Watauga Great Day of Service & Mission Celebration 2025

Watauga Great Day of Service

On Saturday, Aug. 23, Boone UMC is joining with other area United Methodist Church congregations for the Watauga Great Day of Service as part of our annual Mission Celebration weekend. The service day is a chance to come together and love our community through hands-on projects. We will meet at at 8:30 am at Deerfield UMC (1184 Deerfield Rd, Boone, NC 28607) for a brief time of worship and fellowship before heading out from 9:00am-12:00pm to different service sites. Engage in a service project by clicking the button above and signing-up for one that interests you!

Mission Celebration: Salt & Light in the World

On Sunday, Aug. 24, we are celebrating the ways our church lives into our mission of loving our community and inviting all to discover life in Christ by highlighting some of the wonderful mission partners we support and serve alongside. In each of our three services, we will hear from two speakers: Rev. Gaston Warner, Executive Director at ZOE Empowers, and Pam Greer, Recovery on the Inside Case Manager at Homestead Recovery. As we think about what it means to be salt and light in the world, we will hear from them about how God is at work in their ministries. Join us as we reflect on and celebrate all that God is doing through these and our other mission partners.

Rev. Gaston Warner will bring us stories of hope from orphaned children whose lives have been changed through ZOE Empowers. Rev. Warner is an elder in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. He has led congregations in inner-city, multi-ethnic, and suburban settings, from Chicago to Bristol, England. He has consulted with and served on a number of non-profit boards and as staff for Habitat for Humanity, Duke Divinity School, and Duke University Chapel. Gaston joined Zoe Empowers as a board member in 2007 and currently serves as CEO, Global North. Zoe Empowers has facilitated the empowerment of 231,415 orphaned children and vulnerable youth in India and 10 countries across Africa.

Pam Greer will bring us an encouraging word about her recovery journey. Pam joined Homestead of the Mediation & Restorative Justice Center in 2023 as a Peer Support Specialist for the Watauga LEAD program and was promoted to Recovery on the Inside Case Manager in 2024. In this role, she works alongside detention staff, law enforcement, attorneys, and treatment providers to develop pre-trial diversion plans and provide recovery support to individuals incarcerated at the Watauga County Detention Center. A Watauga County native, Pam brings lived experience to her work, having navigated the federal justice system herself. Since beginning her recovery journey in 2012, she has rebuilt her life as a wife, mother, landowner, and property owner and is now in the final stages of seeking a Presidential Pardon.