Every Sunday morning, a pickup truck quietly pulls up to the front door of a middle school just east of Leesburg [Virginia, Diocese of Virginia].
Soon, more early risers arrive and begin unpacking the trailer attached to the truck. Large wooden contraptions – giant boxes with wheels – roll down the trailer’s ramp and into the school.
All is abuzz as people unpack the boxes, transforming Belmont Ridge Middle School’s auditorium into St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church.
I am an active member of this church – a fact that a few years ago would have surprised me. Though I grew up going to an Episcopal church, religion always seemed impenetrable and forbidding.
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A friend mentioned Jeunee Cunningham, pastor of St. Gabriel’s, and had only positive things to say about her. So I e-mailed her.
Jeunee replied immediately. Probably sensing my trepidation, she set me at ease by telling me that she and her husband didn’t belong to a church when they got married. They attended a service at an Episcopal church they liked and said, “Hey – let’s get married there!”
Ostlund has lived in Loxahatchee for eight months.
The Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida recognized the growth of the western communities and anticipated the establishment of the Callery-Judge Grove community, so it committed her to the area to establish a ministry.
She is living in a home bought by the church that also serves as her office and meeting space for the congregation.
A group she calls The 15:58 is helping her to get a church established in the community. “They are named after Corinthians 15:58,” Ostlund said. “Basically, the Scripture says that if you keep working, your work will pay off.”