Outreach: Missions & social justice
Liberian Partner Church
In 1997, in the midst of the Liberian civil war, the Detroit Annual Conference made a covenant pledge to build relationships with the Liberia Annual Conference. In partial fulfillment of that pledge, in April 2005 the Ann Arbor District assigned a Liberian partner church to each of its congregations. These partnerships are intended to build relationships and give hope to our bothers and sisters in Liberia through encouragement and financial support.
West Side’s Liberian partner church is the J. Gargar Thompson Memorial United Methodist Church, located in Bangbah. The church was founded in 1967 and is lead by senior pastor Rev. Smith Zarr and associate pastor Henry Boe. It currently has approximately 150 members.
Although Liberia is now at peace, it remains one of the poorest countries in Africa. In particular, our partner church has several basic needs including: church construction (their old church structure broke down and the members are constructing a temporary structure for worship), pastor’s salary support, Bibles, and farming tools.
West Side’s 2008 Easter offering is designated to support the J. Gargar Thompson Memorial United Methodist Church.