News from Haiti and coverage of services honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., dominated religious news this week. Here are a trio of worthy stories that may have escaped notice:
From Statesville, NC:
Trinity Episcopal Church is in the process of setting up a community garden to nurture the community’s minds, spirits and stomachs.
The 10 garden beds are scheduled for completion by the end of February, and church members are talking to various organizations about how the plots can be used as educational tools, said Vestry member Michael Keith.
St. Mary’s County, Maryland was the setting for this story on grief groups for teens:
The Rev. Kathleen Price of All Saints Episcopal Church in Avenue hosted a similar forum at the Bowles Farm in Mechanicsville about a month ago. The event was attended by about 60 parents and more than a dozen teens, including Spencer and other members of her support group.
Price praised Spencer’s ability to start a group on her own.
“There’s so much concern about it,” Price said of the recent suicides, adding that she held the forum to make people aware of the resources available for suicide prevention and grief counseling.
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Rector, Rev. Jeff Paul, recognizes that caregivers need care, too. They need to share their personal stories. A safe and free caregivers support group meets in the rectory next door to the church, 305 N. Minnesota St., on the first and third Thursday of each month.
Father Jeff reminds all, not just caregivers, that you cannot care for others unless you are willing to receive care or take care from friends, loved ones and those in the community ready to help.