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Idea Exchange
Congregations Share What's Worked
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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.
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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
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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.
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