Blessed to be a blessing: supporting local businesses during Covid-19
In our current nation-wide state of Alert Level 2, many local businesses are struggling with their ability to retain customers and keep their doors open. In the midst of this, there has been an opportunity for parishes to support the businesses in their communities, as our whānau from St John’s Anglican Church in Wellington’s northern suburbs has discovered.
Reverend Ben Johnson-Frow, the Vicar of Johnsonville shared how over the last few weeks in Level 2 their church has been going out after the service in small groups to cafés in the area. In returning to physical gatherings and the joy that has been for their church, Ben explained that they were prompted by God to remember that they were ‘blessed to be a blessing’. “Our ‘going out’ after church has been a way of taking what we have been blessed with, and blessing others, building relationships with those in our community, and praying for the kingdom of God to come and flourish as we do.”
One of the spaces their congregation has been visiting is Common Ground in Waitohi Hub – the new Johnsonville library complex. Over this time, they have developed a good relationship with Sam, the manager there, who sent Ben this response:
Thank you so much for organizing to have all your wonderful people pop over for coffee after the service! We are so blessed to be a part of such an awesome community – it really shines through in uncertain time like this. There are so many people who are going through some pretty stressful times right now and we really want to try and help bring some joy even if it is just a tiny bit to their days. I've put aside five $20 vouchers for you to give out to anyone that you think could really do with a bit of a lift-up to their day. Hope you had a wonderful weekend. God bless you.
Ben felt like this was an encouraging message to receive as a reminder of the ways they can continue to lift up their wider community, “we thought this was such a wonderful response of a business feeling blessed by us being a blessing, and in turn wanting to bless others. This is the way the Kingdom comes, and we get to see the Holy Spirit at work in our community and people coming to know God as they see His light shine through us.”
Their church took a break a couple of weeks ago to meet as house church groups, with one group still heading to Muffin Break in the morning to be church in the shopping centre. Ben explained that from this last weekend, “and for as long as we remain under level two, we’ll continue to go out and bless these businesses and support local so that as a community we might all continue to rise together.”
By Holly Morton
