St. Thomas Campus was at Full Capacity - Thank Goodness I finally Found My Car!

The Saint Thomas parking lot was deserted when I pulled in Monday night, July 14th. It was 6:50 and I had a parish committee meeting in 10 minutes. I left my car among the empty spots and went into the parish conference room to visit with committee members.

Unable to stay for the entire meeting, I made a quiet exit around 8:30. As I left the conference room I could hear the noise coming from the Great Hall. Being nosey like I am, I went to inspect what was going on. The kitchen was packed with volunteers from Holy Cross of Redmond. They had come to prepare dinner for our ministry work with Congregation For The Homeless. The hall was full homeless men sitting around tables, and eating dinner. Among the men were various Saint Thomas parishioners, who had come to socialize with our guests.

Outside the Parish Close teemed with people gathered in small groups. The largest cluster huddled around a table with a coffee urn. Still more people gathered in the sanctuary. The campus hummed at full capacity.

Where were all these people from, I wondered? It was then I realized AA’s Monday chapter was gathering at the parish. The crowds in the Sanctuary and the Close was the overflow of AA members migrating to accommodate our July guests.

I stood wishing I had a video camera to show other parishioners how fully utilized the parish is. Then of course I remembered one of the last things in the world our AA chapter would want is their photo taken. Similarly, the homeless guests were deserving of privacy as well.

Off to my next meeting, I walked into the parking lot and saw the Al-Anon sign. I only dared to wonder, what corner of campus was not in use?

Standing among the cars and staring at the buzzing parish, I realized I had no clue where my car was! In 90 minutes the parking lot had transformed into a sea of vehicles. I found a lot of white cars, but none of them were mine. There were cars from Holy Cross, the homeless men, my fellow parishioners, AA members, and Al-Anon members. Suddenly the desert was no more. I was very thankful for electronic locks.

I left the crowded parking lot wishing other parishioners could have seen the outreach within our parish walls.

by Mikaela Cowles