Draw Near, Contend for Shalom Lent Day 14: Local Anglicans On The Street
Article written by the Matthew 25 Initiative and originally posted on March 9th, 2023 as Day 14 of their 40 Days of Lent Reflections.
“So, every healthy tree bears good fruit… Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
— Matthew 7:17, 20
Crystal Merriam, the Director of the Lagniappe Center and a M25i practitioner, recently traveled to Italy where an espresso was $1.10, lunch specials were $10, and gelato was $2.85. In contrast, the cost of a burger at a sit-down restaurant in her hometown of Sheridan, Wyoming, recently surpassed $20! A lot of people can get along fairly well in Sheridan if they are employed full-time and live a simple lifestyle. Unfortunately, disability/chronic illness, addiction, mental illness, or violent/abusive situations often impact her neighbors’ ability to work full-time leaving them in a place of financial scarcity.
Image provided by the Lagniappe Center
Recognizing this disconnect between the cost of living and employment opportunities for “low-skilled” workers, Crystal established the Lagniappe Center (pronounced lan-yap and meaning “something extra”) in the basement of Grace Anglican Church. The Lagniappe Center is a leadership and job-skills development initiative designed to equip low-income parents for living-wage employment. A key component of Lagniappe is their paid-to-learn model. 60% of the work week is spent in direct manufacturing through a commercial sewing training center facilitated by volunteers. The remaining 40% of their time is invested in individualized, supportive programming that will help the participant become more independent in the long-term.
The program, which is volunteer-led, includes significant time spent in community service, mentorship, and in identifying key areas of growth. The church intentionally assists in the participant’s long-term stability and employability by offering additional training in resume building, financial literacy, cooking & nutrition, parenting, professional counseling, spiritual formation, etc. Lagniappe pays participants a living-wage throughout their training with the goal of breaking generational cycles of poverty. Parents, who otherwise would not be able to take-off work from low-paying jobs, are given the opportunity to develop their professional skills, leading to long-term, living-wage employment upon completion of the program.
Parishioners of Grace Anglican Church come alongside each participant by volunteering with their training, mentoring, and praying in real time for each job interview, parent teacher conference, or family crisis. The parish is mobilized and aware of needs that emerge that go beyond the scope of employment, pooling money to help a trainee take paternity leave which isn’t available to low-wage job earners and offering a diaper shower for a mother whose baby was born premature.
Grace Anglican looks like Jesus as they remain near to those who are struggling to flourish. In so doing, the parishioners are encountering Jesus and making a profound difference in their community. Non-believers in Sheridan could say: “We’re not sure about Christianity, but those Anglican Christians are putting their money where their mouth is and showing up for our city. I wonder why they are different?”
The desire of the Matthew 25 Initiative is to see the unseen and the marginalized treasured. This Lententide, the Matthew 25 Initiative will be telling the stories of the least of these through 40 days of Anglican-informed, inspiring, beautiful, and theologically-robust engagement pieces — in the vein of the church's traditional disciplines of Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
They will know we are Christians by our love
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love.
Listen to "They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love" On M25i's Lenten Playlist
Peter Scholtes, 1966
See: Who is my neighbor? Stop: Draw Near. Show: Mercy.
Please share your thoughts at info@anglicanjusticeandmercy.org.
