A baby girl was baptised at St. Hilda’s ANiC this morning. Her mother is a young Christian woman who has been attending St. Hilda’s during the last year or so. A little less than ten years ago, every Friday lunchtime she used to walk from the high-school she attended to St. Hilda’s building for a free lunch at Freebie Friday. Part of the free lunch is a short talk on the Gospel by St. Hilda’s Pastor Paul; seeds sometimes fall on fertile ground, take root and grow, resulting in a saved sinner and great joy in heaven. The student who used to come for free lunches is now a fine young Christian who has baptised her baby and brought other Freebie Friday alumni to Sunday worship.
The last court ruling on the dispute between the Diocese of Niagara and St. Hilda’s ANiC, was that – until final ownership of the building is settled – the building must be shared between the diocese and St. Hilda’s. The diocese was given the Sunday morning time slot, so St. Hilda’s is meeting in a school gymnasium for Sunday worship. But St. Hilda’s ANiC is still present in the church building during the week and, for the moment, Freebie Friday continues.
Freebie Friday began just over ten years ago. St. Hilda’s building is located close to a high-school; every lunchtime there was a steady trickle of children past the church on their way to the mall. We wanted to try and convey to the children the idea of the free gift of salvation that Jesus offers us as the result of his atoning death on the cross: just as salvation is free, so is lunch.
The lunch is run and paid for by volunteers from St. Hilda’s and it quickly became popular: there are two sittings which attract about a hundred children every Friday. The principal of the high school regularly expresses his gratitude for this ministry.
The children sponsor two World Vision kids with their own money and buy yearly Christmas gifts for them. Recently they paid for three wheelchairs for the Free Wheelchair Mission, an organisation that provides wheelchairs as a gift of mobility for the physically disabled poor in developing countries.
Which brings me to the reason why we are fighting in the courts to keep our building. The diocese of Niagara has a congregation of about five people using St. Hilda’s building; it is managed by two priests. If they win ownership of the building, Freebie Friday, along with other ministries will stop. St. Hilda’s ANiC would not be able to continue it because it has to take place at a location close to the school; the diocese will not continue it because, even if they had the inclination, they do not have the people needed to keep the building open, let alone engage in time consuming ministries. Even their own priests admit that their congregation is not viable.
If the diocese wins the court battle for the building, after a decent interval it will be sold and bulldozed; God’s work in that place will cease.
This is why we fight.
I saw Freebie Friday a few years back and was amazed.
It was exciting last Friday to have two more alumni drop in on Freebie Friday to chat and share what’s been happening for them. One young man is off in March to train with the airforce and develop his career skills through the Canadian services. I was so proud of his decision, and humbled when he said …”you have no idea how important Freebie Friday was to me thoughout my years at school…..”
Another young man came and shared that he has completed further training in the area of sound technology; loves his work; attends a local church. We know he’ll be back to visit!
Each week the Freebie Friday ministry team pray for these kids, asking God to bless them, keep His hand on their lives, and protect them. We as a team claim each and every one of them for His kingdom!