St. John the Evangelist Church is a large Catholic parish one block away from the former Good Shepherd buildings. Msgr. Meagher, the priest at St. John’s, graciously offered to host Good Shepherd’s Thursday night soup kitchen,the Shepherd’s Bowl, temporarily while we are transitioning from one location to another. Last week, having already vacated the buildings, we hung signs on the former Good Shepherd property directing Shepherd’s Bowl people to St. John’s where they would find a good warm meal and free loaves of bread.
This Tuesday our attorney handed the keys to our former building over to the Diocese of Central New York. I considered taking the signs down, but thought better of it. Surely, I thought, the Diocese of Central New York would not want to make it difficult for poor, hungry people to find a soup kitchen.
Silly me.
There were only about 10 people at the Shepherd’s Bowl last night. We could not understand why there was such a steep drop-off until we passed our old building. The walks had been shoveled, the locks changed and all the signs had been taken down.
It has been very cold here in Binghamton this year…colder than it has been in at least six winters. It’s difficult to imagine hardened criminal thug gangsters tearing down soup kitchen signs, its beyond my capacity to understand why a purportedly Christian organization would do so.
The mission slogan of the Diocese of Central New York is “To be the passionate presence of Christ for one another and the world we are called to serve.” Somehow I just can’t imagine Jesus doing that.
It’s not about feeding the homeless and the hungry, it’s about the property. I’m sure there is a directive from Christ to feed the poor, unless church building are involved…
It’s difficult to imagine hardened criminal thug gangsters tearing down soup kitchen signs, its beyond my capacity to understand why a purportedly Christian organization would do so.
The answer to your question is contained in the word “purportedly”.
Way to go, Skippy! Uhh, the wol.., false shep…., uhh, “Bishop” may want to refresh his memory of Scripture. I am of course being charitable in assuming he ever read it in the first place!
James 2:15-16 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
1 John 3:17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
James 5:5-6 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. you have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.
And, of course, the revisionists’ 2 favorites:
Ezekiel 16:49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.
Matthew 25:42-46 42for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44"Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45"Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46"These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Gladstone “Skip” Adams, take heed!
I cannot respond any better that Jesus and James: Matthew 23:23; James 2:14-26
I just told my husband what the Diocese of Central NY did, and he says this, “How does sabotaging a soup kitchen in the middle of winter help the cause of the MDG’s?” I love my husband!
You beat me to it with the ‘submit’ button on the James passage there Milton. Scripture saturated minds think alike.
It sounds like pure spite and callous indifference to the people being served. Fr. Matt, you’ve surely thought of this, but is there a property owner near your former church who might be willing to have a sign in his yard announcing the new location?
Fr. Matt,
You always think the best of people- you are good at your calling.
I am not in the least suprised. I would have been astonished had they left the signs. These are not the Lord’s people you are dealing with.
Please have someone to stand on the sidewalk-perfectly legal- and direct people during the times you are open.
Blessings,
Lizzy
Just goes to show that “ebey body talkin bout heaben ain’t a going dar.” Liberals seem to think that if they just say something good, that is just as good as actually doing it. We don’t actually do what we advertise, but just be for it. Well, you can’t make your reputation on what you plan on doing. The Lord is taking notes. The Pharasee praying in the temple ticked off a list of his good positions, but the dog publican left the temple justified and the hypocrite just got his name enrolled in the gospels as a good example of religious hyprocracy. I’m sure the acuresed heretics will enjoy their building and real estate property—-for a while. Just touching lightly on this subject.
Matt+, I hope you will forgive my taking this liberty, but I just e-mailed this message to both News Channel 43 and WBNG-TV in Binghamton. Maybe it will help get the word out about the new location of the soup kitchen.
Thank you for your factual, balanced coverage a few weeks ago of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York’s eviction of the congregation of Church of the Good Shepherd from their former building. This came after a year of so of offers made in good faith by the congregation to buy their building from the diocese, offers which were rejected and met instead with lawsuits. The pastor, Matt Kennedy, posted an update which might make an interesting bit of film for an evening news show. He has moved on with his congregation temporarily to space generously offered by St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church nearby, and likely did not contact you regarding this. Here is the link:
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/20018/DioCNY took down signs directing people to the soup kitchen run by Good Shepherd now at St. John. This was while taking the trouble to shovel the walks and change the locks on their now empty building! Because of this, only a handful of people found the soup kitchen at its new location and likely went hungry when food and warmth were waiting for them. I hope you will find this to be information that should be made widely public on your newscast. Thank you for your consideration.
Way to go, Milton !!
Perhaps I have just grown numb to the cruelty and indifference of our beloved leadership in so many dioceses but this does not surprise me in the least. It fills me with sadness but not shock. What exactly is the approach when dealing with barbarians? There is obviously no bottom, just a never ending series of false floors.
Later day decendants of Herod…
It has gotten to the point that I don’t even get angry when I read about these things anymore. Sorrow, for the hungry, and for the Episcopal Church, what it once was, and what it has become.
Matt, a question for you. Is your parish still the Church of the Good Shepard, or did TEC take the name as well as the building? (I ask because I know of a couple situations where this has happened)
TJ
Way to go Skip. Straining out gnats again. Bring on the camels.
What? Did John Chane The Arch Hater of The Homeless swoop in?
Milton…. Well done. Shine some light on the darkness!
tjmcmahon,
Last week we signed incorporation papers as “The Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd”
Technically they have not taken our name…just our assets and building…so we also still exist at present under our old incorporation.
hmmm, I guess Skip forget about TEC’s millennium goals. I guess it’s OK to eradicate hunger everywhere except Binghamton!
