News and Events
Building a Tapestry of Faith: One Church's Story of Doubt, Rain Tarps, and Changed Lives
“When Reverend Randy told us that we were going to raise $48,000, we all looked at each other and said, ‘right!’ It just seemed overwhelming,” a Saint Andrews parishioner recalled.
This is the story of one small church located on a quiet street near Garner, North Carolina that answered God’s call (and a challenge from their new pastor) to raise enough money in one day to build a Habitat home.
This is also the story of approximately 400 volunteers, 200 local businesses, 375 cakes, 1200 barbecue chickens, 750 plants, 1000 diva dolls, 25,000 donated yard sale items, 45,000 visitors, and one “Heart of Saint Andrews” quilt – all united together to serve a common goal.
We begin our tale with the arrival of Reverend Randy Maynard to Saint Andrews United Methodist Church in June 2004. Prior to this appointment, Reverend Maynard worked with churches in Greenville, Farmville, and Elon, where he successfully led Habitat fundraisers. “The Bible says we have to work and do what we can for God’s children,” stated Maynard. “What attracted me to Habitat from the start is right there in their motto – it’s not a handout, but a hand up . . .” he continued. Only five months after settling in at Saint Andrews, Maynard decided to challenge his congregation to raise funds for a Habitat home. A modest church, Saint Andrews was founded in 1964 and had previously raised about $2,500 annually for charities (chiefly through bazaars). “At first, some members were concerned, asking: ‘Is this really possible?’ ‘Do you have a backup plan?’ ‘Do you have a rain date?’ But I said we were going to trust God. . . . When they [Habitat for Humanity of Wake County] said the amount needed to build a house would be $48,000, I knew we could do it,” Reverend Maynard added. Adopting the theme of “Together We Build,” the apprehensive congregation of 450 members began planning, with Debra Upchurch, longtime Saint Andrews member, serving as Steering Committee chair. “I will admit that I was very doubtful in the beginning – raising $48,000 in one day – it’s a lot! I had never been involved with anything this big,” Debra commented.
With Debra and Reverend Maynard at the center of the planning effort, a number of committees were quickly organized, including Yard Sale, Plant Sale, Bake Sale, Craft Sale, T-Shirt Sale, Breakfast Carpenter’s Café, Games and Rides, Lunch, Supper, Silent and Live Auction, etc.
The work of the Craft Committee reveals
much about the spirit – and creativity
– of the entire church. This committee
undertook various major projects including the making of an original quilt. “One
of our congregation, Randy Creech, our
auctioneer, suggested at a meeting that we
make a quilt signed by everyone at church.
‘I bet we can raise $500,’ Randy said. When
the reverend looked around and asked who
would work on it, I happened to be the only
quilter there,” said Brenda Price. “Finally, I
said ‘OK, I’ll do it.’ Nancy Barbour also said
‘I’ll help.’ In less than five minutes, we designed and named the quilt ‘The
Heart of Saint Andrews’. I went home and sketched it out, and then took
material to 10 different ladies. To raise money, we invited our members to
sign a heart for a dollar. . . . And then we got the idea that this should be a
[church] history quilt – we got the names of all the different Saint Andrews
pastors and put them across the top of the quilt. There is a heart for every
pastor who served. About 12 of us worked on the quilt. . . and Tiffany Harwood
did the actual quilting.” Letting go of the quilt proved to be emotional for
Brenda and the other quilters. “I cried as they auctioned it off – there was so
much love in the quilt. The quilt seemed to mean something to everyone who
looked at it. It became a piece of our history,” she wistfully added.
