Delivering Backpack Program food to Trinity Lutheran Church, where the Backpack Program food is stored and assembled, are from left: Jordan Hensley, Peoples Credit Union chief executive officer; Deb Peterson, Backpack Program organizer; Debby Pruismann, Peoples Credit Union marketing; and Stephen Kesten, Peoples Credit Union vice president of Operations. Not present for the photo is Gayle Olson, who helps organize the Backpack Program with Peterson. The Backpack Program is one of the many community collaborations in which the Webster City Ministerial Association is key. To collect this much food, People's Credit Union ran a "Souper Bowl" food drive to benefit the Backpack Program during the Super Bowl weeks. Its staff participates in a "Jeans for a Cause" promotion, allowing them to wear jeans to work, with a $3 donation. Employees and customers can also donate additional money to increase the match. This is the fourth year of People's Credit Union contributing to the Backpack program, but it is the first year it maxed out donations to receive the full company match, according to Debby Pruismann, Peoples Credit Union marketing.

As service clubs disappear, one organization is still solidly working to make Webster City better for all who live and work here.

That organization is the Webster City Ministerial Association.

Organized more than 125 years ago, the ministers of Webster City today continue the legacy of working together.

In its earliest years, the WCMA sponsored father/son banquets, special community speakers, movies, Good Friday services, the winterization of homes for the elderly, Thanksgiving services, high school Baccalaureate, and the Crop Walk, just to list a few.

Today most of the group’s focus is on activities that assist residents who are financially challenged. They help people who need help putting food on the table. And they help the community’s elderly.

The Lenten season is a busy one. As these stewards prepare to lead their congregations, it is important to know that they are also working together to demonstrate to the greater community what it means to follow the example of Christ. The Webster City Ministerial Association, whose leaders represent nine Christian churches in Webster City, include lay leaders, part-time clergy and full-time ministers. Craig Blaufuss, pastor of the First Congregational United Church of Christ, is chairman of the WCMA. Joe Pierson, pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church is treasurer.

Together, they inform and discuss community needs, work to see how they can help, and then enlist their church members to support crucial projects. Sometimes the needs are financial; other times the need is for volunteers to work. The projects they coordinate, collaborate on and support are programs that Webster City residents would miss if they didn’t exist.

“Churches often isolate from the community and each other,” Blaufuss said. “We seem to get in our ‘silos.’ Working together this way, we are crossing boundaries and set aside our differences and get to work on the common good.”

Pierson said, “In small towns, things get done, but (people) don’t think about what it takes.

“Community takes work to maintain and often the work behind the scenes is unrealized work, but a blessing to have. The Ministerial Association and other organizations serve our community to the glory of God, but the people who do this type of work don’t seek out recognition.”

The members rotate their monthly meetings from church to church. The nine churches and their leadership includes the Rev. Patrick Wiedemeyer, Anchor Point/First Baptist Church; the Rev. Phil Webb and the Rev. Jennifer Sullivan, Asbury United Methodist Church; the Rev. Doresa Collogan, Faith United Methodist Church; the Rev. Craig Blaufuss, First Congregational United Church of Christ; the Rev. Catherine Schroeder and Ann McLaughlin, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church; the Rev. Joe Pierson, St. Paul Lutheran Church; Father Francis Anane and Deacon Dan Hurt, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church; the Rev. Jean Morse and Sarah Ostlund, Trinity Lutheran Church; and Tony and Robin Streigle, Webster City Church of Christ.

When they meet, they share information about programs and activities in the town. They sometimes field discussions with health officials, schools and other community entities. They share updates about their individual churches and provide collegial support.

“The group is upbeat, energetic, and wants to serve,” Blaufuss said.

The WCMA currently sponsors these programs:

. Ecumenical Human Needs: A benevolence fund for people experiencing hardships.

. School Backpack Program: Coordinating with schools and local food pantries, the Ministerial Association provides funding to supplement families with food insecurities.

. Travelers Fund: Raises money to give to the Webster City Police Department for gas or lodging for individuals who arrive in Webster City without adequate funds to continue their journey.

. Care Center Worship Services: Eight churches share the rotation of church services at Crestview, Southfield and Windsor Manor each Sunday.

. Administration of the Angel Tree Christmas Gift Program: Formerly handled by HERO, this was turned over to the Ministerial Association to administer.

. Summer Lunch Program: Sponsored by the schools prior to COVID, this program was picked up by the Ministerial Association in 2022.

. Faith at the Fair: A Sunday morning ecumenical service at the Hamilton County Fair.

· Food Pantry support: Promotes donations to the five food pantries in Webster City, which are located at Upper Des Moines Opportunity, Inc.; All Cultures Equal, Trinity Lutheran, St. Paul Lutheran and St. Thomas Acquinas churches.

The financial support that is coordinated through this group is significant. The largest fund, according to Pierson, treasurer, is Ecumenical Human Needs, which annually spends more than $24,000 to support families in need.

The Backpack program, which functions only during the school year, costs another $6,000.

“We’re always happy to take donations to the Backpack Fund or other funds; just write a check to the Webster City Ministerial Association at 1001 Beach Street and note in the memo line which program you want to support,” Pierson said.

Both cash and food donations are delivered to the individual churches for distribution, Pierson said, so it is difficult to quantify the value of those donations. But he offered for an example his own church’s food pantry.

“The food pantry just in our church alone probably runs north of $10,000 per year,” he said, “serving about 150 families a month.”

With four more locations, the total impact is hard to track, he said.

It may be difficult to monetize, but the impact of the collaborative work is unmistakable.

“The ministerium is a gathering of leadership,” Blaufuss said, “but we are all aware that the importance of the churches are the members who drive and make the good works possible.

“We focus on what unites us, not on what divides us.”