History of Social Concerns

A sermon by Susan Miller at St. Mary's, November 24th, 2002.

Forty Years of Social Concerns: The St. Mary's Story

Mt. 25: 31-46
The king will say to those at the right hand, "Come, you that are blessed...inherit the kingdom prepared for you...For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer...when was it?...And the king will answer them, "Truly, I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."

Today I'd like to tell you a story. It's about some people who took this Bible passage literally. It's the story of the men and women who founded the Social Concerns Commission of St. Mary's parish, and who've kept it going for the past 40 years. It's a story of people who sat in the pews you're sitting in. Who took communion at this altar rail. Who left the church each Sunday with the command to go forth into the world to love and serve the Lord.

This is your story.

It began in 1962 when St. Mary's as in the Diocese of California. Bishop James Pike decreed that every parish was to create a social justice commission. So about 20 men and women from St. Mary's got together and became that commission.

In the beginning, it was pretty simple. The minutes of their meetings indicate they simply were guided by Matthew's Gospel: to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those sick and in prison. They read the Herald, looking for stories about people who needed help. They got referrals word of mouth. They asked the heads of community social programs to talk at their meetings. They put the word out that they were on call: for fire victims, for people who needed food, for families in domestic crisis, for anybody who needed help. And people heard about them, and started calling.

At first, there wasn't any budget. There wasn't any office. A couple of members wrote substantial checks to get the program started. And then the members just pulled out their checkbooks and wrote personal checks when somebody needed help. Then other people started contributing money, even if they weren't members of St. Mary's. Somebody would have a Christmas fund-raiser. Or a businessperson would sponsor a fancy benefit dinner at the Sardine Factory. And meanwhile St. Mary's would send money to other programs, like the Salvation Army, or to Operation Shoestring that provided breakfasts for preschool children. Edna Sefton was the treasurer. She kept a little notebook about money coming in and how it was spent, and stuffed the checks into a manila envelope.

Well, eventually, they got real official. They opened a Social Concerns checking account and deposited the donations in their account. But Social Concerns was never just about money. Racial issues were a big concern. In 1965 they invited the Rev. Richard Nance, of the First Baptist Church of Pacific Grove, to speak to them. He told them some pretty uncomfortable things: There was a black ghetto in Pacific Grove. Black families who tried to move into other areas were told "you wouldn't be happy there." Pastor Nance said Pacific Grove was the most segregated community on the peninsula. All multiple unit dwelling were closed to blacks. Holman's was the only store that hired black people. There were no black teachers. No black police officers. So the Social Concerns Commission asked themselves what they could do.

Marj Franz Green was a Realtor. She urged the members to look for For Rent or For Sale signs in their neighborhoods, phone the property owner or real estate agent, and emphasize that they would welcome people of all races and religions as their neighbors. One church member successfully did that. But then Edna Sefton did a survey of local real estate offices, and the responses were pretty evasive. So the members began compiling a list of local homes for rent or sale that were open to all people. They gave the list to the local NAACP, to publish in the organization's newsletter.

Meanwhile, they heard from the Intergroup Relations Committee of the Diocese of California. Farmworkers in Delano had gone on strike in an effort to form a farmworkers union. In a carefully worded statement, the diocese called attention to the plight of the farm workers. Yes, it said, farmworkers needed decent housing and health care and childcare. And they very much appreciated charity. But mostly, farmworkers wanted the chance to provide for their families themselves, through better jobs with higher wages. More than anything else, they needed an extension of the national Labor Relations Act so that agricultural employers would be legally required to bargain with their workers.

The diocese asked parishes to support the labor organizing effort monetarily, to provide desperately needed food for the striking families, and be presenting Delano as a demonstration of church concern for social justice. So St. Mary's Social Concerns sent money for food: $50 here, $30 there. And Cesar Chavez sent thank you letters that are carefully preserved in a binder. St. Mary's put out the word to the local community to bring food donations to the church. Members of Social Concerns went to Delano to deliver Christmas gifts to the farmworkers' children, and some of the members joined a portion of the historic 1966 Easter Penance march that went all the way from Delano to Sacramento. In a 1984 article in the Monterey Herald, Edna Sefton acknowledged that some St. Mary's parishioners weren't very happy about Social Concerns' support for the United Farm Workers. But Edna said she knew she was looking at history in the making, and that once her mind was fixed on something, the disapproval of other people didn't bother her.

Meanwhile, the St. Mary's food cupboard and Thrift Shop were being set up to support the work of Social Concerns. Social Concerns was able to provide financial support for Young Adults for Action, a Seaside organization that helped young blacks to find jobs and go to college. They funded coffee and cookies for Monterey County patients at Agnews State Mental Hospital in San Jose. They supported Friends Outside, the program that provided childcare assistance for the families of prisoners on visiting days. One young black man came back to thank them for helping pay for his college textbooks and repair his broken-down car. He'd gone on to become a lawyer.

