May 2013
Leadership in a Time of Crisis

Leap of Faith

Jack Hauber

As unemployment in Moorefield, West Virginia doubled in recent years, the fortunes of Emmanuel Episcopal Church went in the opposite direction. In 2008, an anonymous donation of $20,000 plus other contributions allowed us to complete $30,000 of renovations to Emmanuel’s kitchen. Our tiny congregation responded with a huge expansion in our community ministry. As our then priest, the Rev. Dr. Michael Simon pointed out, “With great blessings come great responsibilities.” Rev. Simon said “God wanted more of us than to have a nicer coffee hour after church.”

Moorefield, a small community located two and a half hours from Washington, historically has been relatively well off compared to the rest of West Virginia.

Manufacturing has been the largest sector in Moorefield, but the number of jobs in the town fell 14% from January 2008 to June 2009. Pilgrim’s Pride, a chicken processor, went through bankruptcy. American Woodmark, which makes cabinets, was hard hit by the housing crisis and closed one of its three plants in Moorefield: 30 families in town had both the husband and wife working at this plant.

The vestry discussed the situation and decided to respond by sharing our blessings and offering the community a weekly, free offering lunch. Starting with a $1000 gift from the bishop and a core of volunteers, Emmanuel has served lunch on Wednesday since September 2009.

Early on, a parishioner preached about the new ministry. “She asked, ‘Why are we doing this? To make ourselves feel good or because God is telling us to? That was pretty much the instruction: to feed the hungry, clothe the naked. This should be our baptismal ministry. If people are asking themselves the question, ‘Why are we doing this?’ then almost by definition there is a spiritual process taking place.”

The parish organized four teams of three people to cover each week of the month: cooking, setting up, and cleaning.

A flyer was developed with the invitation “Open Community Lunch, Every Wednesday, 11-1. Be our guest if you want good fellowship, good food, to visit with your neighbors, or to meet and greet new friends.” The parish sent letters about the lunch to a dozen other churches in town and posted flyers in the food pantry, senior center, courthouse, stores, and local newspaper.

With most of the food donated by parishioners or the local grocery store and supplies purchased with the free will offerings, $910 of the bishop’s gift remains ‘for a rainy day.’

In April 2012 American Woodwork closed the second of its three plants; the parish now serves anywhere from 50 to 70 people per week. With the need for food assistance increasing, Emmanuel Episcopal has expanded the program to reach more people:

  • By offering people who come to Emmanuel for lunch the opportunity to ‘give back’ by delivering lunches to people who are homebound, the Open Community Lunch program is able to serve an audience that can often be forgotten or difficult to reach.
  • As a member of the Mountaineer Food Bank, on Mondays volunteers from Emmanuel Episcopal pick up 40-50 pounds of produce and bakery items from the local Food Lion grocery store and bring it to a local low-income housing development for distribution. On Tuesdays they return to Food Lion for another load, bringing this food to the church to be used as part of Wednesday’s lunch with unused food left available for lunch guests to take home.

For Emmanuel, a congregation too small to afford more than a third-time priest – the vestry’s call is clear: Continue the food ministry as long as there is a need and interest in the community.

Before the unemployment crisis, one or two of our congregants would be involved in outreach. Now, of the members who are able to participate (not working during the day and not too elderly), we have 100% participation in the effort, either in greeting, preparing, or cleaning. Part of the explanation is that the church is growing and changing. There are several people who retired here from the Washington, DC area. When Rev. Simon first arrived, some Sundays there were only four people. In the last five years, average Sunday attendance has gone from 10 to 25. There is more energy. For a church of this size to take on such a major new ministry has been daunting, but the vestry is proceeding in faith that the resources they need will come through.

And they have, because the vestry is comfortable asking for help – and in letting go. Over the years, the Moorefield Presbyterian Church, Duffey United Methodist Church, and most recently the Epiphany Catholic Church have partnered with Emmanuel, each taking responsibility for providing the lunch at Emmanuel one week a month.

Nine years ago, Rev. Simon asked the vestry, “If Emmanuel closed its doors would anybody notice?” Today, we can confidently respond, yes.

Jack Hauber is senior warden at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Moorefield, West Virginia. An earlier version of this article appeared in The Episcopal Church’s publication Hope and Action Abundant Small Congregations (2012) ; Jack updated and expanded the original version for ECF Vital Practices.

Resources 

This article is part of the May 2013 Vestry Papers issue on Leadership in a Time of Crisis
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