MINNESOTA: Historic shoe drive underway
Episcopal News Service. September 23, 2008 [092308-03]
Joe Bjordal
The stage at the 2008 annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota, scheduled for October 24-25, 2008, will be larger than usual. Choir risers will be in place, but instead of singers, they will hold hundreds of boxes of donated new and slightly-used shoes that will be brought to the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester by 150 congregations and organizations.
The ingathering will be the culmination of a statewide shoe drive, the largest of its kind in Minnesota history, according to Wendy Johnson, the diocese's director of communications, who conceived the effort.
The diocese has partnered with Soles4Souls, a Nashville-based international charity that provides free footwear to people in need around the globe. Founded in 2004 in response to the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia, Soles4Souls has distributed over three million pairs of shoes to people in more than 60 countries.
Soles4Souls also distributed thousands of pairs of shoes to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It is anticipated that many of the shoes collected in Minnesota will go to aid victims of hurricanes Gustav and Ike in the Caribbean and southeastern United States.
Johnson said that a shoe drive was chosen because the diocese wanted to collect something "basic to our common life throughout the world, yet which receives very little focus."
"This is something that everyone can participate in, whether young or old and regardless of position or status," she said.
"There's something elemental about shoes," said Johnson. "Shoes, most often in the form of sandals, are referenced over and over in the Bible. They are something basic to all of humanity—something we all utilize and understand the need for."
Commemorating 150 years of mission
Minnesota's historic shoe drive will formally conclude the diocese's 150th anniversary year, which was launched at the 2007 annual convention. It included a "sesquicentennial kickoff banquet" with writer/musician Garrison Keillor as speaker and song leader. The formal gathering of the shoes will take place at a Sesquicentennial Eucharist planned for the evening of October 24. The Rev. Dr. Michael Battle, canon theologian for the Diocese of Los Angeles, will be the guest preacher.
"It is significant that in honor of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota we have chosen to focus on the needs of others and how much we can accomplish in alleviating suffering when we work collectively," said Bishop James L. Jelinek.
Special collection boxes were shipped to the congregations and organizations of the Diocese of Minnesota in late August. Johnson says that several congregations have requested additional boxes.
Only two weeks into the drive, St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in Roseville had four overflowing boxes and was making room for more.
"This has brought energy into our fall programming," said Sandy Wittman, the children's ministries director at St. Christopher's. "It's important in working with children that they recognize our call to sharing our abundance with others."
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Edina, got a head start on the drive, which was the focus of both summer Vacation Bible School as well as fall activities. The shoe collecting at St. Stephen's has been a big success, according to MerLynne Byrne, the minister for children and families.
"I believe that people feel really good about giving away items that would otherwise clutter their closets knowing the need is so large and emphasized by the economy and the recent natural disasters," said Byrne.
"So often we are asking for items that a person would need to purchase. In this economy, this drive for shoes allows everyone in the congregation to participate."
Byrne is also the director of the children's program at the diocesan convention and has developed a curriculum and programming around the shoe theme entitled "In Their Shoes."
She says that activities for children at the convention will highlight the needs of others and "the different paths we take on our faith journeys." The program will include "intergenerational activities" that will allow convention delegates and visitors to interact with the children.
In a video preview of the convention, posted on the diocese's website, Bishop Jelinek says the gathering of the shoes will create a "dramatic sight and be an expression of love very much in the character and spirit of the 150 years of mission of the Diocese of Minnesota."