in-SPIRE-ations September 2016
Once upon a time, there was a Trinity Church Sunday School class named “Faith in Action.” Faith in Action reached out time and again to people in need in our community. They took on their first big project in about 1991 in which they organized the Salvation Army Red Kettle campaign at Walmart in Kendallville. They raised $5,000, adding that to the $7,500 from United Way and then rolling in their Trinity Love Fund and went to work reaching out into the community. Their actions became so well known that very soon their pastor, Rev. Dr. Dale Mendenhall became inundated with people coming to the church doors for help.
Not far away, at First Christian Church, Rev. George Bloomquist was experiencing the same level of needs at his church doors as the result of the “Fish” group in his congregation who were also involved in community outreach. As these two pastors began to compare notes, they realized they were “helping” the same people! In fact, they were spending so much time with this that they were finding it difficult to keep up with other pastoral duties. They gathered representatives from their congregations and others, including Rev. Stan Kessler from First Presbyterian. On April 23, 1996, the first meeting of the Development Committee that birthed Common Grace was held. On September 20, 1996, they achieved 501c3 status. On April 2, 1997, Rev. Dan Barker accepted the position as the first Program Director of Common Grace. On September 24, 2012, I accepted that position as Rev. Dr. Barker retired.
Flash forward twenty years. Common Grace is now Common Grace Ministries, Inc. and now includes Friendship Food Pantry (which will turn 30 years old in 2017), Common Grace, and A Hope Chest (formerly known as Furnishings of Faith) under its 501c3. Both Common Grace and A Hope Chest serve residents throughout Noble County. Common Grace now has offices in Albion and Ligonier, as well as Kendallville. A Hope Chest has a home of its own at our Kendallville campus. Friendship Food Pantry serves residents of the 46755 zip code. Common Grace is the Salvation Army Extension Unit and the total raised in 2015 was over $35,000 with locations in Kendallville, Ligonier, Rome City and Albion. We now serve an average of 407 families per month and they not only receive help for their immediate needs, but education to mitigate future needs so that they are empowered to be independent in the name of Christ. Hence our mission statement: Common Grace Ministries, Inc. serves to meet immediate needs, mitigate future needs, and empower independence in the name of Christ.
We are sometimes asked how we can empower independence in others. We believe that begins with removing procedures that enable dependence, which we have done at Common Grace and A Hope Chest. Food pantries can be another story and we have to admit that we are seeing the FOURTH generation in families being served at Friendship Food Pantry. At our fundraising concert on August 8th, we announced that we have found our own independence from government funding. That was our first step in moving toward the ability to develop programs that truly empower independence. Our next step is already underway. We are exploring alternative pantry models that will allow participants to become actively engaged in their journey to self-sufficiency. We have a long road ahead, but I believe God placed me in THIS church at THIS time as your Deacon for a reason. Common Grace was born here and it is in the process of a sort of re-birth. I believe God brought me home, to the Bethlehem of Common Grace to lead that process. I want to start my role as your Deacon by reminding you that you have already done amazing things out of Trinity. God breathed Common Grace Ministries into being THROUGH YOU! I hope you will walk alongside us in constant prayer and support as we make these changes. We have adopted Isaiah 58:9-12. I encourage you to read The Message version. You GLOW!
Pastor Angie