Brenda, like many of the church members, worked tirelessly on multiple committees in preparation for the event. Continuing to have faith that they could undertake an event of this size was an ongoing challenge for volunteers. “One night I dreamed I had a baby . . . and I’m over 50!” said Upchurch. “The next day I told a group I was meeting with: ‘Look, we started the project nine months ago – now this baby is going to burst . . . we CAN carry this baby to the end,’ ” she laughingly reminisced. The volunteers’ faith was tested right up to the actual event as storm clouds and rain threatened Friday evening’s set-up. Taking the weather in stride, Upchurch and her more than 100 volunteers managed to cover up the thousands of items donated and stored in the trailers that were installed for Saturday’s yard sale. “I told the committee chairs to have faith, the sun is going to shine, as well as the Son . . .” Upchurch added with a smile.
Early Saturday, May 21, 2005, the skies cleared, the sun shone brightly, and “Together We Build” lived up to its name. Church members, the community, and media came out en masse to support the effort to underwrite a new Habitat home. “We expected a small yard sale – this is like the State Fair!” Upchurch remembers one particular visitor exclaiming. Shoppers chose from crystal, china, stuffed animals, dinette sets, sofas, computers, and clothing. Entertainment included the music of Five Smooth Stones and Cary Skippers, Tae Kwon Do exhibitions, and Spiritual Dance teams, among other performances. Every homemade food item, including cakes, cookies, casseroles, lasagna, jams, and fresh preserves was sold (and of course happily eaten). The live auction, a fun albeit somewhat lengthy activity, offered over 400 items. “When we went home at midnight after the auction, my husband asked: ‘Do you think we did it?’ We didn’t know until the next day in church how much we had raised. Randy got up in the pulpit and announced: ‘We did NOT make our goal of $48,000 . . .’ Well, you can imagine our disappointment everyone groaned – but then he said, ‘but it looks like we made $69,000!’ ” joyfully recounted Brenda Price. When all the accounts were later tallied, the monies raised in one day came to the extraordinary sum of $86,607. (After expenses, the donation to Habitat would be $71,725.) Indeed a miracle. Veronica Bitting, Habitat’s Faith and Community Relations Manager, was clearly impressed by the efforts of “the little church that could.” “Habitat . . . has never experienced this happening with any other church partner. Other churches with larger memberships have been able to provide sponsorships . . . but we are unaware of any fundraisers that have produced these results,” she exclaimed. Working on the event personally transformed many of the volunteers. “The day was such a resounding success . . . and such a demonstration of teamwork,” remembered church member Richard C. Wagner. “I could see that a miracle was at work before my eyes. . . . I was changed by it . . . and it softened my heart – it made me want to do things for other people, to be more unselfish,” he also reflected.
Reverend Maynard’s sermon that Sunday following the event offered an inspiring analogy. “Sir Michael Costa, the celebrated conductor of the 19th century, was holding a rehearsal. As the mighty orchestra was playing, a huge choir was also singing . . . Well, the person playing the piccolo . . . thought that the piccolo . . . wouldn’t be missed amid the loud music. So she just stopped playing. Suddenly, the great conductor halted the orchestra and then cried out, ‘where is the piccolo?’ . . .What’s the point of me relaying this story to you today? Well, you see to the conductor there are no insignificant instruments in an orchestra. Sometimes the smallest and seemingly least important one can make the greatest contribution. Here at Saint Andrews the players and the instruments are diverse . . . . But like the piccolo player . . .we all too often . . . decide that our contribution . . . couldn’t possibly make a difference and so we don’t use what God has given to us. But when that happens, your gift, no matter how small, is missed greatly.”
Habitat for Humanity of Wake County extends a heartfelt bravo to every player in the Saint Andrews United Methodist Church ‘symphony’ who struck a chord for faith, harmony, and home – and raised close to $87,000 in one day.
Epilogue: The quilt’s fate also has a happy ending. Purchased by Paul Sims at the auction for $2,500 ($2,000 more than originally hoped), Paul is generously donating the quilt back to the church in memory of his recently deceased mother, where it will proudly hang as a reminder that we truly reap what we sow (and sew)!
Article Submitted by June Guralnick
Habitat Correspondent at Large
