The Holy Trinity Neighbor-to-Neighbor Ministry is an outreach team focused on helping our neighbors by:
- Raising Awareness,
- Building community, and
- Promoting justice and peace.
There are two upcoming events to mark on your calendar.
Sunday, December 10th, Deacon Nick Bates, Director of the Hunger Network of Ohio will preach at worship and will be available before and after the service to discuss opportunities for Holy Trinity to become involved in justice matters related to food insecurity. In 2022, foodbanks in Ohio provided take-home groceries to over 3.5 million households and served 13.7 million prepared meals. Food insecurity is a serious problem among the poor who must wrestle with inflation, medical services, and rent along with feeding their families.
Deacon Nick Bates, J.D. serves as the director of the Hunger Network in Ohio, an ecumenical ministry that works to end hunger by addressing the root causes of poverty through public policy advocacy. Faith-based advocacy seeks to build relationships between faith, community, and policymakers to identify solutions to hunger by addressing the root causes. The root causes of poverty are wide-ranging and HNO brings a faith lens to issues such as state budget policy, criminal justice reform, racial and gender equity, healthcare, housing, environment and much more. HNO works in collaboration with ELCA Advocacy as a part of the ELCA’s State Public Policy Network.
Deacon Bates has nearly 20 years of experience working in the non-profit advocacy sector with expertise on issues related to hunger, housing, state budget and tax policy, and much more. He is a graduate of Trinity Lutheran Seminary and Capital University Law School in 2012. He now lives in the Hilltop neighborhood with his wife and two children who attend Columbus City Schools.
Monday, January 15th, Capital University will be celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Neighbor-to-Neighbor team plans to join the celebration on the Capital University campus. Please consider joining us for an informative event. Watch the newsletter for further details.
If you are interested in participating on the Neighbor-to-Neighbor team, our next meeting is Monday, December 11th at 7:00 pm in the church library. For more information please see Sharon Hamersley, Dave Kriska, Carl Peterson, Benson Ross, Elizabeth Sammons, Becky Warnement, or Pastor Steve.