Wildwood Parish 'Lives the Word' in Partnership with Room at the Inn

This article was supplied by Carlos A. Restrepo, communications specialist for Sisters of Divine Providence:

Associate Pastor Greg Finfrock rushed to open the doors of his church as soon as he heard the van arrive.

"Welcome to Living Word," Finfrock said Thursday, as he greeted the 10 homeless women and children who had just arrived from Room at the Inn.

Finfrock, of Living Word United Methodist Church in Wildwood, said he was thrilled for his church to become the newest St. Louis-area congregation to partner with Room at the Inn, serving as a Night Site for the homeless.

"When we heard about this opportunity, there was no doubt we wanted to be a part of it," Finfrock said. "The Mission of Room at the Inn fits perfectly with our mission."

A mission-based church, Living Word has been around for more than 50 years—six of those at its new, pristine location in Wildwood. Finfrock said the church revolves around doing God's work on Earth.

"We firmly believe the mission of the church is to be the hands and feet of the Lord," Finfrock said.

Prior to Room's clients arriving at Living Word, Finfrock was busy directing about 20 volunteers, who did everything from cooking dinner, setting up rooms, cleaning and other chores.

Finfrock said one of the "problems" he had from the start is that too many people from his church wanted to be a part of the project.

"I had about 70 people who wanted to volunteer," Finfrock said. "We do a lot of missions, some in Africa, central america, or in St. Louis. This congregation was really excited to do something right here in our church."

Church member Valerie Novatny, who signed up as a volunteer, said everyone at Living Word is excited about the new partnership with Room at the Inn's Night Site program.

"We feel the calling to help those that need help," Novatny said. "We love our church; we love that we have a mission-based church; and we love the idea of partnering up with an organization dedicated to help others."

Room at the Inn’s Night Site Coordinator Chris Hotard said it was almost a year ago when he first reached out to the church about the possibly of them joining Room at the Inn's Night Site program.

 "I remember us wrestling with whether or not their congregation - which is already involved in so many different service ministries—would be able to support a night site on top of everything else they're doing," Hotard said. "But it's amazing to see how they've had such an incredible response from the people in their church. It seems like their entire congregation has really embraced this opportunity to help us reach out to the least fortunate in our community and give them a chance to turn their lives around."