Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Summer 2012 Issue | Page 22

MISSION NEAR, NOT FAR

Virginia churches engage in Appalachian ministry
AUSTIN BARTENSTEIN
Approximately 40 churches in the Diocese of Virginia support partnerships
or outreach programs in Appalachia. In this issue, we tell just a few of those
many stories.

Will you proclaim by word and
example the Good News of God in
Christ? Will you seek and serve Christ
in all persons, loving your neighbor as
yourself? Will you strive for justice and
peace among all people, and respect
the dignity of every human being?

Sound familiar? We hear this
practically every Sunday. Are we
living this out, though? Episcopal
Appalachian Ministries, a coalition
of Episcopal dioceses that serves the
Appalachia area, bases its work camp
experience around these questions in
the Baptismal Covenant. In work camps
held at Grace House on the Mountain,
they emphasize the Covenant and use
it to form relationships between the
work campers and the people they
help. The program draws 150-200
people to southwestern Virginia each
summer to “repair roofs, rotten steps
and porches, replace ceilings and
gutters, clean and paint homes, build
storage sheds or handicap ramps for
families struggling with poverty or
physical disabilities,” according to their
Web site.

Grace House is far from alone in
this mission. They are among many
ministries in or around Virginia that
host programs in the Appalachian
area, and a number of churches in
our diocese use these programs as a
platform for mission and outreach

The Highland Educational Project,
or HEP, is located in McDowell,
W.Va., one of the poorest areas in
Appalachia and in the country. HEP
helps Appalachian families in several
ways. In addition to home repair and
maintenance, its outreach programs
include distributing donated clothing
year-round, creating children’s
20

stockings at Christmas, and helping
with medical costs [