Before school starts each year Wedgewood collects book bags and school supplies which are given to children living in poverty.
Wedgewood's Pastor taught Sunday School at Hope Chapel, a church for the homeless, the third Sunday of each month at 8 a.m. for 20 years.
Currently, Mike Banister and Keith Dennis, serve as Hope Chapel teacher substitutes, and when needed open Hope Chapel up at 6:30 a.m., make coffee, and welcome our homeless guests.
Hope Chapel
125 Wadsworth Pl
Charlotte, NC 28206
(704) 374-1057
We intentionally do Room In The Inn on Saturday nights so we can invite our homeless guests to attend and participate in worship. Our Room In The Inn participants have served communion, read scripure, offered prayers and collected our offerings. Jesus said when you did something for the poor you did it to him so we figure if Jesus is at our worship service we ought to encourage Jesus to do something during the worship service.
We bend over backwards to practice hospitality. We do not want our guests to feel like they are cattle being herded in and out so as not to mess up our "holy" worship. We do not get anxious about things getting messed up or theft. We feel like the worst possible thing is not for something to go wrong but for us not to be nice to Jesus who appears to us in the lives of homeless people.
Room In The Inn Guests serve communion when at Wedgewood. Why do we do this? Jesus equated himself with the poor. “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.” (Matthew 25:40) So if Jesus is the poor and the poor are present in worship we figure if Jesus is present we should let Jesus serve communion (and participate in worship leadership).
We have fellowship meals after church on the Sundays we host Room In The Inn. Our homeless guests particularly enjoy our annual chili contest at which everyone eats at their own risk.
Wedgewood collects canned goods for Second Harvest Food Bank the first Sunday of each month. In a recession year (2011) Wedgewood is on a record setting pace for its contributions to 2nd Harvest.
