All Moms At AUMC
The Story Of All Moms
Written By Kasey Cummings
My husband and I started attending Arapaho UMC in 2015. Our roots at the church deepened as we connected with a handful of young families with children, and we yearned for a family of our own. Fast forward a year or two, and our ultimate dream was made a reality when our daughter Poppy was born.
By 2019, my enthusiasm for motherhood was at its peak and I was thrilled to see an advertisement for a new Mothers Of Preschoolers (MOPS) group kicking off at AUMC. My excitement quickly turned to disappointment when the group fell through before the first meeting. At the same time, I thought surely I could open the room for a handful of moms to meet, chat and drink coffee. I had no idea how this group would eventually evolve and ultimately impact my life and the lives of other mothers in our community.
Our first semester of MOPS was precious. The group had about 15 members, and as a leader, I flew by the seat of my pants. The group got to know each other and experienced a few comfortable months of content and camaraderie before we rang in 2020–hello, pandemic!
This was a crucial moment in time for our group–when we truly banded together and became a family. It would have been easy to throw in the towel, say we tried our best, and hope that we’d all reconnect on the other side of the pandemic. Instead of giving up, we chose to pivot because if there was ever a time when moms need support, this was it! MOPS continued to meet on Zoom. We did anti-racism work. We left gifts on doorsteps. We commiserated together. We celebrated parenting milestones from afar. We shared our journeys with each other, and together we cried tears of happiness and grief in front of our screens. It was a harrowing and holy time.
We entered our new normal in the fall of 2021 and hit the ground running with a full leadership team and a year’s worth of in-person content for MOPS. With 30+ members, we had a full year of blessings and connection. It was the picture-perfect ministry in the eyes of many. Even though we fulfilled countless opportunities to care for mothers in our community, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
The truth is, when you register to be a MOPS group, you agree to a list of values that don’t align with our beliefs at AUMC. Values that exclude people. Reflecting on my initial dream for the group, the words that came to mind were: Community. Inclusion. All. Moms of preschoolers need support, but don’t mothers of 8-year-olds need support too?! If we want to be a community, we NEED (all of) each other. Moms of preschoolers need moms of 8-year-olds to reassure them, “it gets better.” Moms of teenagers need moms of infants to remind them that they don’t need to wipe butts anymore! Another group that is not affirmed with the old model is our LGBTQ+ sisters. It is my opinion that we need to be explicitly welcoming to each and every mom in our community. It is through these reflections that All Moms was born.
It is my hope and dream that our All Moms group can serve as a model for other communities like ours. It is my dream that all moms can come together to support one another regardless of differences. It is my dream that our group will become a radiant tapestry of individuals; Black, brown, white, conservative, liberal, gay, straight, single, married, 18, 48, Jewish, Christian, Muslim. My dream is that the diversity, love, and support of this group will seep out the doors of AUMC and run into the streams of our wider community. That dream is becoming a reality with the support of this church.
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