A Catholic sister receives God’s grace at a Methodist parish

Gracious ministries

Volunteers help out with an array of what the church calls their “gracious ministries”—Monday through Thursday breakfasts, a food pantry, clothing closet, showers, laundry, mail drop, spiritual support and guidance, a Christmas store, weather relief, job search and documentation assistance, wellness checks by nursing students, and pharmacy shuttles, not to mention innumerable kindnesses, words of comfort, and the dignity and respect that is accorded to every person who passes through the church’s doors.

But these gracious ministries are not about just giving hand-outs and meeting needs on a superficial level. The parish strives to create community with its guests, volunteers and staff. In fact, many guests whose fortunes have improved return because of the friends they’ve made at Broadway.

With grace and calmness

Broadway’s philosophy of service is reflective of Sister Suzanne’s. “The whole thrust is to be present to people,” she notes,” even when they are volatile. After all, someone may have just been evicted, or come off the street for a meal, or has been sleeping in their car. We deal with those moments with grace and calmness. We want to help people come to solutions in their lives that are based on Gospel principles.”

Being present with people also means the parish embraces the concept of reconciliation-restoration. “We try to practice reconciliation-restoration with our guests when they get upset,” said Pastor Carl Hetler. “We try to help them acknowledge what went wrong and to make amends where necessary, to give people second chances.”

A miscommunication

Second chances go both ways.

Recently, a miscommunication between Sister Suzanne and a guest resulted in the guest becoming angry and yelling at Sister Suzanne. Such situations do occur on occasion, and she has seen much in her 20 years there. However, this time she was shaken to the core by it. Following the parish’s process for de-escalation, Sister Suzanne immediately walked away. She realized that her emotions were more on edge than she had thought, due to that day being the birthday of a dear friend who had passed.

After another volunteer helped her process the incident and her emotions, Sister Suzanne knew what she needed to do: apologize to the guest for her part in the miscommunication. Meanwhile, a staff member had helped the guest calm down and reexamine the situation. He saw how their signals had gotten crossed and wanted to apologize to Sister Suzanne. The two came together, shaking hands and acknowledging their respective roles in what went wrong.

A gift given and received

Pastor Carl witnessed the incident and how it played out.

“It was great that Sister Suzanne could model de-escalation techniques for our guests and our staff,” he says. “When the reconciliation was ready to happen, it was powerful to see her example. Later, she told me she was embarrassed but recognized it as a gift of grace. I used this incident in my next sermon, to encourage parishioners to look for those opportunities to not bury bad things but examine them at a deeper level of God’s grace.”

“I still have so much to learn in life,” Sister Suzanne says. “We are meant to walk with others in our weakness, which becomes our strength. It’s not easy, but Broadway [Christian Parish] keeps me real. My ministry there is important for my own sanity and growth.” It is a gift she is happy to receive.