NEWARK: Neighbors helping neighbors: reports from our churches

By Nina Nicholson
Posted Nov 2, 2012

[Diocese of Newark] Power outages are still widespread and communications across our diocese are still spotty. Nevertheless, reports are starting to come in from our churches of the work they are doing to help their neighbors in need.

New reports will be added here as they come in.

From the Rev. Mary Davis, Rector of St. Paul’s in Chatham:

Because St Paul’s did not lose power, only one one two public buildings in Chatham Borough, the Borough’s Office of Emergency Management approached us on Wednesday to ask us to serve as a 24 hr warming center. Of course, we agreed. Close to 70 people, primarily parishioners, had come already on Tuesday, but on Wednesday, the community started filing in too. So Simon Mason, assisted by my son Patrick, went to work, re-wiring the building and running cables up to the parish hall so that visitors could set up on long tables, access the Internet and have coffee while they charged up.

So many people were in the building yesterday, along with Anne Matlack [Organist & Choirmaster at Grace Church in Madison] and her daughter, that we held an impromptu All Saints’ Eucharist, inviting the community assembled. Anne played the piano, volunteers read scripture and my son acolyted.

Parish volunteers have stepped forward already, to spend the night in our building, keeping 24 hour vigil on the needs of others.

From the Rev. Matthew Corkern, Rector of Calvary Church in Summit:

You all know of my great love for Psalm 118:24, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Well, the days are long but we are doing truly great work. As many of you have heard on the news, this is a record storm going back to 1932. People are saying New Jersey is devastated! NYC is flooded and the reality is limited power across the metropolitan region. We are being asked to brace for cold and darkness as most homes will be without power for seven to ten more days.

Having been here a little more than a year, I am constantly amazed at the generosity of spirit and hospitality of abundance in the people of Calvary Episcopal Church, in Summit, New Jersey. These are such extraordinary people who understand the meaning of welcoming ALL WHO COME to the Lord’s Table, figuratively and literally. As our parish home is the only house of worship in this town and neighboring towns with power, the Church remains open 24/7 with lights on for people to seek shelter and most importantly to have a place to simply pray and be quietly. Working with my colleague Vanessa Southern from the Unitarian Church, we invited our fellow clerics from the Interfaith Council to use our offices and offer pastoral care in the Church.

It really has been the most amazing grass-roots effort of outreach and fellowship! Early on, we realized as one of the few places with power in town with power that we should offer a place to get warm and recharge electronics, an opportunity for those seeking fellowship in the darkness, and a meal for those without. The congregation followed by the whole community responded by bringing refrigerators and freezers of food. We are now offering three meals a day (breakfast at 8 am, lunch at 12 noon, and dinner at 6 pm). Last night, there were over 230 people gathered. We shall continue as the loaves and fish continue to multiply. Our chair of Parish Life, Bo Humphrey and our co-chair for Outreach, Bebe Lee, have been working diligently day-by-day with a plan for the next meal and how to provide with massing around forty parishioners cooking, serving, cleaning, and entertaining those we have been blessed to meet in this sacred way. Our youth are organizing movie showings and game rooms. It seems we will continue this new ministry as the Salvation Army has designated us as the local feeding station with a board outside now reading: Free Meals Inside. It is truly humbling being told we have done much good. In truth, we have simply opened ourselves to seeing God around us and offered a time and place to be still in this corner of the world.

I could tell hundreds of stories already but I believe the best is the gift I received last week out of the blue. One of our parishioners presented me with a generous check and said, “Use this where best.” There were no stipulations except that a new ministry need might arise soon. His generosity and similar gifts have allowed Calvary to be a place where we truly live the Good News. I could also tell you of the four year, Brooks, who absolutely refused to stop helping prepare food in the kitchen until every last person had been given something to eat and drink. As we hear often in our invitations: Come to this table to meet the Living God! It is here that the Living God is abundantly present.


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