Newsletters, Soup Kitchen & Slicing Carrots!

Today. Well, after much procrastination and writer's block about what to write on, I *finally* finished writing my 3rd Newsletter article for my new parish earlier this evening. But because I was gone all morning (more on that in a minute) and didn't finish it til late afternoon/early evening it hasn't been printed yet, so no newsletter for parishioners to take home with them in the morning after the service. We will have to mail them all, doh! My parishioner who puts it together told me that they've done it before and that the cost isn't too bad.

The good news is since I ended up doing something totally different for my article than I planned, I may already have a topic for next month and can just get started on it now. The original topic was going to be something on the spiritual discipline of Study. Part of the reason why I entered a lot of my books into "Library Thing" earlier this week. Wanted to add a widget to my webpage so people could look for interesting books they might like to read. Another topic I'm thinking of writing on is Sabbath. This month I ended up with kind of a recap of our first full month together, with some other odds and ends.

Despite being up late last night and really not much sleep the night before because I've gone back on my ADD medicine and my body was adjusting... I *did* make it to the soup kitchen ministry at an episcopal church nearby that we support this morning. I also wrote a blurb about this in my article.

I was soooo glad I went. It was amazing!

While there we watched a video of the program, worshipped with the folks and I was asked to give the final blessing, then we ate with and chatted with the people served by this ministry. I talked to 3 brothers ages 8, 5, and 3 about the birthday party for the 8 year old to be held later today, and to another man who's started attending a Nazarene church and learning to play the drums. People from that parish and another in town were both working in the soup kitchen today. On average they serve 300 meals per week – lunch on Saturdays and breakfast on Sundays. On Sundays they also offer prayer with anointing. They also have a clothing closet - some of the people they serve are homeless and in need of new clothes, as there's nowhere nearby to do laundry and they just wear what they have till they basically need to throw it out if they can find something new.

In a city that has one of the highest crime rates in the nation and in an area of town that is besieged by violence, drugs, and poverty when many folks that might be able to help are jumping ship, this parish has vowed to stay and try to make a difference. It is a safe haven and source of help and hope, and there are some who have been baptized and are turning their lives around as a result. With a mission to “Feed My Sheep,” they are truly serving God and their neighbor in a place that needs it and I am honored to say that this is a ministry supported by my parish. I found myself overwhelmed and wanting to do something, anything to help as I heard their story, and as the priest there (who is also a police chaplain and goes out on patrols in the area) walked me around the property and pointed out neighboring houses... "that man on the porch of that house sells drugs, the house 2 doors down used to be a methlab downstairs, it caught on fire once, we helped close it down..." and there was more. The funeral home across the street has closed, the mini-mart on the corner has closed. Some churches in the area are trying to help, but it looks like many will be leaving before long. It made me sad and I felt helpless.

I'm all for sending aid to Myamar and China to help with disaster relief and to try and help the situation in Dafur, however we have areas of poverty, need, and people who feel hopeless right in our own backyards. People's awareness of poverty and economic and justice issues in our own country was raised for a time by the devastation in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. People are still in need there, still living in temporary housing, still cleaning up, but as newer disasters (including recent tornadoes in the states) get plastered all over the news and certain stories grow "cold" or old, many (myself included) may forget to check back in on those folks and see how they're doing.

There’s a new Ad for the Episcopal Church titled “Get Closer to God. Slice Carrots.” The main point... put our faith into action, serve and care for others. This can be done by doing something that seems as simple and mundane as slicing a carrot. It describes how we can serve our neighbors and the world in soup kitchens, shelters, schools, disaster relief and more and encourages folks to put their faith to work. This parish is definitely “slicing carrots”! If you want to help them continue their ministry and continue being a source of love, light, hope and spirit in a neighborhood bombarded by violence and drugs you can donate to their endowment fund, making the check out to The Community Foundation of Greater Flint at 502 Church Street, Flint MI 48502 and designating your gift for St. Andrew’s and their soup kitchen program.

You can see the Ad for the Episcopal Church on YouTube here:

Slicing Carrots Ad

And for a fun counterpoint on slicing carrots go here:
Soccer shoes & a carrot

Okay... enough brain dump and processing. It's after midnight and I still have to figure out what I'm preaching in the morning.