From the Parish Mailbox

Dear Reverend Elkins-Williams, Ms. Sandra McClaskey, members of the Social Ministry Committee and Chapel of the Cross congregation:

Thank you for your gift of $280 to Our Children's Place. It will be used to fund construction of a residential facility and a nursery and preschool classrooms for 20 inmate mothers and 40 children through eight years of age. We couldn't do this work without your involvement in the project, and are grateful for your commitment.

Eventually we can keep mother and child together in one location, while the mother serves the final portions of her sentence in rehabilitation and education programs and her children participate in nursery and preschool activities. Our primary mission, therefore, is to break the intergenerational cycle of crime, substance abuse, poverty and to provide a stable home environment for the children and enhance their overall development.

Thank you again for your donation.
Sincerely,

Ellie Kinnaird

Chair, Our Children's Place

Reprinted with permission from The Herald-Sun, April 25, 2004 By Lucy Bryan,

CHAPEL HILL -- In 1842, a university professor founded the Chapel of the Cross. Today, the lofty bell tower, gothic windows and handmade brick walls testify to the Episcopal chapel's heritage, but they do not reveal the legacy of service that characterizes the congregation within.

The Rev. Stephen Elkins-Williams, who has served as rector at Chapel of the Cross since 1985, said that the parish is marked not only by a strong sense of service to the community but also by a refusal to be content with the way things are.

One of the many organizations that has benefited from the congregation's drive and generosity is the Inter-Faith Council.

"We were the site of the first meeting of the six churchwomen from various congregations with the seed of the idea that became the Inter-Faith Council," Elkins-Williams said. "We have been active supporters ever since."

The parish has provided the IFC with volunteers, interns and even a van.

Congregant Bob Millikan said that for the past three years he has volunteered on the church's meal team, which prepares and serves dinner once a month at the IFC Community Kitchen.

Millikan said getting to hear guests' stories has changed his impression of homelessness and been a meaningful experience.

"Most of them are in a temporary situation," Millikan said. "Many of them are trying to pursue their education. Many are veterans. A large proportion are families."

Recently, Millikan has been organizing the Chapel of the Cross' response to the temporary closing of the IFC's homeless shelter. The parish will provide housing, breakfast and basic medical services to homeless men for last two weeks of July.

"Our education director is going to center our Vacation Bible School on the homeless," Millikan said. "They're going to make care kits and make meals and freeze them."

Millikan said that he is seeking ideas and input not only from the church but also from the wider community.

Last fall, Chapel of the Cross participated in Project 5000, a multi-congregation effort to supply the IFC's food pantry with nutritionally balanced foods.

Frank Holt, who led the effort at Chapel of the Cross, said that over a six-week period members picked up boxes and food lists. The congregation provided more than 650 boxes, each of which would provide a family of four with a two-day supply of food.

The congregation also provides for IFC financially - from its annual "ABC" rummage sale to its stewardship policy.

Elkins-Williams said that the church tithes, or spends 10 percent of its income, on unexpected gifts to the parish that are undesignated. The church gave 10 percent of a $250,000 gift to the IFC's HomeStart program for homeless women and children, which lost more than $300,000 in federal funding last spring.

Elkins-William has dedicated himself to planning a positive future for the IFC as part of the task force appointed by Mayor Kevin Foy and IFC President Natalie Ammarell.

Members of the Chapel of the Cross are also devoted to reaching the community through student ministries, prison outreaches and racial reconciliation. They especially value their partnership with their sister congregation St. Paul's African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Elkins-Williams said that the congregation is guided by faith that God created all human beings as brothers and sisters - that when one suffers, all suffer.

"It's so easy for human beings to become self-absorbed and to move in their own circles," Elkins-Williams said. "Obviously, you can't serve every need and fill every gap, but the object is to be faithful."

© Durham Herald Company, Inc.