Our churches are reaching out to comfort the needy

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Like followers of good King Wenceslas, a 10th-century Bohemian monarch known for his helping a peasant, congregants in Bloomfield houses of worship are tending to the needy this holiday season, too. But Pastor Diana Wilcox, of Christ Episcopal Church of Glen Ridge and Bloomfield, said there is more meaning to the Wenceslas story than just the first couple of Christmas carol verses — the song has five verses and reveals a deeper, Christian meaning.

What carolers know about the story of Wenceslas, the patron saint of Czechoslovakia, is that, on Dec 26, he sees a poor man walking by. In the first verse of the song, carolers sing: “Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen; When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even; Brightly shone the moon that night, though the frost was cruel; When a poor man came in sight, gathering winter fuel.”
Moved by this man gathering wood for a warming fire, Wenceslas wants to know who he is and where he lives. But Wilcox, in an interview in her office Friday, Dec. 15, said that first verse and the king’s page answering to the king, in the next verse, that the poor man lives “over there,” is about the only thing worshippers sing and know about the king.

“I love this hymn,” she said. “I wish people would sing more than the first verse.”
The story of Wenceslas, Wilcox said, takes place on the day after Christmas, on the feast of Stephen, the first martyr of the church.
In the song, Wilcox said Wenceslas follows the peasant through a bitterly cold night to bring fuel and food to him. His page goes with him but cries out that the snow is too deep and the wind too bitter and he cannot continue. But the king advises his page and Wilcox accompanied her explanation with a singing of the carol: “In his master’s step he trod, where the snow lay dented; Heat was in the very sod, which the saint had printed.”

Wilcox said Wenceslas told his page to step into his footprints, that they gave off heat. The page did and was able to follow his king. The carol ends with the verse: “Therefore Christian men be sure, wealth or rank possessing; Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.”
For people of faith, Wilcox said, providing for the needy is an all-year activity. People only notice it more during the holidays.
“The holidays are difficult for a lot of people,” she said. “One beautiful thing about Christmas is the light coming from the darkness. No matter how tough things are, some people want to be the light in the world.”

People feel the need of the poor more acutely during the holiday season, she said.
“I have seen people in need of a coat,” Wilcox said. “I put a box for coats in the church and after just one Sunday it is almost filled.”
Wilcox said her church also contributes to the Bloomfield Food Pantry, at the Bloomfield Presbyterian Church on the Green, whose pastor is Ruth Boling.

“They feed a lot of people there,” she said of the church.
Christ Episcopal also did a 1:1 match of donations up to $5,200 for a hurricane relief fund and was able to contribute $12,000 for the Episcopal Relief and Development for Hurricane Victims, Wilcox said. The funds benefited storm victims in Puerto Rico, Texas, Florida and the Virgin Islands.
“There’s a lot of good work being done other than at the holidays,” she said.
Wilcox mentioned Pastor Joel Hubbard, of United Park Methodist Church, whose congregation helps to find refugees homes in nearby communities.

In an email, Hubbard said his church was able to deliver last month 15 Thanksgiving baskets to needy families. Each basket provided meals for two to six people.
“We’re working with Bloomfield Human Services to provide 65 children and adults with Christmas presents,” he said. “And we’re still collecting flood buckets and healthcare kits for hurricane victims”

Hubbard said there will also be a meal at 1 p.m. on Christmas Eve and another meal at 4 p.m. on Christmas Day, at his church.
Pastor Susan Dorward, of the Brookdale Reformed Church, said her church has contributed about 100 presents to a Newark ministry as well as cookies to various shelters. A part of the Christmas Eve donations collected at Brookdale Reformed will go to the Bloomfield Food Pantry and the Bloomfield EMS.

In an email, Dorward spoke about the meaning of the King Wenceslas story.
“The lore of King Wenceslas tells us that Christmas isn’t about the presents and the food,” Dorward said. “It is about Jesus Christ who came into this world as one of us and taught and reflected God’s love and helped people in many various ways.”

According to Dorward, Wenceslas actions mimicked those of Jesus which said that people needed to be charitable all through the year.
“Just like Wenceslas, we have a kingdom of riches to share as well,” she said. “But our riches are not from worldly gain, but rather the riches from God’s kingdom. Let us venture out — even in the cold — to be the hands and heart of Christ and giving what we can to help those who are struggling.”

She said, in light of the Wenceslas story, some members of her church have been distributing “blessing bags” to the homeless individual.
“Or to those we think could use them,” she said.

The telephone number of churches mentioned in this story: Brookdale Reformed Church: 973- 338-7676; United Park Methodist: 973-429-7745; Christ Episcopal: 973-743-5911; and Bloomfield Presbyterian Church on the Green: 973-743-1796.