Reaching out at Christmastime

Have you ever slept a little late on Sunday morning and rushed to church, and just as you settle into “your pew,” your stomach rumbles? You’re absolutely sure everyone in church heard you, as you slip lower in the pew.

Perhaps you feel a little queasy or you feel a pinch of a stomach cramp, unhappy that you didn’t grab something to eat on your way out the door.

Unfortunately, this happens every day in the neighborhood around the church. The St. Francis Food Pantry provides food to the needy in the church’s zip code, 78240. Sometimes a single parent loses one of the three jobs that have kept their family fed and housed. Or there’s a couple who had lived on two incomes, and now one of the incomes is gone. Maybe a mother with a disabled child lost her job, and the assistance agencies available do not supply the special care and medicines she needs at a price she can afford. All these people and others worry about how to keep their families from going hungry.

Many stories come through the doors of the lay ministry office on Monday and Wednesday mornings. Last year the vestry approved money in the budget for the Food Pantry, and individual parishioners have donated money to buy food, so that we can continue to feed our neighbors. We are extremely blessed to have such a generous congregation.

So again this year, we are asking you to set aside a place on your Christmas list for a donation to our Food Pantry to continue our mission of feeding the hungry, one family at a time. A check made out to “St. Francis” with “Food Pantry” in the memo line, or a cash donation in one of the blue Special Donation envelopes, placed in the collection plate on Sunday will get to the Food Pantry account so we can continue to buy food for the needy.

Thank you, and best wishes to you and your loved ones for a Merry Christmas and a fabulous 2016!