CHARLOTTE — Fifty teenagers took part July 16-20 in St. Peter Church’s “Teen Serve Week,” an annual initiative for young people in the parish to give back to their community and learn more about Catholic social justice teaching.
The fifth annual “Teen Serve Week” focused on helping the teens understand more about a faith that does justice.
They started the week with a Social Justice Day at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse organized by parishioners and attorneys Missy Owen and Alex Heroy. Teens met with Judge Lisa Bell, District Attorney and St. Peter parishioner Spencer Merriweather, Sheriff-elect Garry McFadden, and Community Access and Outreach Coordinator Pamela Escobar, who all shared the role that their faith plays in their jobs.
The teens also served at Ascension Lutheran Church’s soup kitchen, Urban Ministry, Crisis Assistance, and the Boys and Girls Club. They cleaned up a creek, made treat bags for teachers at Druid Hills Academy and blessing bags for the homeless, and wrote letters in Spanish to undocumented immigrants being detained by ICE.
They also heard from speakers such as Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt, who shared how her faith helps her as a public servant and with the issues of affordable housing in Charlotte, parishioners Dave Zablotny about the Kino Border Initiative, Pat Mumford about affordable housing, and others.
On the final day of their service week, they visited Belmont Abbey, where they met with Father Elias Correa-Torres and worked on the abbey grounds. They also toured Holy Angels, where they met with residents and then washed their wheelchairs and vans.
“I really enjoyed working with the Boys and Girls Club. It was a great feeling to see how happy the kids were when we played with them,” said William Kernodle. “I also really enjoyed listening to the speakers talk about affordable housing in Charlotte. I didn’t realize how it really affects the community. I also learned how the government and the private sector have opportunities to work together to help solve this problem.”
Both the teenagers and the volunteers who assisted in the week-long effort said they grew closer to God through the experience.
“I saw God in the faces looking for Him at Urban Ministry, and felt Him in my service towards those who need it most,” said Chloe Wilson. “Teen Service Week provides me with peace and a close look at God’s work in my own community.”
“I saw God’s face in each of the people who asked where we were from and thanked us for our service,” added volunteer Jeff Capwell. “This included a man walking his dog near the greenway along Irwin Creek as we picked up trash, a woman who was seeking help at Crisis Assistance Ministry and saw us finishing with clothes sorting, and a student at Belmont Abbey College who saw the landscaping work we were doing.”
The teens also said they were inspired to continue finding ways to serve Christ in their community.
“To serve God is to serve our community, to know God is to reveal ourselves to others in caring and love,” said Rudy Hudson. “The St. Peter Week of Service gives me a chance to be a better person and to serve those who are in need.”
“Giving to others… our time and our talents, whatever they may be… represents Christ in our community,” echoed Luke Hudson. “I am a better person when I help others as God has helped me.”
— Cathy Chiappetta, special to the Catholic News Herald. Cathy Chiappetta is the director of faith formation at St. Peter Church in Charlotte.