Ways We Serve
Lanesville is a Christ-centered church in and for Cape Ann. We encourage all members to serve in our communities, helping our lives and the lives of our neighbors flourish.
We encourage all our members to serve locally. You can serve on a local sports team or arts association, special ministry or school board, chamber of commerce or the community center here in town, we’re all called to serve! We also serve together with Open Door Food Pantry, Ocean Side Health and Rehabilitation Center, Seacoast Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, and Action Inc.
We sponsor several missionaries globally and partner locally as a church.
Ministry Teams are an easy way to get involved with the Lanesville Church community Apply your talents toward the greater good of your neighbors. There are seven ministries you can explore.
One of the directions God gives his local church is to serve the orphan, widow, and stranger, which symbolizes those with the most amount of needs in our community.
The Deacons offer practical help to those in need in a number of ways:
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Connecting with available resources
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Assisting with counseling
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Helping with budgeting
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Providing emotional and spiritual support
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Extending financial aid
The Deacons distribute these charitable contributions from the church for those in need, irrespective of class or status. We are always looking for more people with a passion to help serve the least of these.
If you yourself may be in need of assistance, please contact us.
We are also involved in several local outreach ministries. We volunteer with the Den Mar Health and Rehabilitation Center by participating in a short service for them, bringing them hope, joyfully singing songs, and caring for them in prayer. This means a great deal to the local residents and to us!
Every Christmas, Lanesville also partners with other churches locally to help collect toiletries and clothing to pack into individual backpacks for the guests at the Action Emergency Shelter. We also work on this project throughout the year to help meet other community needs as they arise. We would love to have you serve with us to help those in need in Gloucester!
Education
We are a community hungry to continue learning and to always be learning from each other. We invite you to share and use your knowledge to help everyone here benefit from your insight!
Lanesville has a rich history of strong Biblical and theological education, dating back to a group of seminarians that began worshipping with us in the 1980s. We have been sending our theological leaders to the surrounding states and even across the globe ever since.
Throughout the year Lanesville hosts different Lyceums, lectures that dive deeper into aspects of Christian thought. We also host robust Sunday school classes and Bible studies. If truth found in rigorous education matters to you, as it does to us, we invite you to come alongside us in attending our Christian education events, or even teaching them! If you are interested in joining our education team, let us know!
Arts
Lanesville is a neighborhood with a rich history in the arts, going all the way back to Walker Hancock and Charles Grafly. Lanesville Congregational welcomes and encourages the creation and inclusion of art and the participation of artists in our worship and life together.
Whether Bruce Herman’s Portraits of Our Redemption: The Lanesville Mural Cycle, our Easter panels, panel discussions with local artists, our Pillar Room series of short-term exhibits at the church to display the creative gifts of our community, or original music composed and then offered in Sunday worship, we are always looking for ways to stir up the gifts God has given us in praise to God and as inspiration for one another.
Coffee Hour
Coffee hour is run by volunteers each week, and we'd love for you to join the team!
After our worship service, we gather for an informal time of coffee and conversation in the Parish Hall. It's a great opportunity to meet new friends, get to know each other and deepen relationships.
Coffee hour wouldn't be possible without our volunteer hosts. To find out more or to sign up to host on a given Sunday, please email our coffee hour facilitator, Cheryl Deckert. She will be happy to answer your questions, provide a quick tutorial, or plug you into the schedule.
If you're interested in hosting, see the calendar to the right for a listing of weeks when we are in need of help. Available weeks are marked, "HOST NEEDED." Thank you!