Living Our Gifts at Sunnyside
Beginning in 1732 the renewed Moravian Church went forth in mission to various people who were left behind or neglected around the world. That mission is ongoing and has included evangelism, education, medical programs, agricultural projects, orphanages, and other forms of assistance.
In 1978 a small effort at mission began in the southside of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in an area called Sunnyside, located around Trinity Moravian Church. This congregation was the catalyst for outreach to people in need in that neighborhood. Pastors like Bishop Douglas Rights much earlier and Henry May had long practiced ministries of service to the spiritual and physical needs of people. Lay members were also concerned for the well-being of less economically blessed families around them. For these clergy and laity it was not enough to love God or worship Jesus only on Sunday. They felt the same compassion that Christ feels for people who are hurting and they decided to take specific steps to reach out.
It is almost always from a sense of compassion that God’s people shape their ministries and live out their gifts. To whom much is given, much is expected. Zinzendorf understood it well when in his youth he saw a picture of the crucified Christ with the caption, “This I have done for you. What have you done for me?”
Sunnyside Ministries formed slowly, but it did take shape. Moravian doctors and nurses volunteered to set up a clinic which is still provided. A building to stock clothing, food, and household items was established on Devonshire Street with Thorlief Harberg as director, assisted by layman Paul Giesler. Funds to assist with rent and utilities or other emergencies for clients had begun to be raised from individuals and churches and from the estate of Mrs. Jean Warren. From the beginning the Board of Evangelism and Home Missions underwrote salaries and some of the budget and has had oversight of this work across the years.
Since that time Sunnyside Ministries has moved twice to larger buildings, had several directors and staff and hundreds of volunteers from many Moravian congregations. In the longstanding tradition of the Moravian Church the mission has worked cooperatively with other helping agencies in the community in an effort to avoid duplication.
Throughout its 30 year history many people have made donations of property, construction skills, architecture, landscaping, planning, computer know-how, goal-setting, and funding. One generous grant from the Blanche Vogler estate has provided scholarship money for qualified students from the two ZIP code areas the ministry covers. Another ongoing grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust makes much more service possible than could be done from church-based gifts alone.
In a multitude of ways we have, as a church and a Province, been living our gifts. A recent example of this was a festival put together by Deborah Carter at nearby Pine Chapel Moravian Church on September 27, 2008, to re-stock the food pantry at Sunnyside. Coming up on March 28-29, 2009, some 20 artists from Home Moravian Church, at the suggestion of Bonnie Dempster and Gerii Spach, will sell their art at Salem College’s Fine Arts Center. Each of the artists will donate the total proceeds from one work of art and fifty percent from additional sales to assist the funding needs at Sunnyside.
The mission statement of Sunnyside says, in part, that its purpose “... is to follow Christ by providing hope through service to those in need within our community.” Together many Moravians are living their particular God-given gifts as part of this process. That small effort from 1978 has grown like a mustard seed into a rather large bush of blessing for many.
