ATTLEBORO - Centenary United Methodist Church has served the Attleboro community for more than 140 years, since 1865, and its new parish minister plans to continue that ministerial tradition by reaching out to more people and offering new opportunities to worship.

The Rev. Nancy Jean Collins, Centenary's new spiritual leader, has been a minister for 10 years, and has been involved in mission work for most of her adult life.

Collins - who prefers to be called "Rev. Nancy" - was 15 years old when she first realized she wanted to dedicate her life to helping and teaching others. She served as a missionary and teacher for 10 years in a low-income neighborhood in Southeastern Kentucky.

Collins came to Centenary from Grace United Methodist Church in Keene, N.H. Before that, she served at Edgartown United Methodist and Chilmark Community churches on Martha's Vineyard. She took over in July from Rev. Garvin Warden, who was reassigned to a Dorchester church.

Collins, who grew up in Wilbraham and Bolton, says she is happy to be at Centenary. "It feels good to be back in Massachusetts," she said. Her experiences as a missionary and Methodist minister have helped her build strong leadership and administrative skills. She considers herself a very creative person, and says the bishop typically matches a minister's gifts with the needs of a church.

"I have a lot of gifts in the area of empowering people to share their own gifts with others and reach out and utilize the gifts that God gave to them," Collins said.

She is hoping to expand the church's mission work. In addition to continuing out-of-state mission trips with the church's youth groups, she hopes to do mission work in the community to help local residents.

Centenary has two food pantries in the building as part of the Hebron, one for seniors and one for people in need, which she says are a valuable ministry for the church. The Working Persons and Seniors food pantries are operated through the Hebron Village Outreach Center, which moved into the building earlier this year.

Collins also wants to reach out to people who do not attend church, especially people in their 20s to 40s. It may include offering services that are different from the traditional worship service that takes place at Centenary every Sunday at 10 a.m.

"Whether it's in the sanctuary or in the hall, wherever they'd like it to be, I'd like to create something that's a comfort for them, and a space for worship and praying to God," she said.

Recently, the church held a service in Capron Park that was well received, and the church's leaders may choose to do so again in the future, she said.

"We had a very successful event," she said. "Many people gave testimony. We had a wonderful time of singing, sharing and enjoying God's blessing."

Other programs that the reverend is discussing with the church are Stephen's Ministries, where lay members are trained to provide emotional and spiritual care to people who are struggling, and outreach greeters, who would welcome new members and help them connect with others in the congregation.

Collins is looking forward to the church's upcoming rally day on Sept. 7, which will include a big celebration service with a picnic afterwards, and marks the first day of the Sunday school program. Laura Calverley is a freelance writer for The Sun Chronicle. She can be reached at lcalverley@aol.com.