Planting Seeds: Deepening Faith

By Sr. Robbie Pentecost

As scripture reminds us, “There is an appointed time for everything...a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Awaiting signs of spring’s arrival can be a practice in patience. There is a giddiness of sorts as we scour the seed books or uncover our seeds saved from the prior year. We await with great anticipation the first taste of a homegrown tomato or the burst of sweetness from a harvested strawberry. But wait we must -- for winter to turn to spring, and spring to turn to summer. It is through the planting of seeds and the waiting that we learn to trust in the growth that is often invisible.

So too with our faith! Sowing seeds of possibility is what happens at St. Luke’s Catholic Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. There is a lot of work involved in bringing forth a full harvest. The seeds must be watered and cared for. So too in growing and deepening our faith. It was through a faith formation series at St. Luke’s that Big Steve (Steven Uzzell) and Little Steve (Steve Daly) first learned about Christian Appalachian Project (CAP). The two had helped organize a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, but they realized that a domestic opportunity might draw people who were unable to go on a foreign mission trip.

As Little Steve explains, service continues to be at the forefront for St. Luke’s faith community. Whether it’s helping provide meals at the local homeless shelter or spending time with those in prison. “God uses the people we serve to transform us. When we focus on others we get out of ourselves for a while where God can work.”

Little Steve acknowledges that his greatest joy is being used by God. St. Luke’s members believe that building bridges and breaking down barriers is at the root of their call as Christians. There is even an Agape group that helps with the funding for those providing the service.

Mary McGarvey, a member of St. Luke’s Catholic Church and a current long-term volunteer with the Christian Appalachian Project observes that “there is a special spirit at St. Luke. There is a strong connection between faith and service.”

Always ready for a new adventure, Big Steve and Little Steve took a journey to Eastern Kentucky to see first-hand what was happening so close to home. Not long after returning to Charlotte, Little Steve invited CAP’s Christian Partner program to send a representative to speak to the parishioners at St. Luke’s. As further confirmation of St. Luke’s commitment to service, after one of the masses, a gentlemen in a wheelchair began inquiring about whether Christian Appalachian Project would accept someone as a volunteer who was handicapped. “Of course,” she replied. This gentleman, Joe Vandenburg, eventually became a long-term volunteer with CAP.

Soon Little Steve and Big Steve ventured once again to CAP with a group from St. Luke on a mission trip, serving for a week doing home repair. They have now made this trip faithfully each of the past four years. Among those in the group were Jim and Debbie Lawrence who moved to Eastern Kentucky in August to serve as long-term volunteers with CAP’s elderly housing and elderly services in Floyd and Johnson counties. Then in January, Mary McGarvey arrived as a long-term volunteer working in CAP’s Child Development Center in McCreary county. Mary visited Jim and Debbie after they arrived in Eastern Kentucky and immediately fell in love with the region and the people.

It is well known among parishoners at St. Luke’s that Little Steve and Big Steve are motivated by a spirit of service. In addition to the growing number of people from the parish who have partnered with CAP, Little Steve has arranged for the Christian Partner program to send additional representatives to speak to other parishes and is working to link CAP with other Charlotte churches. The planting of seeds continues.

Recently, two former long-term volunteers, Sara and Ross Peters (they met at CAP and later married), moved to Charlotte. Living in the vicinity of St. Luke’s, they soon decided to visit the church. Sarah shares that, “the first Mass we attended after moving here also happened to be a day they were sending a group off to Kentucky to work with Christian Appalachian Project. Ross and I took that as a sign that we had found our Church.”

St. Luke’s is nurturing seeds of faith that are being harvested in Appalachia!