By Elinor Tinsley
Bay Vue Methodist Church began a Beach Ministry some years ago and it has morphed over the years into different things, depending on our different circumstances. We used to set up a tent on the beach and we would hand out cold water and Vacation Bible School (VBS) items for kids and be available for anyone who needed to talk about their spiritual needs or had questions. One of our main objectives was just to let people know we were there and that we cared. As our church membership numbers have dropped and able bodied workers seem fewer and further between, we have concentrated our efforts on providing Vacation Bible School “bags” to kids on the beach 12 and under (give or take) and to children who visit our Second Going thrift store with their parents.
On June 10, 2025 a group of Bay Vue Methodist Women stuffed 144 reusable storage bags with VBS crafts, coloring books, colors, toys and snacks and sent 48 of them to Bay Vue’s thrift store, Second Going, located at 1050 Bay Vue Rd. in Crystal Beach, and kept 96 others to pass out on the beach. On July 12, 2025 we set out in four golf carts to distribute our other 96 bags. Many thanks to our drivers and their crews; Ronnie Clarkston, carrying Kathy Clarkston, Carole Chambers and Betty Williamson, Earl Hines, carrying Sandi Covington and her granddaughter Bre Bohannon, Don Evans, carrying Jo Evans and Leslie and Roy Kinkaid and Pat Tinsley, carrying Elinor Tinsley and Linda Elissalde. We set out at 10 AM with each cart covering roughly 25 barrels, from barrel 1 – 100.
As our drivers came upon a group and we saw young children, we carefully pulled up and counting kids, approached the parents with bags in hand. We introduced ourselves and let the parents know that since Bay Vue has no children as current members, we felt called to take our bags and travel to the where we knew kids were. We had several people asking how much they were, and we were happy to tell them that there was no charge. Parents were asked permission to give the children the bags and also if a picture might be taken to put in the local newspaper. No one turned down a bag this year and no one turned down the photos either. As a smaller church, we find that we are able to serve our community better and share the word by reaching out to the people and going to where they are. Bay Vue is very grateful that our small numbers can make such a big difference to our community, both the ones that live here and also to the hundreds and hundreds of visitors that our peninsula has each year.
Bay Vue Methodist Church, sponsored by the Bay Vue Methodist Women are happy to be able to continue to provide VBS bags on the beach so be looking for the golf carts on a hot July day next year as we “Have Bags, Will Travel”.
