MRM (Missing Row Ministries)

Missing Row Ministries (MRM) is a joint ministry with two South Hadley churches:  Second Baptist Church and Stony Brook Community Church

Mission:  Compassionate Outreach to the Sick and Memory Impaired.

Our goal is to bring church to those who cannot make it to church and to bring assurance that they are not forgotten. With respect and dignity, we share together the love of God and hope in Jesus.

We are a team who is called by Jesus Christ to be hope givers and love bearers to those who are missing from a row in their long time church pews unable to attend church. This is why our service is known as Missing Row Ministries. We recognize that people who are sick are isolated and cut off from their community. They may be missing from church but they are not lost. God knows exactly where they are and He sends us to serve the sick and memory impaired by bringing a worship service tailored specifically for Spiritual Memory Care.

The MRM service is referred to as Spiritual Moments at many of the communities we serve.

Our 30 minutes Spiritual Moments service includes prayer, scripture reading, reciting together Psalm 23 and the Lord's Prayer, and singing hymns and patriotic music. Repetition of the familiar allows the opportunity for recall and to be refreshed by the Holy Spirit.

We currently minister to the following communities: 

-Arbors Assisted Living in Chicopee

-Day Brook Village Senior Living in Holyoke

-Linda Manor in Leeds

-Loomis Village in South Hadley

-Mason Wright in Springfield

-River Mills Assisted Living in Chicopee Falls

-Veterans' Home In Holyoke

-Pioneer Valley Health & Rehab at South Hadley

-Western Mass Hospital in Westfield

Our team counts it a privilege and honor to serve our local community with this ministry. In 2018 and 2024, team members joined the Dementia Friends of Massachusetts Initiative which is a global movement that is changing the way people think, act, and talk about dementia.

If you feel called to learn more about MRM, please contact us either at Second Baptist Church at (413) 536-0626 or Stony Brook Community Church (413) 427-2643.

The Call of Jesus and Vision for MRM: A poem to paint the sobering experience that memory loss brings to families and the passionate calling of Jesus to serve those who are missing due to this disease. Mt 25:31-46.

I went home to visit and found eyes so sad
She cried “My son, I forgot how to write and add”
Greeted with panic when I walked in the door
She sobbed “My daughter, I cannot read any more”
My dear wife lost in the hall at the Nursing Home
She whispered. “Who are you? Can you help find my room?”

In her eyes deep, I saw Jesus plead
“I am sick, please care for me
I am thirsty, pour me a drink
I am in prison in this body, visit me
Sing to me, touch me
Remind me of Psalms we shared
Hold me, Help me
I am alone and terribly scared”