Hymn #283 The Spacious Firmament on High
Words: Joseph Addison 1672-1719, paraphrase of Psalm 19:1-6
Music: Franz Joseph Haydn, 1732-1809, adapt. Dulcimer, or New York Collection of Sacred
Music, 1850, alt.
CREATION

A Cappella Hymns

Sermon – “Feeding Our Community” – guest speaker Rev. Debbie Wilson-Safa (St. John Anglican)

Our guest speaker is Rev. Deborah Wilson-Safa is Vocational Deacon, as well as Community Meal and Outreach Coordinator at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Leamington.

Watch:

Read: [Printable PDF document available for download]

Good morning and thank you for the privilege to come and share with you today.

First, I would like to share a little bit of who I am, and how I ended up here speaking to you this morning.  I was born and raised in Georgetown (which is this side of Toronto), and I am what you call a cradle Anglican.  Leamington has been my home now for over 30 years.  I have two grown children and one grandchild.  My daughter works in the agricultural industry.  My son and his wife are both doctors.  I am a bookkeeper by profession and continue to still work. I also facilitate a contemplative prayer group, and sit on the Service Teams for both our local and provincial chapters.   This is a very small part of who I am.  This past January, I celebrated my 11th year anniversary of ordained ministry as a deacon in the Anglican church.  This is a special ministry of servanthood under direct authority of our bishop.  We are to serve all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely.¹ 

My liturgical role is to proclaim the Gospel, set the table for Eucharist, clean up; and send out the congregation to go into the community and world to love and serve the Lord.  To be the hands and feet of Christ. 

There is so much more I could say about that journey, it wasn’t easy, life threw many obstacles in the way to ordination.  My ministry is outreach.  This ministry is not rewarded monetarily, it is rewarded through the grace of God by humbling yourself and serving all people. “At all times, your life and teaching are to show Christ’s people that in serving the helpless they are serving Christ himself.”¹

The prophet Micah reminds us that the Lord requires us to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God.  (Micah 6:8)

 So, what does that mean for you and I?  I am going to share with you about the outreach ministry taking place in our community, and I hope that will help in shedding some light on that question.

In 2009, the Anglican Consultative Council developed The Five Marks of Mission, which were adopted by the General Convention.  The third mark is “to respond to human need by loving service”.

I was asked a few years ago to speak about the Third Mark, to my clergy colleagues in the diocese.  Intimidating or what?  What am I going to tell a bunch of priests, deacons and bishops about what they already know?  It wasn’t about telling them what to do, but reminding them of what we are called to be.  Just because we have Holy Orders, does not make us less human.  As humans we make mistakes, we say and do the wrong things, but God continues to love us and continues to give us second chances to get it right.  This is the revised version of what I shared with my colleagues …….

Third Mark of Mission:  Service

We at St. John’s Leamington respond to human need by loving service, where we humbly attempt to follow these words of Mother Teresa, “Prayer in action is love, love in action is service.”  Our weekly community meal programme grew out of a Christmas Day Dinner which began 28 years ago.  It was the idea of a parish family who had gone through some difficult times and they wanted to give back to the community which had shared their love and support for them.  I am blessed to have been a witness to that loving service from the beginning, and had that example to share and build upon.  This made me think of the tiny mustard seed and how it grows and flourishes into a tree.  The original idea, was the seed.  The tree’s trunk continues to be the Christmas Dinner, but the branches have become so much more.  Over the years there have been a number of initiatives, some have continued, and others have not, for example, the Easter and Thanksgiving Dinners.  They have been incorporated into the weekly community meal which began October 20, 2010.  Since then, the Angel Clothing Cupboard, Outside Angel Pantry, and so much more, have been implemented all with their own branches shooting forth to provide love and support to those we meet.  From these branches, further growth has sprouted forth in partnerships with North Leamington Mennonite Church, who hosts and prepares the meal on the fourth Wednesday.  We are staffed by volunteers from the parish, the community at large, and other churches.  During the last few years, a greater partnership and sharing of resources has taken place between the local churches and businesses.  For which we are extremely grateful.

That 28-year old seed, has not only impacted those on the receiving end, but more importantly how it has transformed those who are the givers.  What we do for others isn’t to fix them, but to meet them where they are in their need because we are not superior to them.  A number of years ago, at one of the Christmas dinners, a man I knew, who drove taxi, and had dropped off some of our guests, came in, stood at the kitchen door, and said, ‘Debbie, I am hungry.’  My heart and soul still ache when I think of this.  It was a transformative moment for me.  We were providing a place for people to not be alone at Christmas, to share in the joy of the season, to help extend the resources of those who were stretching every last dollar…..people I could relate to in my own life’s experience.  In all that I was doing, or thought I was doing, never prepared me for that most basic request….’I am hungry.’  Someone shared with  me  that ‘service to others, is the rent we pay for our place on earth’, my hope is that we can keep up the payments, as we continue to nurture those small seeds into trees of love.

