The Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways. One Sunday, Jessica Yorke, who had recently started attending Absecon UMC, couldn’t make it to worship. Instead, she watched the Church of the Resurrection’s worship service and heard a sermon that encouraged her to choose to wave a kind flag.
Yorke looked around her and noticed division and anger spilling out everywhere as the country moved closer to the election. She felt a calling to do something about it. After some prayer, she approached Pastor Dave to request a meeting. Pastor Dave sat down with Yorke and Lay Leader Barb Sabath, and from that spark of inspiration, the Kindness Campaign was born.
Inspired by the Church of the Resurrection’s Do Unto Others campaign, they created yard signs that read, “Love Your Neighbor,” with the signature cross and flame and the name of the church at the bottom. The text was written in purple, signifying a call to find unity in shared purpose, even in the midst of a polarizing political season.
The signs were an immediate hit. Signs sprung up in yards across Absecon and spread as far as New Gretna, a few towns to the north. Five churches asked to use Absecon’s signs. Pastor Dave said, “Sure, but they’ve got our name on them.” The churches didn’t care—they loved the message. It was timeless. Members kept their signs up long past the election, with one noting that his sign got frozen into the ground over the winter.
The Kindness Campaign did more than ignite a prophetic call to “Love Your Neighbor” in the community of Absecon—it also sparked new missional imagination at Absecon UMC. Pastor Dave Ledford shared:
“It’s given us a focus on intentional kindness. We’ve related that to Wesley’s Three Rules. Doing no harm is good, but it’s not enough to just not harm. You have to do intentional acts of good. It’s given the whole congregation this intentionality about living a Christlike life.”
The intentionality toward being Christlike is paying dividends in the life of the congregation. The church had a knitting ministry, Faithful Fingers, for years—knitting prayer shawls for babies, members in the hospital, and for the hospital chaplain to distribute. The church longed to extend their reach, imagining a “Giving Rail” where people who needed something warm for the winter could come by and take what they needed. The intentional focus on kindness provided the push to turn that dream into reality.
The Kindness Campaign gave that idea a home. The team set up a Giving Rail outside the fellowship hall—they tied Ziploc bags containing a prayer card, some information about the church, and a hat or scarf. Every week or two during the winter, the team had to replenish the rail. Now that the weather is warmer, they plan to attach prayer squares instead.
The Kindness Campaign also set up a Helping Hands board where folks can post opportunities to offer help to others.
The campaign has invigorated the congregation, breathing fresh energy and excitement into a church that’s been in existence since Frances Asbury preached at a bonfire in 1796.
“All of it’s exciting. It just exploded into this really powerful ministry. It wasn’t just for a season as we thought it would be, but it’s creating who we are, culture-wise, as a church,” marveled Pastor Ledford.
Jessica Yorke is excited about the future possibilities for the Kindness Campaign. Together, the team has brainstormed what it would look like to offer new signs quarterly to keep the movement fresh and encourage the community to live as their best selves—with “Serve Your Neighbor” and “Forgive Your Neighbor” both in the running for the next sign.
The Kindness Campaign began with a missed Sunday service and a simple idea. Through faith, prayer, and intentional action, it has grown into a movement shaping the heart of a church and touching lives far beyond its walls. In a world that often feels divided, Absecon UMC is offering a different way—one small act of kindness at a time.