Family to Family
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.
(The Book of Common Prayer, p. 101)
Dear Friends,
For those of you who were not in church last Sunday when I made the announcement, we distributed sixteen bags of groceries last Friday evening in our first distribution of the Family to Family Grocery Relief Ministry. Each family signed in and told us the number of adults and children in their household. From that information we know that twenty-three adults and twenty-two children were able to receive bags of groceries through this brand new ministry. The Family to Family Ministry is off to a great start!
As Joe Barber, Melinn Burlingame, and I waited for people to come in to receive the bags of groceries, we recalled the first Tuesday of the STOMP Ministry when we eagerly waited to give away sack lunches. We gave away six lunches on June 15, 2010. In October of that year the Outreach ministers began serving hot lunches and this week, a little more than four years later, one hundred and nine meals were served in the parish hall and at Murphy Park. This past Tuesday, a few people who have been regular guests for the weekly meals offered their own hands to prepare and serve the meal as a way of “giving back” from what they received.
The Community Garden is beginning to yield fresh-from-the-earth vegetables. Some of that yield will be used for the STOMP meals as part of our effort to share the best we have from all our resources, including the land we occupy, with our community.
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As you are reading this, several of our youth with their capable leader, Mark Nabors, along with other youth and youth leaders from around the Diocese of Arkansas are making their way to Gulfport, Mississippi for a week of fun, fellowship, and ministry. Several families provided snacks for the trip. And, a generous gift from the Episcopal Church Women out of proceeds from the recent Trash and Treasure sale will help to make this trip the meaningful memory-making event we want for our youth.
Whether we are reaching forth our hands in love to feed the hungry through STOMP, offer grocery relief to those who need it through Family to Family, share the yield of the Community Garden, or provide for the children and youth of our parish, we are doing the work of Christ. Our highest aim is to make it possible for people to see and know Christ through our ministries. We address needs in the community as best we can, with the best we have to give, because it is what Jesus did in his earthly ministry and what the Church continues to do in his name. We honor Christ best by reaching out with willing hands and loving hearts to serve others. Our church is full of generous and loving servants. I thank God for all of you.
In Christ’s love,
Pam+
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