Serving Our Community
The Missio
n Service Ministries of Westminster are involved in service- and mission-related activities. While we believe that salvation comes by grace alone, we believe that our faith calls us to action through service. This service is carried out, not by reaching down to help someone up, but by reaching across to our fellow human beings. We are acting out our faith in a variety of ways and can use whatever gifts members of the congregation have.
Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you 
a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matt. 25:37-40
This passage from Matthew sums up well why we do what we do. We do mission because we want to, not because we have to in order to earn our way into heaven. We don’t try to solve all the world’s problems, but we do try to make our community a part of God’s kingdom.
Community Service Projects
The name FISH is derived from the biblical symbol of a fish that was used as a sign of distress, a plea for help from one’s neighbors. Some thirty years ago churches in West Knox County organized FISH to help the people of Knox County who were in need of food and other assistance. Westminster has been a part of this effort from the beginning.
In Knox County, FISH does two main things. (1) It provides free bags of food (and occasionally other emergency items, such as diapers, soap, and toothpaste) to people who request such assistance. (2) It creates opportunities for volunteers to have brief phone or face-to-face conversations with those in need and to hear first-hand of their concerns.
How does FISH operate at Westminster?
Westminster is one of about thirty churches helping to reduce hunger in our community by participating in FISH. Each church covers a different day of the month. Our church directs a sizable portion of its “mission service” budget to our FISH operation, and several dedicated volunteers from WPC make sure that food ends up in the homes of the needy on “our” FISH day. If you’d like to help with FISH, please call the church office (584-3957).
We are responsible for answering the FISH phone for about two hours on the second Thursday of each month, delivering pre-packed bags of food that same day, and reporting each month on the number of families — and especially the number of children — we help.
Each year during the month of June, it is Westminster’s turn to help stock our FISH Pantry at the Church of the Savior of Weisgarber Road. For stocking the Pantry we need help in packing the food bags so they will be ready when our delivery teams need them.
Being involved in FISH is a highly rewarding activity. On the one hand, it provides the satisfaction on “doing outreach” where there’s a critical need: hunger relief. (Over 45,000 people in Knox County live below the poverty line, including approximately 14,000 children). On the other hand, Westminster’s FISH operation is “staffed” by people who are other-centered, helpful, and fun to be around.
If you deliver food, you will be paired with someone (or perhaps you have a spouse or friend you would like to make the deliveries with), and you’ll make approximately four deliveries. Remember, the more people we have to answer the phones and make deliveries each month, the more families we will be able to help! It doesn’t take much time, the “work” isn’t very taxing, and it’s quite O.K. to be involved some months but not others. Several of our volunteers use their lunch break to make their deliveries, while others do theirs the first thing in the morning — it’s up to you.
Collection Drive for FISH Community Chest Thrift Shop
On the first Saturday of each month, clothing and small household items will be collected from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. by our church neighbor, Episcopal Church of the Ascension, 800 Northshore Drive, to support FISH Hospitality Pantries’ Community Chest Thrift Shop and benefit local families in need. You can also take items to the Community Chest during its hours of operation; it is located at 122 W. Scott Avenue, Knoxville 37917 (telephone: 971-4417) and open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Community Chest-Knoxville, a not-for-profit shop for clothing and small household items, serves all but focuses service to those in distressed situations and those with low incomes. Volunteers are needed. Call Community Chest at (865) 971-4417.
Why I Deliver for FISH
A FISH Volunteer
Years ago when I began to deliver food for FISH, I did so for two reasons. First, it simply “felt good” to do a good deed. Second, the experience of driving to places where “the poor” live caused me to stop taking so many things for granted. After delivering my grocery bags, I’d think of myself as a “Good Samaritan” who had just followed the Golden Rule. And I’d remind myself, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”
As I look back to those early days of my “career” with FISH, I’m highly embarrassed at how self-centered and arrogant I was. I wrongly considered myself to be better and better-off than those who called FISH and requested food. Worse than that, I now see that I was “using” the poor in a self-serving manner. For me to deliver so I could “feel good” and appreciate more what I have (because I had just seen what they don’t have) was to exploit the very people I wanted to help.
These days, I still deliver food for FISH. Now, however, my reasons for doing so are entirely different. I credit this change in attitude to the great theologian Henri Nouwen. In his book Our Greatest Gift, Nouwen argues persuasively that it’s wrong to think in “we-they” terms, that we’re truly different from others only in superficial ways, and that one of the greatest joys we can experience is to realize that we are (and I use his words) “brother and sister of all people.”
I eagerly await my next “FISH delivery day.” That’s the case not because I’ll feel better about myself when finished, but instead because of the “sharing” that will take place during my deliveries. What my FISH “clients” and I share may turn out to be simply a smile or a comment about the weather, though I hope it’ll be — as it has often been before — something about our families or other concerns of the heart. I’ll never know, of course, the impact (if any) of what I share with them. But I can speak with confidence as to the probable impact on me of what I’ll hear. Most likely, I will learn yet another “life lesson” that’ll allow me to see and think more clearly due to the lived wisdom that’s shared with me.
One of Westminster’s important mission projects involves preparing and serving some of the meals at the VMC. A group from our church does the breakfast on third Sundays and the lunch on fourth Sundays. This is not only a way to help the powerless in our community but also a way to get to know those with whom you worship at church each Sunday!
The breakfast coordinator is always looking for early risers in the congregation. On the third Sunday of each month, the volunteers head for the VMC about 5:50 a.m.!
