About Us
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Burlington Center Mall Ministry started out in 1993 as a prayer by Rev. Phil Olson, then Minister of Missions at First Presbyterian Church of Mt. Holly, NJ, who was seeking a way to reach out to those who do not attend church. He felt God leading him to pray for specific municipalities. Over time, he enlisted people living in each of these locations to pray and dream with him, planting seeds for a ministry. Phil also researched who lived in each neighborhood and spent time praying and thinking about ways to minister to these people. In this way, the idea of a ministry in a location other than the church was conceived.
About this same time, members of First Presbyterian were exploring long-range goals for the church. Since churches no longer are the hub of activity in the present culture, the leadership recognized the need to go where people are. They asked, "Where would Jesus minister if he were walking the streets of Burlington County today?" Their conclusion: the marketplace and its modern-day equivalent, the shopping mall. Phil wrote a paper "Let's Go to the Mall" and sent it to fifty Christian leaders across the country for their input, asking if they knew of mall ministries.
Though mall ministries are few, two are nearby. Mission-minded folks visited the Echelon Mall Ministry in Voorhees, NJ and the Church on the Mall in Plymouth Meeting, PA to gain helpful and realistic advice.
Phil continued to pray about this mall ministry idea, particularly funding and leadership. After several months, he felt called to speak with someone from the congregation about paying the first year's rent. In God's amazing timing, that person had just received a monetary lump sum and was asking God what to do with it. God had prepared a "Yes." Also, Phil and the mission chair each prayed and made a list with names of possible mall ministry leaders. Elsie Nicolette's calling as Director was confirmed when she later learned that she was the only name common to both lists. Nearly five years after the initial prayer project began, the Burlington Center Mall Ministry opened its doors for ministry on June 29, 1998.
As a Christian outreach ministry, Burlington Center Mall Ministry has never been a church doing " business" in the mall. Seeking not to replace the church but to strengthen it, worship services are not held at the ministry. Instead, unscheduled interactions and one-on-one conversations allow BCMM staff and volunteers to listen, show God's love and pray for those who stop by. Scheduled programs reach out to people at their points of need and weave in the gospel message in varying degrees. Through a ministry of prayer, presence and programming, the ministry's goal is to continually offer God's hope and help. Phil Olson's prayer continues to bring forth a fruitful faith harvest to the glory of the Lord.
As volunteers have come forth from a variety of denominations and ethnic groups, and ministry has unfolded, we recognized that God wanted the Ministry's outreach and support to become more diverse and more representative of those in the mall. Energies were focused on becoming an independent non-profit. Board members were recruited, and a Certificate of Incorporation and bylaws were prepared. June 2005 we incorporated as Mall Ministries Inc. (doing business as Burlington Center Mall Ministry). We then applied (and were approved) to become a non-profit 501(c)(3)organization.
January 1, 2006 the Mall Ministry became a separate organization from First Presbyterian Church. As a Body of Christ outreach, we seek to partner not only with our founding church but also with a variety of mission-minded churches to plant faith seeds that will further God's kingdom. Our Partners lists our present partners and how an organization can become a partner.
Our Board and volunteers come from over thirty churches and are a diverse ethnic mix. Recognizing that many different nationalities reside in Burlington County, we have tracts in twenty-six different languages and Bibles in twelve. Scripture for window displays and lollipop labels have been written in other languages.
We trust that the God who has been faithful in our past will continue to lead and guide the future of this marketplace outreach in exciting ways!