A 1970 summary of activities described the mission as follows: "the Commission's goal is to be there in response to calls for help as quickly and as compassionately as possible. How far does Christian Social Concerns extend? As far as the heart can reach." They had decided it was better to err on the side of responding than on the side of suspicion. One volunteer has summed it up this way: "I'm never bothered by the cheats. I knew the Depression, and I know how desperate people can be. You just turn these people over to God. I know I never have the last word. It's in God's hands."

Over the years, the commission gradually developed a more formal structure. It established an office and regular hours when people could visit. It developed files on each client. It established guidelines about whether and how often various types of assistance could be given. It created a binder with guidance and advice and phone numbers for referrals. It never turned anybody away without providing some kind of assistance. The St. Mary's vestry budget gradually provided financial support. And over the years other churches, organizations, government programs and individuals began providing food and various forms of financial support.

St. Mary's parishioners have been consistently generous. Every Sunday parishioners bring food for the food cupboard that's placed in those big wicker baskets and brought forth during our offering.

Recent financial strains have put pressure on the vestry budget. But then one of those quiet miracles happened. Mary Rogers died and left more than $200,000 for social outreach. And Mary Rogers wasn't even a member of St. Mary's. She was a social worker who had referred clients to Social Concerns, and she later volunteered with a social outreach program that rented space in Clay Hall. She knew of the good that Social Concerns had done, and she remembered St. Mary's in her will.

So this past year Social Concerns has been able to count on $500 a month from the Rogers trust, as well as more than $400 a monthly from the vestry budget. This money is supplemented by separate donations. And there is a special St. Mary's account that provides help for needy parishioners. Last year Social Concerns paid out $14,500. Payouts are running about the same this year.

What does Social Concerns do with its money? From January to October of this year, we've served 2,500 clients. That includes roughly 425 homeless singles, 80 homeless families, and a total of 700 children from nearly 400 families. We've given out roughly 1,200 food bags, 420 bus tickets, and 120 Thrift Shop vouchers. We've given McDonalds coupons to people who have no way to cook. We've given assistance for prescriptions, laundry, haircuts, gasoline, assistance with rent, insurance, doctor and hospital charges, telephone and utility bills, motel stays, camping fees, auto repairs, blankets, sleeping bags, work boots. No one is ever denied food. But because much of the food is donated, the largest single expense category - nearly a quarter of total expenditures - is for housing. Other major amounts go for gasoline, food, McDonalds coupons and transportation.

Volunteers not only meet with clients. They spend many more hours bagging food, stocking shelves and doing behind-the-scenes work. Last year, the people of Social Concerns volunteered 1,269 hours. That translates to nearly 8 months of 40-hour workweeks.

Within St. Mary's, Social Concerns is a source of great pride. In the vestry's recent poll about mission and vision, members were asked, "How would you describe St. Mary's?" and "What qualities do we embody?" The most frequently mentioned quality was friendliness. The second was the caring represented by Social Concerns.

Over the years, Social Concerns has earned St. Mary's great respect and admiration throughout the Monterey Peninsula. It has given us the reputation as the "little red church that helps people" or "the little red church that cares." The outgoing mayor of Pacific Grove commended St. Mary's for its contributions to the needy. Last Christmas every public school classroom in Pacific Grove held a food drive and contributed their bounty to Social Concerns.

So on this Sunday before Thanksgiving, we should all stop a moment and give thanks for all the saints of Social Concerns: for 40 years of men and women who without fuss or fanfare have spotted human needs and cared enough to do something about them. Could we recognize all of the saints who are present at this worship service? Would all of the people who are volunteers with Social Concerns please stand?

But God's work is never done. For one thing, many of the needs that Social Concerns was designed to address are growing: the number of agencies that help the homeless has shrunk. Any form of housing has become astronomically expensive. Unemployment is rising. Families are stressed. Drug and alcohol problems don't go away.

Even more important right now is that Social Concerns urgently needs a special kind of volunteer. It needs people willing to sit behind the desk on weekday afternoons and talk to the people who come in asking for help.

What does the job involve? Well, you need to be able to talk to strangers: Greet them, treat them with respect, and ask how you can help. Now, with St. Mary's reputation for friendliness, I don't think that's a problem. But we also need interviewers who won't be upset if some of the same people show up week after week. Or if they don't say please and thank you quite as gracefully as you might. Or if it turns out you swallowed a story and gave something to somebody who maybe wasn't quite as bad off as they indicated.

We need people who can see the face of Christ on every person who walks in that door. Jesus didn't say, "You did it to me when you helped somebody who was really, really grateful and as a result of that one encounter, they got their life together and never showed up to ask for anything else ever again." Jesus said "Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."

At Social Concerns you learn humility. First, you learn how much you have that you take for granted. But more important, you learn that the face of Christ is also on the face of people who've struck tough times. These people really are your brothers and your sisters. Jesus doesn't always look like that nice young man with the blue eyes and the light brown hair that we've seen pictures of all of our lives.

Of course, the work of Social Concerns is ultimately in God's hands. But God wants your hands, too. The story of Social Concerns is that for 40 years, God has used the hands of St. Mary's to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and welcome the stranger.

This is your story. Every bit of it.