Community Spotlight: Our Savior’s Lutheran & Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal
While on my trip to Tucson, Vicar Wendi Van Beek, diaconal candidate doing her internship at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Tucson, made sure to show me around Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church’s social ministry program.
Vicar Wendi told me that one of her internship goals has been to help the congregation at Our Savior’s find new ways to get involved in neighbor-love right in their own neighborhood. From food pantries to mobile showers, our ELCA churches have found many different ways to minister to the needs of their neighbors, each one tailored to the specific needs of the community. For Our Savior’s, it didn’t make sense to build a new ministry like this when a robust community partner exists just around the corner. Our Savior’s Lutheran sits right across the street from the University of Arizona and Banner University Hospital. It isn’t the only church to occupy this advantageous area; just a few blocks away sits Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal parish.
Grace St. Paul’s mission focuses on welcoming “people who feel they may not be welcome in a church because of physical appearance or ability, age, mental capacity, ethnic or religious background, sexual orientation, a sense of past or present personal sinfulness or financial circumstances.” They focus their efforts on earth justice, migrant justice, and social justice. Along with blessings for migrants, the congregation is most known for it’s extensive work with the area’s homeless and food insecure populations.
Most Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays throughout the year, the parish hall opens up and is run similarly to the summer Heat Respite Centers that those of us in Maricopa County are familiar with. Folks come in through the doors and are immediately greeted by a team of volunteers with a fresh meal. Depending on the time of day, the team cooks and serves breakfast foods or simple lunches, like sandwiches and chips. At the other end of the hall, St. Joseph’s Food Pantry distributes food boxes from the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, as well as various donations from the congregation and local businesses. The pantry also gives out army-style can openers and toiletries. Folks are invited to sit and eat outside, or inside where a movie is usually playing. More volunteers run a table dedicated to social assistance where they help folks replace ID documents, locate shelters, find job training, and more. A rotating group of community organizations, such as treatment centers and mobile clinics, provide services as well. Outside, on the other side of the courtyard’s prayer labyrinth, behind a gate, and down a set of stairs is a shower where people can sign up for 15-mintue slots.
Vicar Wendi felt that it would be redundant, and confusing for clients, to try and build up similar programs at Our Savior’s since the churches are just a half a mile apart. Instead, Vicar Wendi decided to forge a partnership with the Episcopal parish— both to support and participate in their good work and to giver her congregation a way to engage.
It started when Vicar Wendi herself began volunteering at the ministry. Then, she started organizing opportunities after church on Sunday mornings. Congregants are invited to stay after service and make sandwiches. The sandwiches are then taken around the block for the next day. Our Savior’s began contributing financially too; one of their donations paid for several vouchers to a local thrift store. Folks can receive a voucher for clothing at Grace St. Paul’s and redeem it for a certain number of items. Now, members of Our Savior’s regularly deliver donations and sandwiches to Grace St. Paul’s and have become dependable volunteers at the ministry.
On the Wednesday of my visit, Vicar Wendi and I showed up a little after 9 am, and the joint was already buzzing with activity. After greeting the Rector, Rev. Gary, we made our way over to the parish hall where we got to work. Vicar Wendi showed me around to all of the various stations. St Joseph’s food pantry showed me the system they use to verify clients and limit distributions from Community Food Bank to two-a-month, along with the other donations they give out. At the breakfast area, where volunteers were stocking free, reusable water bottles along with the other food and drinks, Vicar Wendi greeted one of her parishioners that was volunteering today. Vicar Wendi and I ended up assigned to the social services desk, which was short on help that day.
At this desk, folks sign up on a waiting list and are then assisted on a first-come first-serve basis. In addition to the clothing vouchers, Grace St Paul’s also purchases a set of vouchers to the MVD every month. This way, folks can apply for replacement documentation, go to a branch of the MVD, and get their documents without having to pay the fee. If someone is without housing and needs a mailing address, Grace St Paul’s also houses a bank of mailboxes that folks can sign out. The desk also gives out fee transit passes (although local buses have recently become free to all), limited discretionary funds (depending on specific situations), and a wide range of referrals. The desk keeps a binder of various services, including shelters, drug treatment centers, other food pantries, locations to do laundry, job and skill training programs, and other social service programs. Fliers for more time sensitive programs, like specified classes, are spread out over the table for folks to take with them.
The Grace Saint Paul’s team views the social service aspect of their ministry as their main goal. Lack of documentation, good clothing, a mailing address, and other assistance is major factor in the perpetuation of homelessness and poverty. There is much less assistance available to, say, replace a birth certificate, than for things like food assistance. While providing community members with food, showers, and a place to cool off is incredibly important, helping folks over the obstacles they can’t surmount alone is absolutely necessary.
Usually the social service desk goes down the list in order of sign-up, but since it was the end of the month, the MVD vouchers were running thin. The volunteer in charge assigned Vicar Wendi and I to distributing clothing vouchers while he dealt with the more complex requests. We filled out two forms, one to keep in Grace St Paul’s records, and the other was the actual voucher, where we certified that the client got the voucher from a certified partner.
Throughout the three hours we were there, we probably fille out 15 vouchers. We also pointed folks to the other services available, explained that the MDV vouchers would be restocked the next week, clarified the hours Grace St Paul is open, told people where the shower is, bused tables, and made sure folks picked up pet food from the pantry.
I’ve volunteered at quite a few ministries and food banks, but none were quite like Grace St. Paul’s. Very few places offer this wide of an array of assistance as accessibly. The parish designates part of its budget to the social ministry, viewing it as an essential part of their congregation and calling, which is how they are able to continually supply these services. Not every church is in a position to do this, but by orienting their mission around service to their neighbors, Grace St. Paul’s is able to provide desperately needed assistance.
The relationship between Grace St. Paul’s and Our Savior’s Lutheran also highlights how important it is to partner with those around us. Our Savior’s support has helped Grace St Paul’s continue to offer a wide range of services, and Grace St. Paul gives the Our Savior’s congregation a way to serve their neighbors directly. Together, they are able to provide significant assistance to Tucson’s vulnerable. Not every church is in a position to launch their own intensive ministries— some do not have the size, facilities, or resources, others are not in accessible locations or need to avoid replicating efforts. However, these circumstances do not dismiss us from the call to serve those in need; that is why partnerships like the one between Grace St. Paul’s and Our Savior’s can be so very beneficial, both to our ministries and to the ones we serve.
