Hunter Wilson/Daily NewsNathan Howell hauls a watermelon last week. Members of Broadway United Methodist Church planted 2,000 watermelons on Memorial Day weekend, with the goal of raising about $10,000 for Corazones Cristianos.

In air still thick with the day’s heat, members of Broadway United Methodist Church picked and passed watermelons like they were hot potatoes.

The watermelons traveled in assembly line fashion to Nathan Howell, Nicholas Condor and Anthony Vincent, who carefully placed them on a flatbed hitched to the back of a pickup truck.

The harvest last week, however, wasn’t just about Broadway, but another church – a United Methodist Hispanic church in Bowling Green. Corazones Cristianos – which is led by Pastor Marco Ballesteros and Assistant Pastor Nelson Feliciano and is slated to begin worship services at its own site this month – was the recipient of Broadway United’s generosity.

“We’re giving our first and best to God,” said Adam Shourds, executive pastor at Broadway United Methodist Church.

What would have been a grass-filled field on land owned by Vincent and his wife, Pam, was recently turned into a watermelon patch.

“We had the extra space,” Pam Vincent said.

The soil had been tilled, an irrigation system was put in place and plastic was laid down and covered. Memorial Day weekend, members of the church planted 2,000 watermelons.

About 800 were picked out of the patch, and all of them sold, Shourds said. The goal is to raise about $10,000 for the Hispanic congregation, which has held services at State Street United Methodist Church for the past seven years.

Shourds said about a year ago, Ballesteros – an officially appointed pastor to Broadway United Methodist – came to Broadway, and church officials began to talk about ways for the two churches to partner. In those conversations, the Hispanic church expressed a need to have its own facility, to be able to conduct worship services but also to serve the community, Shourds said.

“State Street has been very gracious to them. It had been a great partnership,” he said. “But as ministry developed, it was time for them to have their own facility. … We were trying to find ways to help them whatever way we could.”

The idea for the watermelon patch stemmed from a sermon series at Broadway United last fall. The message encouraged people to give the first and the best in life to God. Shourds said when the ministry group started tossing around ideas for how to distribute money it raised, giving to Corazones Cristianos just seemed like a perfect fit.

“We wanted the money to go to a local group, and with the great things they are doing, plus the timing of their move, it just seemed like a perfect match,” Shourds said.

The Bowling Green District of the United Methodist Church, which has more than 70 churches under its umbrella, voted to buy an old Boys and Girls Club facility as a way to perform ministry on the west end of town and to be the home for Corazones Cristianos.

The building, on 11th Avenue in the heart of Bowling Green’s Enterprise Zone, is about 14,000 square feet, has a gym and four acres of open field. It is big enough to host both office space and have worship services, Shourds said.

In addition to worship, the church also provides services such as GED classes and children’s programs. It provides support to a community of people who aren’t U.S.-born citizens, Shourds said.

“We see them as a core to build ministries on the west end of town,” he said. “They are already doing great things and we wanted to support them the best way we could.”

Ballesteros said, “We are very excited to work together in the partnership with Broadway and churches in the Bowling Green District.”

Shourds said for Broadway, the partnership with the Hispanic church is part of a larger movement. For the past four years, Broadway has sought to have a greater influence on the community and to minister to people it previously has not.

“Here is this vibrant Spanish congregation in town that we can do ministry with as brothers and sisters under Christ on the same level. … In part, it is making a strong connection with who is there,” Shourds said. “What we want to be a part of is community development, coming alongside people and asking them what they want, what they need and what they hope to see for their communities – asking these questions and getting to know the people before we decide what to do.”

Broadway United Methodist, like many churches in the area, is no stranger to partnerships. It has partnered with Habitat for Humanity for service work, with HOTEL Inc. for food assistance and with schools for mentoring. Shourds said Broadway wants to spend its energy supporting ministries and the great things other groups might be doing, since often there are duplications of services.

Shourds said partnering with Corazones Cristianos is an opportunity for members of Broadway to learn from a people who have a different perspective. Essentially, he said, both churches have the same mission, but reaching that mission will be different because of difference in culture, language and experiences.

“For example, the church has a strong emphasis on prayer and a passion for Christ that I think we could learn from,” Shourds said.

Ballesteros said what is most exciting is that the two churches’ main goals are the same.

“Our goals are to serve the community and help anyone – yes, the Hispanic people in our community – but also serve the entire community for Christ,” he said.

Nearly $3,000 has been collected so far from the sale of watermelons, which will also go to local food banks when someone “adopts” one or buys two and gives one to charity.

Working down one half of the patch and up the other side, members felt their way through the thick vegetation that surrounded and covered the melons.

“This is humbling to watch … adults and the little kids,” said Caelin Vernon, a member at Broadway who helped pick watermelons. “Christ acted out. Yes, there were many words, but many actions, too, and these children and adults are experiencing that. It’ll be pretty neat to see the impact of those buying these, too, because they are just as much a part of this.

“Community is much bigger than the people in this field.”

Watermelon sales

The watermelon stand is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon each Saturday in August at Broadway United Methodist Church’s Greenwood location, 5609 Scottsville Road, near the intersection with Plano Road.

Watermelons are $5 each.

— For more information, call 843-3942.