St. Charles Churches Grow Friendship in Community Garden

Produce will be donated to local groups.

It seemed like the perfect coming together--so perfect it might have had a little help from on high. The story begins with a phone call Pastor Renita Lamkin of St. John A.M.E. Church in St. Charles got from a fellow pastor associated with a Faith Health Initiative at BJC Hospital.  The pastor who had “an idea of doing gardens as a health initiative,” she said.   “She said, 'I'm sitting here with my boss and she wants to know someone who's crazy and will try anything,” Lamkin said. “She immediately said, 'Oh, Renita!'” Lamkin said her church had already discussed doing a garden but had dismissed the idea. “We knew we could not do a garden because we don't have an outdoor water spigot,'” she said. “I knew we couldn't do it but the Alliance (…

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Faith Matters

Multi-Church Bible Study Builds Community

In St. Charles, people of different denominations study scripture together to become better together.

We are better together. That is the basic thought behind a new ecumenical adventure within the St. Charles church community. It is a simple idea: community Bible study. It is happening now on Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. through April 19. Using the Bible and Better Together: What On Earth Are We Here For? by pastor and author Rick Warren, we gather from a variety of churches to pray together, to examine scripture together, to learn to be the people of God together. Three St. Charles churches are providing the meeting space and leadership, but people from other churches are attending. On March 22, we met at St. John AME Church on Washington Street, and five different denominations were represented by the 16 people attending: Presbyterian, …

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Brynn Palmer

8:41 am on Tuesday, March 29, 2011

I applaude The St. Charles Ministerial Alliance for reinforcing and demostrating the value of civility with this gathering of very wonderful people.   more ›

Faith Matters

Faith and Politics in the 'City of Steeples'

At a luncheon hosted by Patti York, mayor of the City of St. Charles, leaders of faith and government shared a simple meal and bold ideas for working together

The mayor invited me to lunch. Not just me. Mayor Patti York invited pastors of churches in the City of St. Charles to a luncheon on Feb. 11. The purpose was to provide information about programs available now in the city and efforts that are underway for additional assistance to help people in need.  The room was packed, including pastors, priests,  police and fire protection representatives, government employees, and Mayor York. Faith and politics are the two subjects to never discuss in polite company. And here I was in a room of the faithful and the political. We were all very polite. It was refreshing. My undergraduate degree is in political science and my graduate degree is a master's in divinity. My two favorite subjects ARE faith …

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Community Effort Needed to Open Heating, Cooling Center for Homeless

St. Charles City Council approved a heating and cooling center, but the building must be brought up to code before it can open.

The St. Charles City Council approved a conditional use permit for a heating and cooling center at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church during the Feb. 2 city council meeting. The center will be located in a former day care center owned by the church. It may be as long as a year from now for the center to open up, however, said Rev. Tremaine Combs, pastor of Mt. Zion. Combs said the building must be brought up to code, which will take help from the entire community. He said he would be looking for contractors to donate time and expertise. “The optimal thing would be to make it a community effort,” he said. After it opens, the center would only be in use when the temperature falls below 25 degrees Fahrenheit or rises above 98 degrees …

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Faith Matters

Fulfilling the Dream in St. Charles

Columnist sees signs in the King Community Worship Service that King's "I Have a Dream" speech is becoming real.

The button on my clergy robe stated, “Fulfill the dream.” The black and white metal button is slightly larger than a quarter and has a photo of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on it. It was given to me a few years ago by a man I also admire greatly. Clergy don’t usually wear buttons on their robes, but I did, along with my clergy stole this past Monday night at the community worship service in honor of King. I wanted to participate in the evening with this reminder. King made his dream known on Aug. 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in what is called his “I Have A Dream” speech. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their…

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Making Monday's Holiday Meaningful

This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, serve to celebrate and remember.

January 17, 2011 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It is the first Monday holiday of the year, and for most people, it is a day off. A day off of work. A day off from school.   In 1994, Congress passed the King Holiday and Service Act, designating the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday as a National Day of Volunteer Service. Why do this? Why place this additional designation on this federal holiday? In the words of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service website, “Make it a day on, not a day off.” Take this day off of work, school or play and turn it into a day to serve others in your neighborhood, town or community.  Why spend a part of this holiday in this distinctive way?     I believe that King was a man of deep faith. King became the face…

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