A
t saint benedict’s table, we are constantly trying to challenge ourselves to see the connections between being a people who gather at the communion table and being a people responsive to the hungers and needs of the world. As our community moves forward into the future which God holds for us, we want to keep reminding ourselves that anything we are and have and do is by grace, and as a part of this we are seeking to make real ministry connections locally, nationally and internationally.
At the June 2009 meeting of our “Kitchen Table” (our version of a church board), we approved in principle the idea of setting aside 5% of our offerings for missional work outside of the walls of our church… and people seemed to think that the 5% was just a start. At our 2011 annual open meeting, we voted to increase this to 6% of our offerings for 2011, with the intention to add a percentage each year until we bring it to a solid 10%.
At our April meeting of the Kitchen Table, we approved our mission and outreach grants for this year. The total granted is $5600, which represents 5% of our offerings for 2010:
- $1400 to support the work of Agape Table, which offers a hot meal 5 days a week in our church parish hall.
- $1400 to Manitoba Pioneer Camp, designated to support their summer and student staff. It sounds as if some of these funds will be used to replace a decrepit fridge in the staff quarters, and some will be used as bursaries to support any of the student staff who have been unable to raise their own summer salary. We’ve got any number of Pioneer Camp staff attending saint benedict’s table, and this seemed to be a good way to go.
- $1400 to the annual medical ministry program held in Haiti under the auspices of EMAS. We’ve got a real connection to this ministry, as it is spearheaded by saint ben’s members Pierre Plourde and Krista Waring.
- $1400 to HOME/OMUKA in Uganda, a ministry close to the hearts of many in our community. Again, there is a connection for us here, as HOME was co-f0unded by long-time saint ben’s member Lola Eidse.
