St. Mark’s helps Bethany House

In order to provide a more active and involved ministry, St. Mark’s United Methodist Church of Rockville Centre is sponsoring a series of special activities at the Bethany House.

Bethany House is a shelter for homeless women and children on Long Island, founded by the Dominican Sisters of Amityville. St. Mark’s is going to be providing monthly meals for the women and children at Bethany’s Baldwin shelter, as well as hosting special nights, like game night, for the kids.

“It’s easy for a church to engage in mission when you simply write a check and support some organization,” said Rev. Robert Grimm, the pastor at St. Mark’s. “All it takes is a little disposable income and a signature. Mission ministry should engage the community. It should go beyond the church community.”

Grimm said that the need of the Bethany House came to his attention when he and others from the church attended an open house there. They saw the care and services that Bethany House provides — like housing, meals, counseling, education, advocacy work and more — and was inspired.

“We went to the open house at Bethany House and saw the level of care and compassion that was exhibited by the folks there,” Grimm said. “This is not just a food pantry. This is not just a cot. This is a loving and caring environment for these folks. We were very impressed.”

Grimm worked with the officials at Bethany House to create the mission for his church: once a month to start, they will cook and provide meals for all of the residents at the Baldwin house. They will also be holding game nights for the children there. Grimm hopes to expand the church’s involvement, adding more meal days and other kinds of special activities for kids, like a craft night.

The church has about 20 volunteers helping with the meals, including students from its religious education who are performing service for their Confirmation.

St. Mark’s plans to serve its first meal to Bethany House residents on Sunday, Oct. 11. Anyone interested in helping the church at Bethany House can call the church office at (516)766-2080, or by emailing Grimm at pastorbob.grimm@gmail.com.

“My hope is that we’ll get enough people by reaching out into the community to maybe provide a weekly meal for [the Bethany House residents],” Grimm said. “And I think something like this can grow not only in our little community of faith at St. Mark’s, but in the community of Rockville Centre.”