Here is a collection of a few of the good things that Episcopalians and their congregations have done that made the news this past week. And other news fit to print.
For Shannon Mohringer and her priest at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, (Lebanon, IN) when their two minds think alike, it’s the shared idea that is great. Their similar thinking is what spurred the process of planning Boone County’s first teenage mother support group. “I had the idea, because I was a teen mom at one time,” Mohringer said. “And at that same time, (my priest) suggested it to me. We were all thinking the same thing.” Mohringer said that, thinking back upon her past experiences with being a teenage mom, a support group is something that’s necessary for the young mothers in the county. They need an outlet, because many times their parents aren’t even there to talk.
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Texas Episcopal Disaster Relief and Development is an entity of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas that is rebuilding and repairing homes along the Gulf Coast. Officed in Galveston, the relief effort has repaired over 125 homes including 2 complete repairs finished and 3 more on the way. Click here to find out more including their flickr photostream, facebook, blog, and website.
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Combatting Homelessness: Congregations engage in acts of compassion
Faced with the reality of life without a source of income or home or both, these most vulnerable of our population repeatedly wrestle with intolerable choices: Do I fill this prescription, or do I buy groceries to feed my family? Do I attend an evening job skills class in hopes of finding a job with a living wage, or do I try to find a second job because my current one doesn’t cover my monthly expenses? These families walk an economic tight wire, and one misstep can land them in a financial crisis that could cost them their home. Too often, they are on their own. Without a safety net in place, they literally wander the streets, knocking on doors, desperately seeking the assistance that will spare their family from the scourge of homelessness. But there is hope for many here in the greater Richmond area. Thirty-one area faith congregations, including St. James’s Episcopal Church, have partnered to create a ministry called Area Congregations Together in Service, or ACTS. ACTS’ mission is to provide support and financial resources to hard-working, low-income families and individuals who are facing a temporary crisis that could lead to homelessness.
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Inner city kids experience nature at church camp
Arnaldo Rivas couldn’t get enough of the crabs. The 6-year-old squatted beside a deep tray of muddy water, searching oyster shells for tiny baby crabs on the dock at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater Wednesday morning. “I like putting crabs in (buckets),” he said. “They tickle.” Arnaldo was one of about 12 children on a field trip with St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church’s summer camp, an annual program based at the Allen Apartments off Forest Drive in Annapolis. “The children are more or less latchkey kids. They really don’t have much to do in the summer at all, and there they sit in the apartment with a television set,” said Arvilla Wubbenhorst, the director of the program since it began 10 years ago.