Open Arms is Deep, Fertile Soil for Community Compassion  

You know the great thing about rock bottom? Bedrock is the ideal place to build a strong foundation.

Life throws painful moments at us, like arrows, and they always seem to land right at the core of old wounds. But in those moments, life also holds up a mirror. Lies are laid bare. Reality shocks us. 

Lying on my living room floor just a few short months ago, I found God again – at age 36. Then I promptly found Open Arms Community Church in Bradford. For pushing back the darkness in my life – and for so many other reasons soon to be discussed – I urge area residents to support the church’s Local Impact Fund this Giving Tuesday (Dec. 2) at https://openarmscommunitychurch.org/push-back-the-darkness/.

Truth be told, I had been to Open Arms before, several years back before the church moved to its current location on Congress Street. The pastor’s husband has long been one of my best friends. A true man of God, he had always held the doorways to faith open to me, with a friendly nod saying, “Come in out of the cold, man.”

I did. For a while.

But like so many others, faith can be short-lived. We begin to feel better about our adult problems and human foibles. We may mask or rationalize away our addictions. If we’re feeling stronger, why do we need God? “Thanks for the pick-me-up, God. I’ll take it from here,” many of us have in some way said. That mindset, of course, never works. As Jesus’s parable of the farmer sowing seeds (Matthew 13) notes, the seeds spread on footpaths, shallow soil and among thorns get picked off, blown away, dried up or choked out.

We need deep, fertile soil. Open Arms is that deep, fertile soil. 

I immediately joined the men’s group – aptly called the Tribe of Lions – and gained the strongest and most honest support system I’ve ever met. Men from different walks of life and perspectives, with personal issues all their own, coming together to help shoulder their brothers’ burdens.

I felt the call to serve. I had also for years neglected my creative passions like art and music, so I dusted off my guitar and joined the praise band. Joining the band has allowed me to fill my creative cup, flow it forth to others and praise God with beautiful music.

I’m also an alcoholic, a decades-long battle that ends now with support from the church’s Homecoming Recovery support group. This one is undoubtedly the most intimate of all, with members at various stages of recovery from any number of addictions. Here we’ve encountered something not often found at home or out in the community: genuine love and understanding. We aren’t judged. Our life struggles and triggers aren’t looked upon with suspicion or condemnation. Through discussion, support, prayer and Scripture reflection, we’re given the opportunity to finally heal deep wounds that guide our actions beyond reach of the conscious mind.    

Open Arms Community Church features so many programs like these – called microchurches – to help men, women, teens and children. Just as importantly, the church is outwardly focused into the Bradford community and surrounding areas, which so desperately need help. The move downtown was strategic, placing the church at the heart of neighborhoods crushed by addiction, violence, broken families and despair.  

Thoughts and prayers alone make for a pretty poor ministry. The good folks at Open Arms dive deep into the muck of life to rescue and redeem. 

Miracles aren’t instant gifts, divine interventions and deliverances. More often, they’re good works – groups of average people brought together to use their skills and compassion for God’s purpose.

I’ve seen this in action. 

Regardless if you’re religious, the truth is the good work Open Arms Community Church is doing within your friends, families and neighbors deserves support.

(Kelsey Boudin lives in Olean, NY and can be reached at kelsey@grandriveragency.org.)