Page 7 of The Zion News

All of the "Outreach Ministers" at Zion who contribute time and talent to organizations like the Food Bank and Shelf, Community Café, GRACE House, Wednesday Night Meals, Open Closet, and Habitat for Humanity, to mention just a few.

Just exactly what is outreach ministry?

Fair question. It’s when we reach beyond the walls of our building and out into the community – as well as other parts of the world - to help people in need. This story is about outreach in the surrounding community. Zion has always had a tradition for doing this but in recent years, according to Pastor Lynn, "it has moved up in our priorities." And, she adds: "I think if you look at all of Zion’s activities, outreach is now on the same level as music – they are what we are known for. Music has not gone down on the list but outreach has become important to us. I’d say music, youth and outreach are the top priorities we have."

This is an awesome subject to tackle because it encompasses so many organizations and involves so many people in our congregation. Since it is an important part of who we are as a church, however, we wanted to bring it up front and take a closer look at it. With so many people active in so many different causes naming names is difficult.

Here are some of the major outreach areas we are active in as a church:

Food Bank and Shelf: The connection between Second Harvest Food Bank and the Grand Rapids Food Shelf is strong (and made stronger by Second Harvest Food Bank Director Sue Estee, a Zion member) and reaches back to the early history of these organizations. Every month dozens of Zion people volunteer at the Food Shelf; and the second Tuesday of every month finds anywhere from twenty to 25 men from Zion packing food boxes for Second Harvest programs.

GRACE House: This program of housing for homeless has been housed at Zion now for four years. Daily, up to 10 people call Zion their home. They sleep and have three meals a day in the church. In addition, they frequently use the Open Closet for clothing needs and come to Wednesday Night Meals. The weekly sign-up sheets for doing laundry, and making breakfast, as well as serving as overnight volunteers, include many Zion names. GRACE House is in the midst of securing their own permanent building in Grand Rapids and, if all goes according to plan, that will happen in the spring of 2012. It is accurate to say that GRACE House is what it is today because of Zion.

Habitat for Humanity: David Holmstrom coordinates Zion volunteers who are on a Habitat building site the second Wednesday of every month. A typical crew is 6-8 workers. Rodger Chase and Jerry Tinquist are "hard core" regulars on those days…and more. Houses are currently under construction in Bovey and Calumet.

Wednesday Night Meals: The practice of serving these meals at Zion started in 2002. Now, eight years later, the average number of people served runs about 75 in the summer and 125 in the winter months. (It’s been as high as 175 Daryl and Kathy Solem report.) Many of the people served come from throughout the community. From 6-8 people make up a typical team, and if you multiply that by 50 weeks you come up with really sizeable numbers. The coordination of these meals, which includes planning the menus, purchasing the food, making sure those preparing the meals have what they need and know what they need to do; all handled by Zion’s able receptionist, Lori Dauphinais. Lori does all of this as a volunteer – it is not part of her regular job. She truly is the engine that drives the program.

It’s difficult to determine just how many Zion members are active in all of these various outreach activities – probably well in excess of 200. We have indeed reached outside the walls of our church and out into the community at large where there are people in daily need. In a win-win situation it has enriched both the community and Zion people. As always, Zion members are invited and encouraged to match-up their time and interest with one or more of these causes.