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BY LINDA WORTHINGTON
UMCONNECTION STAFF

For many churches, the major focus of ministry is the worship services held each Sunday. But for St. Johns UMC in Baltimore, it's all about community. The word is out, its members say. St. Johns is a good place to go if you're a social justice, environmental, green or economic justice group. It has room for you.

But a lack of resources has put that outreach in danger.

This year Heart's Place, a shelter in the basement of St. Johns, will celebrate 25 years of service. However, the shelter is in desperate need of funds and will run out in mid-December, the Rev. Kathleen "Kat" Cheyney said. "We cannot allow this to happen."

Heart's Place it is the only shelter in Baltimore that accepts families by whatever description, often single women and their children, or couples with children, whether married or not. There are beds for 20 people.

It's hard to keep up, to fill the need. "It's a small operation," said Cheyney, an ordained Deacon who has been the pastor of the congregation since 2009. "The need is out there. So many people are suffering," she said.

Sometimes, other local churches provide meals for those sleeping in the shelter, which operates nightly from November to the middle of April. On the first Monday of the month, St. Johns provides this service. "It's a unique opportunity," Cheyney said. "We make the food, serve it, eat with the guests and listen to their life stories."

Feeding the children

Every Sunday after the worship service, members stay to fill backpacks with nutritious food in a partnership with the Margaret Brent School, across the street from the church. The school's enrollment is in grades K-8.

"There are 25 children the school principal has identified who are "technically homeless," Cheyney said. This means that they have no place of their own, are cared for more or less by relatives or others who are very poor themselves.

"Volunteers, meeting after worship each Sunday, pack enough non-perishable food, which doesn't need cooking, for the child and at least some of the family members. Once a month or so, they include tooth brushes and tooth paste. Currently the church delivers to the school each Friday morning filled backpacks for five children.

"The children are so appreciative," Cheyney said. They return the backpacks to be filled again. It costs about $20 to fill a backpack each weekend, and three members of the congregation have "adopted" one of the children. The church supplies the provisions for the other two.

During back to school sales, the backpack committee bought school supplies to provide a little later in the year, when the beginning supplies are worn out. At the beginning of the year they donated school uniforms, worn or encouraged in this public school.

This is the first year for this program and plans are underway to expand it to feed more children when funds become available, and to enlist more members of the community to participate. A fraternity from Johns Hopkins will make 25-30 backpacks. "We want to integrate with the community," Cheyney said.

Once summer comes and school is out, the backpack program will be on hold until September. It is Cheyney's hope and wish that the church can take on a summer feeding program to tide the children over when they aren't in school, perhaps with several other churches.

Center of the community

Much of the building space at St. John's is used by community organizations for activities and programs. The low rental fees help groups struggling to get started. Rentals help with maintenance costs, which in an old, drafty building are high. An organization called 2640 manages much of the space, bringing in arts and concert groups for exhibits and performances in what was the original sanctuary. They sub-let space to social justice, environmental and exercise groups. Occupy Baltimore held its first organizational meetings in St. Johns, and continues using the kitchen. "There's something going on every night." Cheyney said.

Recently, St. Johns received an energy-savers grant that will cover the cost of an energy audit. That will identify the areas of most need for change to make the building energy efficient. "It's uncomfortable from the cold in the winter and from the heat in the summer," Cheyney said. The building has no air conditioning.

Unofficial word has come that the church will receive a grant of $11,000 that will enable them to make the blower system more efficient.

The congregation of St. Johns numbers around 30 in worship on Sunday, and is very diverse. Some members are highly educated professionals whose jobs may take them to many foreign countries; others who worship also sleep in the shelter. "It's a congregation very much into social justice issues," Cheyney said, "and practices environmental concerns." All are welcome.

The seemingly low membership attending the worship service, as counted on the official statistics forms, doesn't reflect who St. Johns UMC really is, said Cheyney, who asks, Are not the dozens of people using the building day after day also the church?