June 10, 2021
My Dear Doubters of Great Faith,
Last evening, the freshly-constituted Mission/Outreach Committee of St. Thomas the Apostle met for the second time to further the process of standing in our mission statement, “Serving our community with joy, without walls,” and looking toward what avenues Jesus might be calling us, as missioners, in God’s world. As you can imagine, the possibilities are, quite literally, endless, because the need is endless. Being a small church with somewhat limited resource, how do we keep from being overwhelmed as we seek to find ways that we might make the greatest impact in a broken, hurting world?
I believe that the most impactful things that we might do can be found in alliances, partnerships with organizations that are already about doing that great work in the world. For so many reasons, we do not need to reinvent systems that already exist, rather find ways to support, bolster, and nourish existing systems through relationships. Our group decided to pursue and deepen two such relationships that I believe will help further the social justice advocacy work that I believe St. Thomas is being called to do.
Through its Canon Evangelist, Carrie Heddington, the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas sponsors the Dallas Champions Academy, a learning venue for children ages 8 thru 18 that focuses on developing skills in improving relationships that create positive interactions within the community. They provide guidance, encouraging a focus on education and leadership. The Dallas Champions Academy operates in Southern Dallas, and will provide us opportunities to give of both our time and resources in deepening our relationships in the southern sector of our city. It will also give intention to the ongoing nurture of our relationship with our diocese.
Second, we heard a report on the iCare program at the Cathedral of Hope (UCC), which operates a food pantry, as well as a weekly Saturday homeless feeding program. Both would provide opportunities for us to get directly involved in giving of time as well as resources. This would afford us the chance to build relationships through partnering with a neighbor congregation.
And maybe most exciting, we are exploring the beginnings of a hand bell choir at St. Thomas the Apostle! Through a donation from Central Christian Church, we now own 5 octaves of hand bells, and are exploring what types of programing might take place to draw people into our space, like a Seniors Bell Choir, or Youth Bell Choir.
You’ll be hearing more about these things and more in the days and weeks to come. All of these opportunities are wonderful, and exciting, and enriching, and forming. And they have the potential to draw us deeper into relationship with the diocese, the community and the world around us. It’s exciting, because the way “Jesus-change” works is one relationship at a time. And when we are engaged at that level, we are changed too!
Yours on the journey,
Fr. Christopher+
