Refuge Church hosting ‘Shop and Hop’ to give back to community

The new 'Shop and Hop' sponsored by the Refuge Church
will be held on Sept. 25 in Windham and includes a thrift
store, a fun bounce house for kids, Gaga ball, hot dogs,
cotton candy and popcorn, all for free. 
SIBMITTED PHOTO

By Collette Hayes

A new event sponsored by the Refuge Church in Windham includes something for everyone in the family and is intended to show the church’s appreciation for the community. The “Shop and Hop” event will be held at the Refuge Church’s new location on Roosevelt Trail in Windham on Sept. 25 and will include a thrift store, a fun bounce house for kids, Gaga ball, hot dogs, cotton candy and popcorn, all provided at no cost.

According to the Rev. Adam Herald, the pastor of The Refuge Church, over the last several months the church has received many donated items for the new event.

“We would like to give back to the community of Windham by sponsoring a Shop and Hop. Everything at the event will be free,” Herald said. “We are hoping that people will come and shop at the sidewalk thrift store as well as enjoy good food and fun entertainment for the kids. This is our way of giving back to the Windham community that welcomed us over four years ago.”

On March 5, 2017, the Refuge Church first opened its doors to a congregation of about 150 people in the Fine Arts auditorium of Windham High School. After four years, the church has found a new home in the heart of Windham and currently the new location is under construction and the congregation has been holding services outside on the church lawn. 

“Construction on our new building should be completed soon,” Herald said. “Due to the challenges of the pandemic, for the last 15 months we have been holding our services online. We believe we were blessed, and we are definitely excited to find a permanent meeting place. One of the cultural values of The Refuge is to empower people to be dreamers and not to settle for those dreams to just remain dreams.”

To that end, Herald said that a member of the church’s congregation, Caitlin Burrell, has had a dream to open and run a coffee shop.

“The Refuge is supporting her dream by including a coffee shop, Milk and Honey, in a large welcoming area in our building,” he said. “Although the coffee shop will remain separate and not provide funding for the church, the main focus will be to provide an informal gathering place where our members can come to socialize, network and build community.

“Community is an amazing thing. When you get people together as a community, dreams come to life,” Herald said. “To support dreams, we do something called small groups. Anyone that comes to church for a while and has a dream in their heart can start a group and watch their dream come to life. People weren’t created to travel life alone.”

According to Herald, there will be three classrooms for kids in the new church building. The classroom addition supports the focus that every child deserves a champion, an adult that will never give up on them. Sunday should be kids’ favorite day of the week. They should be having fun and learning about Jesus in a way they can relate.

Herald said that the RefugeKids experience worship, age-specific lessons, and a variety of exciting activities. All of the classes are staffed with a highly trained team of leaders who are background checked and committed to ministering to children.

If you would like to stop by Shop and Hop, bring a bag to shop, enjoy great food and entertainment for the kids. Shop and Hop will be conducted from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 at The Refuge Church’s new location at 765 Roosevelt Trail in Windham. <