Churches reach out to help the unemployed

From ENS-

Three years ago Martice Scales, 24, a boxer, musician and unemployed ex-felon in Racine, Wisconsin, had no job prospects and even less hope.

Then a former teacher referred him to the Racine Vocational Ministry (RVM), an outreach of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and other local agencies and Scales has been on the fast track ever since.

He’s been promoted twice, supervises five employees and currently manages retail operations at a fair trade store at the HOPES Center, which offers social services to impoverished Racine residents.

“I started out as a late night barista,” he recalled. “Within a few months, I was full-time barista and then I got supervisory positions. I could tell they were grooming me for leadership; they were giving me more and more opportunities,” he said during a Jan. 19 telephone interview from Racine.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/01/24/churches-reach-out-to-help-the-unemployed/

La Verne church offers ministry to the jobless

From Los Angeles

A midday sun streamed through the stained glass windows of St. John's Episcopal Church in La Verne, lighting the bowed head of the Rev. Barrett Van Buren. Cradling a Bible in his lap on a recent Sunday, he breathed deeply and asked the small group in a circle before him to close their eyes.

"How does this relate to your life?" Van Buren, a cheery, former college career director, said as he began to read from Psalms: "`Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked ... but their delight is in the law of the Lord."'

Tara Lott, an earnest brunette and unemployed La Verne resident, was the first to answer.

"I know something's going to turn up," Lott said. "I believe God will provide for me. He always does."

Churches such as St. John's, traditionally places of solace for those seeking sanctuary, are reaching out to the jobless in the Inland Empire. And the churches are drawing job seekers who are thirsty for spiritual guidance during difficult times.

St. John's began holding biweekly Sunday meetings this month for those out of work. Participants gather, pray for each other and exchange ideas about each others' careers.

Churches fill spiritual needs that cannot be found elsewhere, said the Rev. Kelli Grace Kurtz, head of St. John's in La Verne.

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http://www.sbsun.com/business/ci_16479951#ixzz141oDeotD