This coming Sunday, May 24, we celebrate the Feast of
Pentecost. Many churches see this as a
sort of birthday of the church and a reminder of its core mission. The parish I now serve will have an unusual
Pentecost this year.
St. Philip’s in Wiscasset is a small parish that has
experienced decline in membership and resources over the past decade. We now number around thirty on a good Sunday,
which includes a dozen children. We have
been meeting as a vestry and parish to talk about our future viability.
One of the most significant aspects of St. Philip’s ministry
is its outreach to the poor. Around 150
people receive food each week from our Help Yourself Shelf food pantry. We have a Bargain Basement where many items
can be purchased for pennies on the dollar of their actual value when new. It is also our policy to provide items at no
cost for any family which has experienced a disastrous loss such as a fire.
St. Philip’s was also instrumental in starting a ministry called
Feed Our Scholars. This program collects
funds which are used to purchase food from the food bank. This food is then sorted and delivered to the
local schools, where it is used each Friday to fill the backpacks of students on
the free or reduced school lunch program.
For most of these students, this meal is their most significant one of
the day. One in four children in Maine is
food insecure. These are students whose
families will need the food to make it through the weekend.
Now, back to Pentecost this year. A local organization is sponsoring a half
marathon on Sunday morning. They have
solicited volunteers and have promised St. Philip’s that if we can provide
twelve volunteers, they will donate $1,000 to the Feed Our Scholars Program. The parish considers this ministry so
important and the need for funds so great that we have people lined up for
Sunday morning. With our Sunday
attendance diminished by twelve or more, we decided that there would be too few
in church to enable us to have a service for Pentecost. So the vestry decided to move our Pentecost
service to Saturday at 5 pm.
With barely enough financial resources to keep our doors
open, the parish has a heart that cares for others. When an opportunity arises for helping the
poor, they choose that option over their own worship preferences. As we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit
and the birth of the church, this is a case study in a parish that is seeking
to carry on its ministry even in the face of small numbers and profound
financial challenges. I see the Holy
Spirit at work among us.
Pentecost blessings on us all.
