Here is our weekly collection plate, offering some of the good things that Episcopalians and their congregations have done that made the news this past week. And other news fit to print.
Church provides safe haven and more for kids
… musicians performed Tuesday for the annual holiday party at Cornerstone Kids … where inner-city youngsters receive gifts donated by the community as well as new shoes from the Krewe of Alegria’s Kickin’ for Kids program. “Some places give you education and they shoo you on your way,” said Marvin Lindsey, grandfather to 6-year-old Nija Capers. “Here they’re more involved with the kids. It offers spiritual input as well as education, and the family members are involved. You can’t beat that.” Started in 1983 as a place for neighborhood children to hang out, Cornerstone Kids Club was operated as money allowed by the House of Prayer Episcopal Church. When the church merged with St. James Episcopal Church to form St. James House of Prayer Episcopal Church, the club became a fixture. In 2002, it obtained nonprofit status, shortened its name and opened its doors five days a week with a mission to help at-risk children.
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Church camp offers lessons for youth
Plastered to a sheer rock face, or hanging precariously 35 feet off the ground – no matter which situation they found themselves in, each member of the Boys and Girls Club learned the importance of trust this past week. Whether they were repelling and rock climbing, or maneuvering their way through a high ropes course, the students learned that it was impossible for them to achieve success without working together.
The Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming Wilderness Camp provided the place and funding for Boys and Girls Club members to attend camp for a week.
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An extended stay in a North Charleston halfway house helped Nellie Gash escape the temptations of the street and rebuild a life ravaged by crack cocaine and prison. At 44, Gash is sober, employed and enrolled in Trident Technical College. She hopes to get a place of her own soon and move out of Magdalene House, a nonprofit that helps women try to break the cycle of addiction and incarceration. Gash credits Magdalene House with saving her life. But as she prepares to graduate from the program, she wonders if the same helping hand will be around to lift others from their cycles of despair. After two years in operation, Magdalene House is almost out of money and struggling to keep its doors open.