By Rev. Matt Gorman
Board Member from North Seattle United Methodist Network
I first went to Sierra Service Project when I was 15. A friend invited me, and the day we left from the First United Methodist Church of Escondido was the first day I had ever been to a church service in my life. It was all new to me — from singing grace before meals, to praying, to being welcomed into a community of caring people.
It was all new to me — from singing grace before meals, to praying, to being welcomed into a community of caring people.
I think it was the first week of SSP’s existence. I remember heading out just a few days after school finished for the year, and 1976 was the first year of SSP as an independent entity — after the pilot year in 1975 when it was a remote site of Appalachia Service Project.
We slept on the floor of Bishop United Methodist Church. We split into work teams and each morning trekked off to various homes to do work. My group worked at Esther’s home in Big Pine. I spent most of my time in the back yard digging a new hole for her outhouse!
In the evenings we would gather in the social hall and sing (another first for me), share, tell stories, and talk about God (another first, you get the idea.) Staff members Floyd McKeithen, Eric Clem, Janet Gollery (now McKeithen) must have worked pretty hard to enable us to do what we did, but what I noticed was that they showed us unconditional love, and helped us to put our budding faith into.
My life took a radical shift after that week at SSP. I wanted to be around a caring community and people who were trying to make the world a better place. I explored my faith in a variety of contexts, but kept coming back to SSP — as a young adult staff member, adult counselor, board member, and a pastor sending groups of youth. I love where SSP has gone, and believe very strongly in its mission and its effect on young people — all three of my children have served multiple summers as youth and staff, so I have seen first-hand how SSP continues to change lives.
Editor’s Note: This was first published in our 2015 Annual Newsletter in December, 2015. We believe in the power of SSP to continue to change lives, and we hope you do, too. Please consider a tax-deductible donation today.