Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Winter 2014 Issue

Virginia Episcopalian P E R IO DICA L The Quarterly Magazine of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia 110 West Franklin Street Richmond, Virginia 23220-5095 Address Services Requested Readers’ page A regular feature in the magazine where Virginia Episcopalians can share their voices. For this issue, we asked our readers: What’s the most creative way you’ve repurposed your church building for mission, ministry or income stream? St. Patrick’s, Falls Church Members of St. Patrick’s, Falls Church, transformed their sanctuary into a dental clinic on two Saturdays in October. Chairs in the sanctuary were pushed aside to make room for six dental chairs and equipment. Parishioner My-Linh Tran, DDS, is a member of a group called Hope for Tomorrow, which Photo: Thuy McMurray helped organize the event. Members of St. Patrick’s prepared the space and manned the kitchen as the medical team provided services in excess of $100,000 to 342 patients over the course of the two days. St. Stephen’s, Richmond Every Saturday, rain or shine, all year long, the parking lot at St. Stephen’s, Richmond, makes a transformation. Out go the cars and in come the vendors. With tables full of produce, local meats and homemade goods, the St. Stephen’s Farmers Market welcomes the community to their church property. Now in its fifth season, the goals of the market include “connecting God’s call to environmental stewardship to the foods we eat” and “building community by providing the city of Richmond and our local neighborhood with a healthy way to gather and connect with each other.” Photo: Briget Ganske Holy Comforter, Richmond Twelve-step recovery groups – Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous and Artists Recovering Through the Twelve Steps – have met at Holy Comforter, Richmond, for years. Sometimes their meetings were displaced for important church events. Sometimes not all the parish house doors were locked after a meeting. Parish administrator Carey Perkins noted that Saturday and evening meetings with lots of parishioners around reduced the privacy and anonymity of those meetings. In 2009, then-senior warden John Vandervelde and then-rector the Rev. Geoff Coupland sought a solution. We were not making sufficient use of the 1960s “youth lodge” on our parish property, so why not let the various recovery groups use it? The results have been good for all the parties. Church groups do not have to schedule around the 12-step meetings, the small independent building ensures privacy, and the parish is making good use of an under-utilized building. “The 12-step groups have made it their own space, painting the interior, putting down rugs and keeping it clean,” said Perkins. The groups coordinate among themselves with little oversight by the parish. With only one door, and that with a push-button combination lock, it is simple. For Holy Comforter – which prides itself on all its hands-on outreach – this s

Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Winter 2014 Issue | Page 36