Dear friends,
For those who have not yet experienced a gathering of the Mission Congregation of Grace Church, here's what we did this past Saturday.
Our published start was 9:00 a.m. but we have plenty of "on board" conversation for everyone to get there when they are able and still be part of the opening.
This month, after we shared what our lives have been like in the past few weeks, an activity that was as much prayer as sharing, we began to think on the things about which we are passionate. For instance, I your writer, am passionate about art, music, worship and teaching, as well as a few other things. Since I was the person posing the question, "What are you passionate about? To what would you give your heart?", I have to admit I expect that question to percolate around in people's minds and hearts until our next gathering.
We then gave our time to updates on the exploration of the possibility of having a program which feeds children in need in the neighborhood in which the church is located. To that end, we had three reports.
Carol reported in absentia that Grace Baptist Church, which used to have a program for children, no longer has that program, so could not speak to it.
Gay explored St. James/St. Paul's New Haven's children's programs. Here is her report:
Saturday Morning Drop-in - Loaves and Fishes: During the Saturday morning food pantry, caregivers of children have to stand in line a long time for their groceries. They bring their children and the church provides some education and activities while the children's parents are in line, as well as sending the children off with a free book of their choice.
Mustard Seed Club - an after school program. We believe the church has at least one van to help with transportation, which answers one of our challenges: how to get children here and then to their next destination.
Light and Peace - worship on Tuesday evenings (except during the summer). The service is similar to Compline (Night Prayers), provided on two age tracks. The 3-8 year olds are in the Chapel and their presentation uses the Beulah Land felt board stories.
The 9-10 year olds meet in the Parish Hall, hear Bible stories, and during worship the children and adults sign one another's foreheads with the cross.
Both programs are for children with their adults.
After the two tracks are finished, all gather for an art project, their free-form response to what they have experienced in worship. Then before dinner, the children wash one another's hands - in memory of Jesus washing the disciples' feet before the last supper. Grace is sung and all eat together.
Dinner is provided by the youth group, or one or another service group from another parish.
In the summer Light and Peace becomes a three-week program.
Jeffri reported on his conversation with a parishioner who is in social services:
The question was who would we serve - who is already receiving food from the school program. The answer is every child of school age is covered, IF they meet the financial qualifications.
Those in the shortfall:
pre-schoolers who are not in Head Start
and those children whose families are just above the cut-off. A lot of these are single-parent families.
Our source can advise us on how to find out who the pre-schoolers are.
Or, alternatively, we might do something supporting single parents - work with the children while the parents meet in a way that gives those single parents some attention and some personal time. We could feed everyone, then the parents could meet socially or recreationally, or in whatever way they might decide they want the evenings to go (Saturday night at the movies?). The children's program could be structured similarly to St. James/St. Paul's Saturday food pantry program.
We had a great deal of discussion around these possibilities. In the end, the fact that there are so few of us leaves us reluctant to commit to anything until we explore other avenues of support. To that end, Gay will converse with the parishioner who led Grace Episcopal's former food pantry, and find out for us what similar programs are already being held in other congregations, to which we might give our helping hands and hearts. She already has invited us, many times, to consider, for instance, helping East Avenue United Methodist Church with their annual Thanksgiving Dinner for the poor. They always need help for that.
We recognize that cooperating with other Episcopal parishes as well as with other denominations in Norwalk with the ministries they are doing may be a stretch for Grace. However, as an editorial comment here, I suggest that this is what the Gospel asks Christians to do. Service to the poor and those in need is the expectation. Giving ourselves away to that service is the invitation Jesus extends. Having the program take place at Grace, or be Grace's idea, or Grace's possession is not necessary in order for us to serve the Christ.
Do we have the will to do this? Probably not yet. Can we grow the will to do this? Yes. With God's help.
Faithfully submitted,
Lois Keen, Priest
