by Leisa Parsons and Kristen Pack, Area Media Specialists
“We have so much more in common” said Pastor Beth Wyndham speaking of the two faiths that came together last Saturday to help prepare a new space for her Episcopalian congregation. She continued, “When you think about the pain in the world and how so many are so angry, it’s an affirmation of why churches need to be here. A need is a need.”
Helping to answer the need was a small army of missionaries and members from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The “need” on Saturday was to gut and clean out what was once The Front Porch Bar and Grill on Main street in Bulverde and help start its transition into a place where the members of St. Nicholas Episcopal Church can worship.
Pastor Wyndham was explaining her vision for the new space to one of her congregants, Scott Perrin, and told him she “didn’t want to bring in a contractor because it’s expensive.” Shortly after, Wyndham says that Perrin called her and said, “I’ve got some guys coming tomorrow. If you’ll be there with a list and point us in the right direction we’ll get to work.”
“This is a pretty big deal” said Pastor Wyndham, “because of their [Perrin’s] relationship with his neighbor, we’ve been blessed with this help.” Scott and Nancy Perrin have a close relationship with their neighbors Cami and Brett Rush. They both describe their relationship as “family”.
Cami Rush, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, said, “When this task came about and Scott saw how daunting it would be, he actually knew who to call. He knows we have an army of resources in our Church. He didn’t hesitate, he knew the missionaries would be willing to help.”
“I think that is so fantastic that he [Perrin} knew they’d serve, and that Heavenly Father would want our missionaries to be known for serving others as Jesus Christ did.” said Rush.
The group worked to remove signs and old fixtures and to help transform the space from a restaurant and bar into a place of worship. Pastor Wyndham brought her sharpie marker with her and had everyone who showed up to serve, write a prayer or their favorite scripture on one of the walls that will eventually be painted, that way, their service would “be a part of them.” Kristen Pack, from the Smithson Valley congregation said: “It was really sweet actually, seeing that row of missionaries … writing down scriptures that were most meaningful to them.”
This is the first new “plant” or church in the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas in 15 years. The Diocese takes in an enormous 66,000 square miles of west and south Texas. Pastor Wyndham and the Diocese started looking for a place for their new congregation in January of 2019, finally settling on the Bulverde and Spring Branch area.
Perrin said, “We’re looking to be a part of the community [in Bulverde and Spring Branch] and serving the community, that is what drew us to this church.” He continued, “That’s also the role of the Mormon community — to serve others.”
Pastor Wyndham said, “St. Nicholas is all about joy, which is what I want to communicate to the community. Joy is beyond how we’re feeling at the present moment.” She quickly noted, “There’s nothing like having a church centered on joy and having a pandemic to test that…. God is teaching me faith through this process…. God is saying just trust Me.” Currently their congregation averages 35 on any given Sunday. Pastor Wyndham said,”It is a great start for an Episcopal church not even two years old and coming off of Covid.”
“It’s not efficient to leave the ‘ninety and nine’ and go and find the ‘one’, but that’s what we’ve been called to do. We’re not called to efficiency, we’re called to relationships.” said Pastor Wyndham. Relationships are what made this whole opportunity for service possible — relationships of love and service between the Perrin and Rush families.