You see, the good bishop—or more likely his staff—decided to save those suffering people on the streets from the moral hazard and spiritual abuses of a schismatic soup kitchen.
Or at least that is how I would portray the situation if God had stolen my wits.
Based on performance from 2002 through 2007, as measured by changes in Membership, ASA, and Plate & Pledge, I placed the diocese of CNY as 91 out of 98. It appears that my performance meaasuring system put CNY about 7 positions too high. Statmann
Milton—fantastic work!
caroln, the MDG’s are not about helping to lift the poor out of poverty, rather, they are about facilitating corrupt corporate interests to exploit those poor people, funding corrupt governments in those countries, so they can purchase luxuries and weapons with which to slaughter, rape and pillage.
I am angered by Bishop Adams indifference, selfishness and cruelty. While he sits smug and warm, the homeless and hungry do without. He obviously does not practice the faith, which he purports to represent.
Could someone please post an update if the TV station(s)/media pick this up? I will try to check their websites, too…
Hopefully the print media will pick it up as well.
Great idea, Liz! Maybe it could be attached to this post as an update.
Sarah, Liz and CanaAnglican, my pleasure! Isn’t it great how “those internets” make civil rebellion possible!
Only a thought, but is there any way you could post flyers in places where the homeless and needy congregate, to advertise your new location. The information will spread eventually, but you probably have “regulars” who you will miss seeing. We do, and they are missed. A meals ministry quickly puts a face on need.
The problem is, Invicta, that the homeless are often discouraged from congregating in public places, because they have faced police pushing them along, and arrest for lingering.
Fr. Matt,
Thanks for the reply in #16. Our prayers are with you, your congregation, and all in the area who depend upon you for a hot meal and warm company on a cold winter’s night. And we are all thankful also for those other Christians in your community who have reached out to you to offer space and other assistance.
TJ
Awful.
I am curious what the Diocese intends to do with the building.
Hi Mari, My comment was tongue in cheek and made only to further exemplify the on-going hypocrisy of my former Bishop Skip.
Did any of the rest of you read that TEC’s exec council voted, that for the budget for ‘10 to ‘12 that it was canceling it’s 7% MDG contribution? http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_104593_ENG_HTM.htm
Mari, yes, I just saw that. But I think the TEC contribution to the MDGs was only 0.7%
This action, taking down signs for a free meal WHEREVER and or WHOEVER is offering it, I think, is worthy of mention in a local newspaper. Now I understand how so many people sneer at “the church”. People who act like that make of the church a living lie! If no one has contacted the press, I think it’s time. It’s also time, if funds are available, for publishing an ad in the local newspaper saying where you and Shepherd’s Bowl can be found. I’m sick inside and better quit before I say something completely un-Christian… as are those acts.
“It’s also time, if funds are available, for publishing an ad in the local newspaper saying where you and Shepherd’s Bowl can be found”
How much of their target demographic reads the local newspaper?
Goughdonna, this is just plain disgusting! How +Skip Adams can call himself a Christian is absolutely beyond all understanding! My family back there warned me about him soon after he became bishop, and man, am I glad I’m no longer in that diocese! My wife and I left in 1973 when things started to “go South,” and we haven’t darkened a TEC door back there ever since!
Although I agree with the Diocese on the property issues, I disagree with taking down the signs directing the homeless to a place for feeding. Scripture, the traditions of the Church, and common sense, is quite clear about the duties of Christians to feed the hungry.
And we must remember it may not have been an ‘authorized’ action. Some one from some legal team, or an ‘over zealous’ individual may have acted without authorization.
Bo, regardless, +Adams needs to be held accountable for this, and if it hits the presses, someone’s butt is going to get scorched!
#32 Andrew A - The “target demographics” probably won’t read the newspaper, but the people who try to help them probably do. Either that or billboards, but they are more expensive. Maybe flyers attached to light poles in their neighborhoods? The intention is not based on the MEDIA, but the way to get the news out. And get the news out about the diocese’s action, too.
I would love to hear from anyone representing the TEC diocese about this. If not, we should seriously consider the possibility that there is serious demonic opression going on, not to mention your run-of-the-mill wickedness of the human heart. Until Bp Gladstone or someone else speaks up, we shouldn’t talk like there’s absolute certitude about it—but it certainly sounds fishy, to say the least!
#25 Mari,
My thought in my #24 above, was to post at other sites that provide aid. #37 Goughdonna, this might be a problem, if, as I do, Good Shepherd “lives” in a community that forbids flyers on phone/light poles.
What I see in these posts, is regular folks like me, who are trying to find ways for The Shepherds Bowl ministry to continue, in spite of the “grinchiness” of the powers that be in DioCNY.
OK - I’ll admit that I only read a few of the comments above, but anyway . . . It seems to me that the sign disappearance should have been neither unexpected nor surprising. I would have been rather more surprised to hear that the signs were still in place.
This being the case, it follows (to me) that, rather than wasting any more time cursing the darkness that the former building represents, a hardy and well-bundled-up individual with a sandwich board could instead point to the light, on the public sidewalk in front of the old building, at least until people learned about the new location.
Total charge: $0.02.
A response! Copied and pasted from my e-mail this morning:
——————————————————————————-
Milton,
Thank you for the update. We will try to get the word out about the soup kitchen’s new location.
Thanks for watching.Jim Ehmke
News Director
NewsChannel 34
203 Ingraham Hill Rd.
Binghamton, NY 13903
(607) 771-3434 x1934
My new e-mail is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch 3 daily webcasts at http://www.newschannel34.com Add it to your Favorites!