As part of its recent Diocesan convention, the Diocese of West Virginia invited all the congregations of the diocese to bring canned food to distribute to food-banks in the vicinity of the convention site at Pipestem Resort State Park. As an incentive, it was decided that a prize would be rewarded to the congregation that brought the most cans-per-member (based on average Sunday attendance).
3,676 cans of food from across the Diocese were collected, not including boxed meals, pasta, condiments, jams, jellies, and the like. Food was distributed to church related pantries or food banks in Lewisburg, Oak Hill, and Bluefield. The hope of the food drive was to increase awareness of food accessibility issues in the state, promote congregants participation in parish charity activities, and create an immediate impact on the area in which the Diocese was gathering.
The largest donation of a single congregation was 644 cans of food. The winning congregation was St. Matthias Church, in Grafton, WV. St. Matthias has an average Sunday attendance of 6 to 8 people and brought an average of 33 cans per person.
West Virginia is a state where food insecurity is especially high. What other example of convention related ministry have you seen? In what ways have you seen small churches “punching above their weight?”
image: some of the food being gathered outside the meeting hall – photo by Chad Slater