Margaret Thor, Deacon
Jesus said, “So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” (John 13: 14-15)
How do we do that in our current pandemic? How should we serve one another? How do we put our faith into action and still be safe? This is a tough question for me to answer. Fortunately, with the input of our committed Faith-in-Action ministry leaders, we have come with some creative ideas. The “lead” from each ministry (Hearts to Homes, Fields to Families, Kayoro, etc.) put forward these suggestions. I’ve included their name and email address if you want to contact them directly for more information.
You will notice two primary ways for you to serve. One through prayer. If you have not viewed Jered’s video on “Praying on the Run”, I encourage you to do so. It will awaken in you a call to prayer. I read an article in the Christian Century about prayer. In it the author suggests that “[t]urning our attention to God and to our suffering neighbor…requires a willingness to be present to them, without turning either God or neighbor into a commodity or ‘an occasion for doing good.’ It is to be fully present even to what is invisible to us, to remain turned toward love even in the midst of our neighbor’s affliction and our own.”
A second important way for you to serve your neighbor is through donations. Organizations, particularly those feeding the hungry, really know how to stretch dollars to meet the needs of the people they serve. It may not feel like you are doing much, but the organizations are extremely grateful for the donations. If you would like to give now, Click here and select a fund or the Mustard Seed. Or send a check to St John’s with a note in the memo line as to where you want your donations directed.
Finally, you can advocate. There are numerous organizations, like Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light, ISAIAH, and beyond that are encouraging us to use this time when we cannot physically gather or personally help the poor and those on the margins, to lift our voices. Write a letter to your elected official, start a fierce conversation about an issue that affects the poor and the hungry with your neighbors, join a calling campaign to raise awareness about voter rights.
Farmer’s Market
- Volunteer to monitor traffic at the market (Click here to sign up)
- Shop the market and tell your friends
- Donate to fields to family program to support a weekly delivery of produce to First Nations Kitchen, Hallie Q. Brown, and El Santo Nino Jesus
- Place a farmer’s market sign outside near your house Sunday morning.
Cammie Beattie ([email protected])
Hearts to Home
- Pray for our family, our mentor and all those facing homelessness in our city.
- Support our partner. https://www.ywcastpaul.org/housing/ This website explains all of their housing programs and has a donate button on the top.
- Advocate for the poor and homeless through such programs as ISAIAH, MICAH (Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing), Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative and many others.
Diane Wallace-Reid ([email protected])
Hallie Q Brown
- Contribute funds for food purchases to meet the skyrocketing need of our neighbors affected by unemployment and school closures
- Contribute non-perishable food items to Hallie Brown at 270 N Kent Street, St Paul. Mark the bags ‘from St. John’s’ and leave just inside the door
- Pray for all who are suffering from food insecurity at this time
- Pray for the staff at Hallie Q. and volunteers that they remain safe while helping others
Colleen Swope ([email protected])
Creation Care
- Pray for the restoration of the Earth, our home.
- Advocate by joining and giving to our partner, Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light (MNIPL.org), the Nature Conservancy, and others and asking, pleading (and voting) for life respecting leadership.
- Reduce impact on the environment. Conserve energy and reduce consumption and waste.
Eric Odney ([email protected])
Kayoro Clinic Committee
- Donate to our partner organization, Give Us Wings, so that they may continue serving in Uganda
- Join the Kayoro committee
- Sew masks for Days for Girls organization
- Pray for the staff at St John’s Clinic in Kayoro and for all they serve in the area
Sue MacIntosh ([email protected])
