The Church of the Annunciation is an Anglican (Episcopal) church in the Broadmoor district of New Orleans, a neighborhood with many problems before Katrina, and devastated after. By most standards the storm should have killed the church. But God gave the church the ever-energetic Father Jerry Kramer, and He gave Fr. Kramer boundless Faith. Father Kramer LIVES that Faith. He doesn't "live into", or "live in tension with", or "dialogue", or any of that other 60's, post-modernist twaddle. He LIVES the Faith; he leads by example. And he has a growing church infected with that same spirit.
To help community recovery, the church decided to gave over a corner of their property for a neighborhood playground. And this past Saturday several hundred people showed up throughout the day (including your humble blogger and his wife) to erect the playground from materials provided by Kaboom! and the New Orleans Hornets. Volunteers came from Episcopal churches in Tennessee, Washington, DC, and Louisiana, the New Orleans Hornets, the neighborhood, Americorps, and many, many other places. Some images:
Beginning, around 10:00am.
Around Noon.
Faith does move mountains. One shovel-full at a time.
Getting close to the ribbon-cutting.
Just before ribbon-cutting at 3:00 pm.
Can Faith help build a better world? Yes. But if you look to the the Millennium Development Goals (peace be upon them) for that, or to Canons and Constitutions, or to General Conventions, you are looking in the wrong place. Look to the example of Father Kramer and the Church of the Annunciation. They know how to get it done.
(All images by Red Stick Rant)
1 comment:
That's what I call an inspirational story! Thanks for posting it. Great pix, too.
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