In some ways I feel as though I have kind of glossed over what is happening in our community.  Sort of giving you the feel good part.  But, not the numbers…. Of meals, dollars, people ….

With COVID came the closing of our communities and life has we knew it.  Our meal and outreach programmes continued as they were considered essential by our Diocese and the government.  However, our way of doing things changed greatly.  No eating in, loss of fellowship (which is extremely important to those struggling), a loss of hygiene facilities for those living rough or couch surfing.  We shifted to take-out and continued with our delivery service to those who are shut-in, had mobility issues or lack of transportation.  We are currently still functioning in this way.

Last year, St. John’s prepared and served 7,063 meals, an increase of over 4% from 2021; and an increase of 109% since our first full year of 2011.  The 2022 meal number included 755 bagged lunches that were initially distributed by the WEHUC outreach workers, which have now been redirected to the Homeless Hub located at the South Essex Community Council.   The 2022 programme cost was $16,800 which was supported by financial donations and investment monies designated for outreach of $11,300, leaving us with a shortfall of $5,500.  These numbers would be much more, if it were not for the generous donations of our local businesses and community members supplying us with bread, vegetables and so much more.   I am not here asking you for donations, but to share with you the toll it takes to support those who are living on the margins, facing food and housing insecurity.  Attempting not to judge how they got there.  We see new faces and hear new stories every week. 

Over the last few years, we have come together as a faith community, along with  service providers and municipal officials to work together to find solutions.  These unfortunately do not happen overnight.  I do wish to share with you some of what has come to fruition.  There are:

2 community meals each week – Leamington United Church on Mondays and St. John’s on Wednesdays

LUC is supported by Feeding Windsor, Meadowbrook Church, St. Michael’s Knights of Columbus, Faith Mennonite Church, and LUC’s congregation. 

5 outdoor food pantries – St. John’s; the Corner of Erie S & Marlborough E; Parkdale Store; St. Paul’s Lutheran Church; St. Michael’s Church

The Bridge – youth ages 14 – 24 (provides food, clothing, laundry and shower facilities)

3 Food Banks/Cupboards – Salvation Army; St. Vincent de Paul; St. John’s

1 Clothing Cupboard – St. John’s

2 Drop-in centres both running 7 days a week  – Homeless Hub at SECC from 9am – 5pm (provides access to services, snacks, rest); Feeding Windsor/Street Angels from 6 – 10 pm (provides soup and coffee, a place to warm up) located at the Leamington Community Hope Centre (the former Knox Presbyterian Church)

The Finding Home report which can be accessed on the South Essex Community Council’s website, which was the result of the Leamington Homelessness Project which both Rev. Rod and I participate.  I encourage you check it out. 

Unfortunately, we do not have any overnight shelter for people who are living rough.  The closest shelters are in Windsor, and many do not wish to go.  There are many reasons for this. 

Returning to the question I posed earlier, what does that mean for you and I? Have you formulated an answer for yourself?  For me, Archbishop Linda Nicholls (Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada) said, ‘the heartbeat of the diaconate is actually at the edges of the community where the deacon is the link between the church and the world.  Helping the world see the love of Christ in action, and keeping a proverbial foot in the door of the church so it cannot become self-absorbed and must let some of the sights, smells, and sounds and needs of the world in and be able to go out sent into the world to be Christ to others.”²   Yes, this is what God has called me to.  But you as well have been called, to love your neighbour, strive for justice and peace, to respect the dignity of every human being.   We can do this, it won’t be easy, we will fall down and we will fail, but we will stand again and again.  Why?  Because we are not alone… God lives in us, and we live in God!!  With this we can “Transform, revive, and heal society.” ³   This line comes from a worship song called “We Seek Your Kingdom”, set to the tune of “Abide with Me” and can be found on YouTube.  It is to provide encouragement and a call to action – a declaration that each of us can join in God’s kingdom work right where we are.  We are all the hands and feet of Christ.  We will use them in different ways, at different times in our lives.  That’s okay.  God only asks us to do our best.

As the deacon, I send you forth into the world to go in peace and serve God, as we “Transform, revive and heal society”.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Copyright © 2023 Deborah Wilson-Safa

Closing Reflection Music – We Seek Your Kingdom – Noel Robinson, Lou Fellingham, Andy Flannagan, Donna Akodu

LICC