Blogs/St.Paul's Willimantic

From  an article I wrote for the Spring 2009 edition of  “Good News” (Sell the building; keep the church: St. Paul’s, Willimantic):  In November Rev. Jackie Sheldon started serving the parish as a very part-time “Eucharistic Minister.” The reduction in salary costs, combined with reduced costs and increased income from the property sale, gave the parish some financial breathing room. For the first time in many years a balanced budget could be presented. The congregation expressed its enthusiasm and support: in difficult times 2008 pledge income was higher than pledges; 2009 pledges are higher than 2008 pledges!

The parish loves  Jackie Sheldon’s presence and ministry, and badly wants her as a half time vicar. Hard study now is underway to find the financial means to make this happen.  Stay tuned….

Commentary by Al Eggen, as published in the Willimantic Chronicle, January 20, 2009: As reported in the Jan. 6 Chronicle, St. Paul’s Church (Willimantic) sold its property to the Covenant Soup Kitchen under terms that the soup kitchen could afford. That shift of ownership really makes a lot of sense. The soup kitchen has a particular mission that requires physical space. When your mission is to feed people – and provide all kinds of other support – you need a kitchen, stove, refrigerator, food storage, enough room to seat the guests, some meeting space, some office space and so on. People get hungry every day – more than once – so your space gets used every day of the week.

On the other hand, St. Paul’s mission primarily is spiritual. A beautiful church may enhance the worship experience but certainly is not a requirement. The gospels make it clear that it is the gathering of the faithful itself that matters – not the place where they gather. It is much too easy to fall into the trap of defining the church in terms of its building, and in spending much too much of its resources on that building.

In this case we have an ideal situation. The sale will relieve financial pressures on St. Paul’s. St Paul’s will continue to use the church for Sunday worship services (and also have some modest office space). It will continue to support the soup kitchen and its other ministries, such as an orphanage-to-be in Liberia. It will continue to be open to whatever opportunities for ministry arise. St. Paul’s new Eucharistic Minister, the Rev. Jackie Sheldon, will continue to brings her unique gifts to St. Paul’s, gifts that make each week’s service special.

As always, after the service, ministry will continue in the community room with food, friendship and welcome to all – not just the congregants.

On the first Sunday of the month a full breakfast will be served. On the other Sundays, there will be coffee, tea and whatever goodies arrive. (Since the goody supply is a totally uncoordinated bounty it can vary from not much to a whole lot. Like stone soup – sometimes it’s a little heavy on stones and sometimes it’s really good).

Typically, perhaps half the the people stopping in at the community room will not have attended the formal service. People waiting for the Soup Kitchen Sunday bag lunch distribution, or anyone else in the neighborhood, is invited to take advantage of the opportunity to come in out of the cold, sit down, relax, have some hot coffee and something to eat, someone to talk to. No hard questions, no segregation, no one passing the hat or preaching at you.

This new chapter in St. Paul’s parish life – with its unique opportunity to focus on mission and ministry – will enhance the parish’s ability to continue serving the Willimantic community. Other churches, especially those in urban locations facing difficult times, might do well to consider what opportunities freedom from the burden of property ownership might provide.