaking and somewhat out of his comfort zone.

“God wouldn’t hear of that,” he said. “I got people from my church to help me bag lunches, and we’d walk down Spring Street in Newton to find people in need. Eventually we landed on Memory Park in Newton as a good gathering spot to hand out meals and minister on Saturdays.”

Piper and his fellow volunteers put out fliers to local food pantries and churches to let them know of the initiative they named Bread of Life.

Piper was asked to speak at area churches and accrued five churches to cover all Saturdays of the month.

Piper drifted from Bread of Life to start something similar in Franklin, and became a Youth Group leader at his own church in Sparta.

Bread of Life continues, and twice now, Piper and Williams have taken the Sparta Youth Ministry to help with it and see what it’s all about, once last fall and once in February.

“It’s held either at Memory Park or in the First Presbyterian Church of Newton, depending on the season and weather,” Piper said.

Connections

Bread of Life was the impetus to gather clothing for people in need in the wake of the pandemic.

“Our church usually holds a spring and fall rummage sale each year,” Piper said. “The first two days of the rummage sale is dedicated to anyone in need to take what they need for free. Unfortunately, we have not been able to hold this event due to Covid. They youth came up with an idea to hold an an outdoor clothing give-away instead. We know the need is great, and their hearts are all about service to others. They saw what Bread of Life does and wanted to incorporate ministry into the day.”

The May 1 event will include a live, mobile worship team, free hot lunch, music, and prayer teams, in addition to free clothes.

The Youth Ministry is a combination of fellowship (connecting with one another), serving (connecting with the world), and study (connecting with God). On May 1, the Youth Ministry will gather in fellowship to serve others while using the connections they’ve forged with God to serve as outreach to those in need.

“When you can go out and be the boots on the ground and listen to what the circumstances of others are, it gives people hope and ultimately that’s the goal,” Piper said. “It demonstrate the love of God to them through our service, and that includes closing our mouths and listening to what people have to say.”

For further information, email Melanie Williams at melaniepwilliams1122@gmail.com or Bruce Piper at bruce@tourteamtravel.com.