For the lunches that are prepared and served on the fourth Sunday of each month, the coordinator and volunteers go to the VMC at 10 a.m.
Westminster’s “Two Cents a Meal” offering, received on the first Sunday of each month, goes for purchasing the food used to prepare these two meals (the cost for this food is between $200 and $250 a month). Currently we are feeding over 100 people every month at each of these meals. Look at it this way: by setting aside just two cents for each meal that you eat, you help enable Westminster to provide about 200 individual meals each month for the needy! (If you happen to forget to bring your pennies, or if you would like to make an additional donation, “folding money” or checks are welcome, too.)
Habitat for Humanity Westminster has been involved with building Habitat for Humanity houses for more than 15 years (our first was in 1998). These projects have been coordinated by the Knoxville Habitat for Humanity.
UKirk (meaning “University Church”) is a network of ministries supported by the Presbyterian Church (USA). We are charged with reaching, loving, and teaching college students so they may be lifelong followers of Jesus Christ.
As a mission of the Presbytery of East Tennessee, UKirk at UTK is committed to being a home away from home for all students. We are a place of refuge, a safe space to ask questions, an environment where we can learn from one another and experience all the ways we can be the hands and feet of Christ in our community and around the world.
We hope you’ll stop by and give us an opportunity to extend a warm welcome. Whether you’re a freshman or non-traditional student, Presbyterian or not Presbyterian, you’re invited. http://www.ukirkutk.org
Family Promise of Knoxville is a nonprofit organization that unites with the interfaith community to help homeless and low income families achieve sustainable independence.
Statistics show that 97% of offenders currently incarcerated in Tennessee will return home one day. Within three years of their release, 46% will be rearrested and return to prison or jail. Take One seeks to lower those recidivism numbers and reduce victimization.Take One connects churches and other non-profit organizations who agree to mentor one inmate and their family for a period of one year upon release from incarceration. The idea is that faith-based and non-profit organizations can provide a level of support, encouragement, and guidance that could be the difference between a successful transition home or a return to prison resulting in more victimization.
WPC partnered with a young man in 2017-2018 who was released to parole supervision for the final 16 months of his sentence. Our congregation was able to offer our resources and connections to help him realize his goals for employment, housing, transportation and custody of his young daughter!
For 2019 we have agreed to partner with another inmate who desires a mentoring team. Won’t you add your email to keep up with the progress of our next One? judybarnette1312@yahoo.com
HOW DOES IT WORK?
After an incarcerated offender is identified, members of his/her sponsoring organization will begin meeting with them while they are preparing to come home (up to one year before release.) During this period before release, other members of the sponsoring organization will begin working with the family members (if appropriate.) After release, the sponsoring organization will be positive role models for returning offenders and their families.
WHAT WE ARE DOING
We are constantly working to improve programming but what we know is that we cannot provide everything returning offenders need after they leave prison. Many offenders complete their sentence and are not subject to community supervision nor are they able to access treatment, educational or other resources. This has led our agency to seek the help of citizens all across the state.
We will provide training to all organizations, as well as support groups through Tennessee Reentry Collaborative (TREC), local community supervision offices, steering committee and local community resource board members.
THE GOAL OF TAKE ONE
The goal of our statewide steering committee and the TDOC is to have at least 50 organizations committed to taking returning offenders in each of the three regions of the state in the first year.
For additional information, click to view our Take One brochure.
Justice Knox, an interfaith collaboration of congregations and organizations, actively uncovers injustice and mobilizes the community to create just, fair & effective solutions. Through Justice Knox, congregations of diverse faith backgrounds act together in response to the biblical mandate to “do justice”. We are inspired by the work of 21 broad-based Justice Ministry organizations in other cities.
For additional information:
www.justiceknox.org
WPC contact: Jackie Vanden Dorpel @ peacefully35@gmail.com
I love teaching 3rd and 4th grade Sunday school. I find it is an age where children are beginning to have the ability to discuss topics and form their own opinions. I love watching children discover what the world looks like through their eyes.
Hello, my name is Debbie Babelay. This year I have the wonderful opportunity of teaching the 2-3 year olds in our Sunday School program. They are all precious to me. We have fun learning about God’s love and how each of us is a special child of God. I look forward to their smiling faces each Sunday morning. This is my 3rd year teaching in the Sunday School program. I have also worked with vacation bible school.
I have known Westminster my entire life! I grew up in the church since birth. My faith is rooted in so many wonderful experiences at Westminster such as going on trips with Choristers, Montreat, and a Mission experience to Mexico. I went to college in Alabama at Birmingham-Southern. After college, I lived in Birmingham where I worked in sales. I met and married my husband Wiley there. Jim Carter (former Westminster minister) married us at Independent Presbyterian in Birmingham. Wiley’s career has taken us to New Mexico and Arkansas, and now back to Knoxville. We have been here since 2011. We have 3 children, Ella (11), Grant (7), and Walker (5). I work as the Assistant Director of the preschool at Central Baptist which allows me to have a similar schedule to my children. My favorite job is being their Mom!
Bio: Junior at the University of Tennessee 
I am a senior at UTK majoring in Global Studies with a focus in Economics. I am currently in the process of apply to graduate school for CSP. I love to be outdoors and travel. I also work as an Resident Assistant at Volunteer Hall on campus and enjoy babysitting and baking.
My name is Malena D’Alessandro and I’m a junior studying marketing at the University of Tennessee. I’m originally from south east Michigan where I attended high school at Oxford High School. I am currently part of Spring Sports Ambassadors, Volunteer Team and Best Buddies at UT.