Brownsville Area Ministerial Association joins churches, community together
For more than two decades, churches in Brownsville have worked together for the good of the community.
The Brownsville Area Ministerial Association (BAMA) consists of 12 active churches in the area, with another 20 to 30 churches involved in some way, said Laura Blank, BAMA’s president and pastor at Pleasantview Presbyterian Church.
“Our purpose is to come together and support each other in our individual ministries and work together to better serve our neighbors in Brownsville,” Blank said.
They offer joint worship services, essentially rotating pastors to a different church for a Thursday evening service.
“For six weeks between Ash Wednesday and Holy Week before Easter, we host services at different area churches with a guest preacher. It’s a time when folks are looking for some spiritual experience and a great time to get to know other folks from other churches,” Blank said. “During those services, we also accept donations for our benevolent fund.”
The benevolent fund is used to support those in Brownsville struggling to pay for household expenses like rent, groceries or the electric bill.
“We provide direct assistance to one or two families every month but if you add in our food banks, that’s more than 60 families,” Blank said. “Most of our churches are pretty small but we can have a bigger impact when we work together, across denominational lines, across theological lines. We all believe in caring for our community.”
Several churches host a food bank and together, BAMA sponsors the food bank at First Christian Church because they have the space and manpower to operate.
BAMA also helps with the Food for Falcons program, started by teachers at Brownsville Schools for students who depend on free lunches at the school.
“If they need the free lunch, they also need food over the weekend and school breaks, so many of our churches host food drives for granola bars this month or microwavable macaroni and cheese the next month,” Blank said.
BAMA also offers Bible Release Time, a program transporting elementary and middle school students to an area church for a couple of hours each week during the school day. They provide religious instruction, games and snacks to simply hear the word of God in their week.
As immediate needs present themselves, BAMA looks for ways to provide.
For example, during the government shutdown in October and November, several churches offered free soup nights for all.
“Anyone who was hungry was welcome and some might be hungry for food while others might be hungry for community and fellowship,” Blank said.
Volunteers do not have to be an active member of a Brownsville church to get involved. Blank said all churches can be represented.
Sometimes that comes by way of the pastor.
Other times, it’s through interested community members who love Brownsville.
“If you have a heart for service, come and help and be a part of helping our neighbors in our community. We’re always in need of financial donations and volunteers,” Blank said.
Donations can be made directly to BAMA or through any Brownsville church.
Follow BAMA — Brownsville Area Ministerial Association on Facebook for more information.