A Lunch, a Jab, and Laundry at Bridge St UC

 Yesterday Ruth, my wife, did her weekly shift for the lunch program at Bridge St, United Church, the local congregation I served before retiring. Bridge St. had extensive meal ministries before the pandemic and shifted to providing takeaway lunches, which they have done with community partners every day for nearly fourteen months now. The program draws on volunteers from many walks of life, receives government funding, and couldn't accomplish its goals without those partners. There are upwards of a thousand lunches shared each week. 

Today those who come to Bridge St. will also have the opportunity to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Often people who are living on the margins of society don't have ready access to the internet, so booking appointments for anything can be a challenge. This vaccination program is an important step. 

In the next few days the laundry and shower facilities which have been installed at Bridge St. will be completed as well, again important for those who may be living in rooming houses or other circumstances where there isn't easy access to either of these basics. I'm not sure where the funding came from but it just makes sense that these are now available.

Last week I wrote about an initiative called Activate Space which has the goal of helping congregations excel as community hubs. The founder, Jordan Wright describes it this way:

One way that I found to buck this trend is to help churches formalize and expand their de facto role as community hubs. The first key service of Activate Space is to help churches partner with local changemakers, and transform their relationships with community groups that already casually use their space into more meaningful holistic partnerships. The second service is to secure alternative financing opportunities through partnerships with municipalities or local anchor institutions.

When I was at Bridge St. these discussions about partnerships were already happening and in the past four years have come to fruition in impressive ways. There was some resistance to the shift in focus om the congregation but most members realized that this was a  necessary and needed reimaginiing of ministry and mission. I do hope that this work in collaboration with partners will continue to happen and expand with a clear sense that it is God's work.