Three Congregations Collaborate on Youth Service Trip

Three Congregations Collaborate on Youth Service Trip

Reynolds Whalen, Saints James and Andrew, Greenfield

On August 20th, the youth groups of Saints James and Andrew in Greenfield, Grace Church in Amherst, and St. Michael’s on-the- Heights in Worcester saw God in many ways, and with many new people.

The Greenfield youth and their leader Reynolds Whalen started the day early, leaving from Saints James and Andrew at 7:15 a.m. with donuts provided by 7th grader Desmond and his family. They parked at Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst, where they met Grace’s priest associate, the Rev. Megan McDermott, and members of their youth group and piled into a rental van together.

After an hour-long drive, the group arrived at their first destination, St. Michael’s on-the-Heights in Worcester. They were greeted by the rector, the Rev. Dave Woessner, and introduced to one of their church’s most important outreach ministries Marie’s Mission, named in memory of a parishioner’s daughter who they lost as an infant. Every month, the ministry serves around 75 families and distributes 4,500 diapers.

After a brief orientation, the group split up the work with the Grace youth helping with diapers and packs of literacy materials and the Greenfield crew taking charge of giving out backpacks. With the beginning of school coming up, Marie’s Mission had collected dozens of backpacks filled with school supplies. There was a range of exciting options, including Spiderman, Disney princesses, butterflies, unicorns, and camouflage.

Logan and Desmond from Saints James and Andrew in Greenfield setting up the backpack distribution table Photo: submitted

The group met many families throughout the morning, and saw joy in the eyes of many children, as they got to pick out their own backpack for the school year.

During Noonday Prayer in the sanctuary of St. Michael’s on-the-Heights, the group reflected on their morning of ministry. They noted that most people being served by Marie’s Mission were people of color, and how important it is to remember that our society is full of institutions meant to keep people in poverty, especially people of color.

From there, the group went to the Worcester Latin American festival on the town common. A huge stage blasted Latin beats, and the common was filled with vendors. Everyone ate delicious food, including arepas, beans and rice, chicken skewers, fried plantains, and Venezuelan cachapas. It was a blazing hot afternoon, and several kids sought out the shaved ice carts for some sweet relief as they walked around visiting booths. After tossing a frisbee, the group got back in the van for their final stop, St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer.

The group visiting St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, MA. (L-R) Brother Mikah, Logan, Abigail, Amory, Reynolds Whalen, Henry, Tom, James, Julia, The Rev. Megan McDermott, and The Rev. Dave Woessner. Photo: submitted

As they drove up the hill and the abbey came into view, time seemed to shift. One of the monks, Brother Mikah, met them in front of some stone arches and led them quietly around the side of the chapel and through a private door into the dark and sacred hall leading to the monks’ enclosures. They spent the next hour in hushed silence, following and listening to Brother Mikah as he showed them around the cloisters and introduced them to his Cistercian monastic way of life, which focuses on two main endeavors: work and prayer. The contrast of the simple, peaceful contemplative environment with the chaos of our dayto-day lives was striking, and you could see the fascination in the eyes of our young people.

The day culminated in amazing homemade brownies, made for the group by the monks, which they enjoyed before piling back into the van for the ride home. Everyone ended the day exhausted, and yet definitely more spiritually full than when they started it. The three parishes are hopeful this might be the start of more collaboration and community among youth from their communities and from across our Diocese of Western Massachusetts. ♦