It has been a little while since there has been room for an update in the bulletin, with all the election-related things going on! As always, my thanks to those who so faithfully tithe, so that we can budget $1,500 per month for local benevolence needs! And thanks also to those who give over and above.
Every month, I put together a report that is distributed at Social Concerns Commission, Parish Pastoral Council, and Parish Finance Council (and I’m happy to email to anybody else upon request!). Reports are a snapshot of our checkbook for the full month prior, plus about the first half of the current month. I also include any relevant anecdotes from that time period, and explain any unusual entries. You’ll see the one from October here. It’s fairly typical for me to have a number helped in the upper teens, and I will have declined about twice as many callers. In August, we helped a whopping 31 people! September was 25. And then in the first 10 days of October, we spent as much as the whole month of September, and had to shut things down until November 4.
In August, we paid just shy of $1,200 for city water bills. Most of that was over-and-above giving, when I sent out a plea on Facebook after learning that 118 customers were shut off mid month. I had no particular stories in September.
October was all about electric bills. Many people showed up at the PC in person instead of calling, which is unusual. Winter LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) doesn’t kick in until November for those who are not elderly or disabled, and summer LIHEAP will have run out. As of 10/15, I limited the rest of the month to referrals only, to help prioritize when funds are low. I do not think this was an occasion to call for more donations, as the phone was ringing off the hook for a week or so, and it was keeping me from getting my regular work done. For every person we help, there are at least 2 or 3 others who call and I decline, so you can imagine that it might complicate things when there are this many calls and visitors.
The Lutheran Family and Children’s Services community baby shower was on October 5, hosted at the Salvation Army. Attendance was sparse, as this event was their first locally, but they had decorations and great “pregnancy craving” food (I have now eaten a tiny pickle, mayo, and peanut butter sandwich, and it was actually pretty decent!) and silly games, as well as a little talk on infant massage. It was nice to see LFCS leadership from Jeff City and Columbia and hear more about what they can do once they have a presence established in a community.
Our Brown Bag ministry is going well. Pat Erhart, Janet Dillavou, and Debi Boughton are faithful bag-builders, along with the Scouts and Women’s Ministry. Each bag generally contains a protein item (tuna, mac ‘n’ cheese, soup cup), a fruit cup, a granola bar, crackers, chips, and a sweet treat, along with utensils and a napkin. We now have business cards to add, from the Still Caring Health Connection, advertising their free clinics, for which they would love to have more patients. They came to present at our last Social Concerns Commission meeting, and that was eye-opening.
Other Social Concerns notes: The Clothes Closet is thriving, now that five churches are collaborating to keep things running. A.M. Housing is working on repairs and upgrades to their facility and is updating their application process for residents. Men of the parish have been holding a monthly Bible study at the county jail, where they generally use the weekly gospel as a starting point for sharing and discussion. Lots of good stuff happening!