Urban Mission tour to spotlight services

STEUBENVILLE -- A walking tour of Urban Mission Ministries' close-at-hand outreach locations initially intended just for representatives of the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church on Monday has since been expanded to include the general public.

The Rev. Ashley Steele, executive director of Urban Mission, said the tour of the mission sites is part of the overall "United Methodist Volunteers in Mission Journey: Mondays in March, Works of Service as a Lenten Practice."

The Urban Mission tour is the kickoff for the weekly series, affording conference participants the opportunity to see outreaches in varied locations. Other sites on the conference calendar for the remaining Mondays of the month are: March 8, Epworth Center, Bethesda; March 15, Blue Rose Mission, Mansfield; March 22, Nehemiah Mission, Cleveland; and March 29, Covered Bridge Mission, Jefferson.

The team leader of the conference tours is Kathy Dickriede, director, missions and community engagement.

"It really was Kathy Dickriede's attempt to get people more familiar with ministries and mission posts like the Urban Mission within the conference," Steele said.

But opening Monday's tour to local residents interested to see and better understand the local mission's sites and services seemed like a why-not opportunity to introduce people not only to what the mission does but how they can help it.

Steele called the tour as "an opportunity to know what a mission site here in your backyard looks like."

Anyone interested in participating should be at the mission's warehouse -- home base -- at 311 N. Sixth St. by 10 a.m. COVID-19 precautionary measures will be observed, including social distancing and wearing masks. Questions can be directed to (740) 282-8010.

"We'll do a little bit of a walking tour of just the immediate locations," Steele said of the start of the tour at the warehouse, which is where mission offices are located and where the mission has been conducting drive-through food distributions four days a week.

From there, participants will head to 142 N. Sixth St., to what formerly was the City Rescue Mission shelter, now referred to as the dorm.

"We want folks to see the types of ministry we're doing for our homeless population," Steele said. "We won't go in to do an actual tour of the facility because that's where people are staying, but we want to show people where it is and why it's important," she added.

"We will make our way to the Seventh Street Plaza to see it, whether it's the new space we have yet to develop or where the (Urban) thrift store will be so we want to cast some vision there, and we'll end up at the sanctuary, because there will be a time of devotion and reflection at the end of the day," she said of the building at 301 N. Fifth St. The Unity Kitchen functions out of it, providing take-out meals several days a week.

"All this is in a small loop," she said of the walking distance. The tour and discussions begin at 10 and will end by 3 p.m. Lunch will be at noon. "We will have a free box lunch available for anybody that comes," she said.

While participants are asked to come by 10 a.m. they don't have to stay for the duration if they're not able. "If you can't spend the whole time, then that's no problem, but we want them to know that is the time frame of the full walking opportunity."

The event will include a chance or two to serve, according to Steele.

"We have a couple of opportunities to do some actual mission-oriented work, so it's a little taste of if you were to come and spend the day with us volunteering or bringing a group," Steele said. "So we'll be doing a couple small volunteer opportunities packing food bags and making toiletry bags for our shelter."

Overall, Monday's tour will give out-of-the-area and here-at-home visitors a chance to see some of what the mission does.

"I think it's always good to come and see -- that's an important part of the work that we do," Steele said. For people hesitant about participating because of COVID-19, the hope is to have a virtual tour at a later date.