Idea Exchange
Congregations Share What's Worked

Ecumenical Ministry to Homeless, Mentally Ill Adults
Has Congregations Living the Gospel
For the past five years, Northminster Presbyterian Church in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood has accepted the challenge to manage a specialized shelter to serve homeless, mentally ill adults. The goal is to provide a safe, inviting place on a regular basis to keep the clients (always called “guests” in the shelter) coming back so that they can receive careful assessment, medical and other forms of care, and eventual placement into housing. Eleven congregations provide the 110 volunteers per month needed to staff the shelter, which features an evening meal served family style; an evening of conversation, dominoes, television, or just rest; and overnight sleeping quarters with one male and one female host. One evening a month Northminster’s middle high youth prepare the dinner and serve as evening hosts. The shelter is small, limited to five or six guests per night who are screened by a community mental health agency that serves as partner to the churches. To date, more than sixty guests have been moved into their own housing. Ballard Ecumenical Ministry has given eleven congregations a meaningful ecumenical partnership and a real share in Christ’s ministry in Seattle.

For more information, contact the Rev. Dennis J. Hughes, at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 7706 25th Ave. NW, Seattle, Washington 98117; call (206) 783-3402; use fax number (206) 782-7867.

Bread Auction Raises Funds and Commitment on
Stewardship Dedication Sunday
Why not use a bread auction to start the new church year? Borrow the idea used by the Presbyterian Church at Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, for One Great Hour of Sharing kickoff; just move it to Stewardship Dedication Sunday. A few weeks beforehand, begin advertising the event, stressing the idea of commitment and dedication to God, individually and as a congregation. Explain how the auction proceeds will be used (installing wheelchair-accessible ramps, or as a donation to a food shelter,
for example).

Here’s what the congregation at Franklin Lakes does on the day of the bread auction:

“People bring homemade baked goods and put them on the Communion table. Someone sets up a bread machine in the sanctuary, timed to finish baking the bread just before the service, so that the space is filled with that irresistible aroma of fresh bread. After the service, the bidding starts. We usually raise several hundred dollars just from the auction, but the great things about it are the fun we have together . . . and the joyful tone it sets for giving and sharing.”

For more information, contact Franklin Lakes Presbyterian Church, 730 Franklin Lake Rd., Franklin Lake, NJ, 07417

Gifts for the New-Born Child
The Epiphany processional at Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, Virginia, began in a traditional manner, with the opening bars of “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” But wait—why was this being played on a single flute rather than the organ, and why did the bulletin ask the congregation to remain seated? Down the center aisle twirled an ethereal sixth-grade “star dancer” with expressive hands, dressed in shimmery silver. As she neared the front of the sanctuary, where two youth dressed as Mary and Joseph lovingly watching over baby doll Jesus in a manger, she gestured toward the back, where the second half of the processional waited to begin. The music shifted to full organ, and the congregation joined in singing “We Three Kings” while they gaped at a stately parade of many crowned children bearing—wait again! Shopping bags? Yes, the workshop rotation church school children thought that baby Jesus would much prefer gifts for needy babies to gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They had advertised their “baby shower” for several weeks, and the congregation generously contributed baby clothes, toys, books, and equipment to be donated to a community shelter. The wise children piled the bags beside the manger, into which they deposited slips of paper with personal promises of ways they would serve others during the coming year. Some church members insisted that they saw baby doll Jesus smile!

For more information, contact Carroll Bastian, Christian Educator, (703) 533-8444, or Bob Criswell, Pastor, Mt. Vernon Presbyterian Church, Alexandria, Virginia, (703) 765-6118.