Trinity, Anoka: George Green Park Experiment Meeting Our Neighbors!

On the evening of Sunday, July 27, seven members of Trinity Episcopal Church in Anoka gathered at the church around 5:45pm to prepare for an experiment. In hand were forty-eight bottles of water and a couple bags of popsicles. The team stowed all the refreshments in coolers and walked over to the bandshell across the street for a concert was starting there at 6p.m. The team offered everyone water or a popsicle. It was hot and humid that evening, so almost everyone took the bottle of water and was thankful. Some hesitated to take the water, but once the group shared they were from “the church across the street,” concert attendees were more open to their offer.

Trinitarian Belva Williams had a conversation with one woman with a dog. She asked if our church has any sort of e-newsletter. Belva encouraged her to go to our website to sign up for the newsletter, and to find the Wednesday worship time. The woman seemed to realize Trinity was an actual church! Julie Schoephoerster met a couple that were former neighbors of deceased parishioners Paul and Nancy Barks and had a good chat reminiscing about them. Julie also talked with a couple from Elk River who thought they were coming for a different band, but were enjoying the music. When it was revealed that the water was from our church, they were curious about what exactly, an Episcopal church is. Being raised Catholic, they were excited to find out that they didn't have to attend every week to receive communion and that other “rules” like confession weren't required! Julie invited them to attend any time. They indicated they “just might do that.”

Bad weather started to roll in and the city asked everyone to leave so the concert ended an hour early. Although the group’s intentions weren't to talk about Trinity, the opportunity fell into place naturally with a few different couples, proving to them that “getting out and going to the people” works. They also realized that experiments don't require a lot of prep time. The group felt this effort was a good start to their desire to try some experiments involving getting out of the building and joining up with their neighbors.

As far as God at work, Julie reflected on how a simple gesture can make someone's day or open unexpected doors. The tiniest little gesture can make a seemingly invisible building/person/thing - visible - and with little cracks like that, can virtually start to open endless opportunities. Belva noted that, “You can't go wrong offering someone a cold bottle of water.” She continued, “it took very little effort, and the conversations I had with people made it a fun outing to see who comes to concerts, and to give them a good impression of our church along with the water. I feel ready to try some other sort of experiment now!”