Business as Usual
Busy, Busy, Busy - in the Shop and the Pantry
Statistics so far this year for the Small Blessings Thrift Shop and St. Paul's Food Pantry reflect the high volume of activity in both of our church's major outreach programs.
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| Carol Rohde manages the Thrift Shop on Wednesdays |
At the end of July, the Shop had income of $3,073 primarily from the sale of clothing, with some housewares. This number is especially remarkable when taken into consideration with the fact that the most expensive item, with few exceptions, is a man's suit, for $5.00. And, of course, all items are donated, the space is rent free, and staff is 100% volunteer. Rosemarie Calista had the highest single day of sales so far this year: Tuesday, April 7, when she sold $113.45 worth of goods. Rosemarie, who comes in on Tuesdays; Carol Rohde, Wednesdays; and Margaret Robinson, Thursdays, almost never miss a day. When they have a conflict, their place is taken by Outreach Committee Chairperson Jeanne Henderson, who oversees all aspects of the Shop's operations.
In the Food Pantry, 65 new clients registered last month to receive free food for everyone in their household. Six hundred and twenty-one children, adults, and seniors received food from St. Paul's in July. So far this year, more than four thousand individuals have received three meals/day for three days, or 37,971 meals. Wow! Daphne Barrett, who helped start the Food Pantry many years ago, oversees the scheduling of volunteers. With the volume of business, the goal now is to have three volunteers a day.
The Shop and the Pantry are open on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. That's twelve hours a week - much longer than similar services are offered elsewhere.
The Rev. Tyler and Molly Jones honored the volunteers who faithfully serve the church and the community by working in the Shop and the Pantry by hosting a potluck dinner at the Poughkeepsie Yacht Club in mid-July.
"Our volunteers are what makes St. Paul's Food Pantry and Thrift Shop possible," Father Tyler said Wednesday. "Without them we'd have no way to serve the community the way we feel called to do. We give thanks to God for them and their commitment to loving our neighbors in a most practical way."
It is the spirit that gives life
Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18; Psalm 34:15-22; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69
When Jesus' followers hear the explanation Jesus provides for winning eternal
life they are dismayed. "This teaching is difficult," they said. Our Gospel lesson Sunday depicts Jesus explaining once again that the life of the spirit is what is eternal, and "flesh is useless."
Understandably the disciples are squirming. So far they've been able to be companions and helpers of Jesus. Believing is another matter. Jesus knows this, of course. Many who had followed him during his earthly ministry have gone about their other business and abandoned Jesus. Jesus asks his disciples, Do you also wish to go away?"
This is the moment of truth for the disciples. And the Gospel of John reveals: "Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God'."
A new year is upon us, giving us a fresh start
There are different calendars in use in the world. They have different starting places, but all basically cover a fixed period of time, typically a year. St. Paul's is no different. However our calendar is like a school calendar: We take summer "off" and start up again in the Fall. So, a new year is about to begin for the Parish.
What we need to do is start fresh and start with knowing where we are going, what we are doing and who will be doing those things. Now I know that there are twelve committees out there, with twelve chairs. ( I know, partly because I am one of them!) But up until now, we have largely worked as though we are twelve committees working independently of each other. But we are all part of the same parish family, and we need to work together, to communicate, to share and to think of our committees as part of the whole. (Think of the Gospel reading that says the parts of the body are not independent beings, but parts of the whole and all must work together to have the whole body function.
What am I suggesting? I am asking you to think about how you intend to engage in the life of the parish this year. Send me what your committee or group will be doing in the upcoming year. Are you painting? Sponsoring a young adult trip? Maybe you are working on the website enhancement (Oh, that's something my committee, Evangelism, is doing). Equally important is knowing who will be the "point of contact" for an activity. (It is not the chair that needs to run every event!)
Between now and Labor Day I am asking the committee chairs to send me their plans for the upcoming year and to identify the committee members who will be the primary contract for those events or activities. This way we can meaningfully fill in that calendar. You can email me or you can leave information in my church mailbox A-4. --Warden Pete Bedrossian
