The ministry is a partnership with Partners in Care, a National Guard program that links faith-based and nonprofit groups with veterans. Part- ners in Care sought out chaplains and congregations, and Epiphany answered the call. “The church knew the vets com-
munity existed and wanted to put their arms around it,” Oberkehr said. “We wanted to do something that would be meaningful and successful.”
Members went through training
in active listening and being present for people, similar to the Stephen Ministries caregiving program. Chaplains from Fort Belvoir assisted in the training. “It was like learning a new language,” Oberkehr said. But after two training sessions, the congregation was ready to debut its ministry. The third session included 27 veterans, congregation members and friends who assembled in small groups just to talk. “It was very powerful,” Oberkehr
said. “Vets are happy just to have a connection to people. They come back from war with sacred moments
on the battlefield and secrets that they have no way of sharing. They keep it all bottled up, and keeping it bottled up is a burden. People can often be the most effective healing agent.” In addition to giving veterans a venue for discussion, the program brings the Fort Belvoir community through the doors for worship. But the congregation started by evaluating community needs and taking action. “I don’t think anyone knows what to do,” Oberkehr said. “My advice is to take what you’ve noticed, take what’s close to you and begin. Where you begin is never where you end. Be open to that. People often want to know where we’re going to end, even before they begin. “Take an inventory of the com-
munity, see where the most pressing needs are, what stories continue to be told. Then decide what common elements are in those stories. That
will tell you what the needs seem to be. Then say, as a congregation, ‘Let’s start here.’ Maybe it leads nowhere, or maybe it does. When it does, it’s all good.”
Buying a shopping center The growing Desert Cross Lutheran Church in Tempe, Ariz., was cer- tainly not at a loss for members. With approximately 550 in atten- dance every weekend, the church is among those ELCA congregations enjoying a healthy membership. The challenge was making its ministries and church services more accessible to people in this vast rural area near the Grand Canyon, said Matt Dobyns, pastor. Its solution: buy a shopping center. The congregation was thinking of
building another church in Gilbert, about 12 miles away, in a growing suburb of Phoenix. It owned four acres of land there. But then two
JANETTE MCVEY
Members of St. Michael Lutheran, Philadelphia, set out to discover what their Kens- ington neighborhood needed, and as a result opened their church building to pos- sibilities. St. Michael decided to turn its large kitchen into a community asset, reno- vating its space so that more than 20 entrepreneurs now use the kitchen to launch their food businesses. One of them is Chef Bradford Bucknum, who cuts butter for an upcoming farmers’ market.
April 2013 23
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