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LOVE IN THE TIME

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ALTAR GUILD

ALTAR GUILD

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LOVE IN THE TIME OF CORONA

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by Alan Justice

When COVID-19 hit, people started getting sick, institutions closed, and businesses laid off their lower-paid employees. Everyone grew fearful, and the country’s leadership at all levels seemed at a loss. We couldn’t even go to church for comfort.

The Fig’s food pantry was still an “essential ministry,” in Father Casey’s words, even while we were all struggling to figure out how to do church in the time of corona. The staff—clergy, office, and janitors— have been steadfast in support.

Crossroads Community Services, where we get the groceries, has changed their procedures to protect the workers. We used to be able to go inside and chat with the staff there. Now, we interact with them through an intercom and a screen. Their entire effort is still to make sure needy people eat. To that end, during the past year they have not charged us, or their other community partners, for the food we distribute. We had been paying fourteen cents a pound for the groceries, which came to about $200-$250 per month. That will resume sometime in the future.

The pantry volunteers keep our operation going. We moved from the crowded back room of the Clothes Horse to Roper Hall, which gave us space to work while keeping our social distance. Everyone works in a mask. Clients remain in their cars while the volunteers load their groceries. The Clothes Horse brings clothing up to the car port for the families, who are delighted to “shop” off the racks. Our volunteers have maintained this ministry throughout the pandemic because of the desperate needs of our clients. The pantry supplements missed school meals and helps families who found themselves out of work because of COVID, and often outside of the social safety net. The pandemic has had a much more significant impact on those who live on the margins than it has on most of us at the Fig.

Many of the volunteers, because of age, health, or just general caution, have shied away from the services that have been available at the Fig. Many have stayed away from virtually everything that used to be “normal.” But those volunteers who are able find themselves drawn back, again and again, on the third Monday of the month, to unload, sort, and pack groceries. Since we haven’t been able to see each other in church, we socialize at a distance while stuffing paper bags. We share a meal while seated at separate tables, and it’s a joyful thing to eat and work together.

The food pantry serves God in the name of Transfiguration by serving God’s people in the hard times—and for God’s poor, it is always hard times. When the pandemic is a memory, the poor will still be with us, still providing Christians with the opportunity to serve God by serving them. But for now, this is what love in the time of corona looks like.

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