The following links contain news articles concerning Servant of the Shepherd.

 


Meeting aimed at River Falls homeless
River Falls Journal - 02/26/2009


Community organizers will gather from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, March 5, at St. Bridget Parish Hall, 211 E. Division St., to talk about the growing needs of local homeless people and how to tackle the problem.  "I invite anyone interested in this important issue to attend," said the Rev. Jerry Harris of St. Bridget Catholic Church.  Harris has also invited the mayor, city officials, police, the municipal judge, local ministers and others to the March 5 meeting. Soup and bread will be served.


Pastor Frank Lukasiewicz of Servant of the Shepherd Church, 103 N. Fourth St., says many local residents are probably unaware that there are homeless people who try to stay at Glen Park, Hoffman Park, in their cars and even living out of boxes.  Lukasiewicz said he and his staff are trying to assist about 40 such persons a week with food, shelter, transportation and employment needs.


There are also reports that even Turningpoint, the local domestic abuse shelter, is housing homeless people, including children.


Some believe the local homeless problem will worsen as the current recession deepens.

If you would like to attend the March 5 meeting on homelessness and have the lunch being served there, please call St. Bridget's at 425-1870.


Metro Lutheran newspaper, 12/2004


Praying for a Miracle - Fox 9 News special 01/08/2007


Struggling Church Buys More Time - - Fox 9 News special 01/19/2007


 

The following is a letter to the editor at the Spring Valley Sun Argus, Spring Valley, WI, 54767 (January 2007):


I belong to the Servant of the Shepherd (SOS) church in River Falls, WI.  For the last 5 years, the Episcopals that used to worship there has let SOS use the church and parsonage with the agreement that SOS pay the bills and take care of any necessary maintenance.  The Bishop (out of Eau Claire) and Pastor Frank (SOS pastor) sealed the deal with a handshake and SOS had 3-5 years of building use without threat of losing it.  That was five years ago.

In mid-December, the UCC church next door (there's an alley running between their church and ours) put in a bid of $250,000 with the Episcopals to purchase our church/parsonage.  Once purchased, the UCC intends to level the buildings and build a parking lot for their parishioners.  In essence, they want to "pave paradise and put up a parking lot."  The Bishop told Pastor Frank that he'd have right of first refusal and gave him until January 18th, 2007 to come up with $200,000 to buy the church for ourselves.  Therein lies the problem.  SOS is a very special church that runs off of very little money.  The majority of the congregation members (around 90-95%) are recovering alcoholics and addicts, or are family members of someone in recovery.  Many of these parishioners have not known God for decades, but have been able to find Him here.

SOS isn't a church that only operates on Sundays.  There is daily child care in the basement, there are 3-5 bible studies per week, 5-7 recovery meetings (AA, Al-Anon, Gamblers Anonymous, etc) per week, and a food shelf to help people in need.  The parsonage is utilized as a sober house where people in recovery can begin to get back on there feet in a supportive and sober environment.  Pastor Frank has literally been a God-send for hundreds of people over the last 7 years.  He leads the bible studies, and counsels many of his parishioners weekly with relationship issues, and other personal issues.  Between Pastor Frank and Pam (the lady who runs the sober house in the parsonage), nearly everyone in the RF recovery community has been touched by them in some way.  These two people help where ever they can.  A lot of the time, you can see them give away what little money they can spare just to help someone who is down on their luck.  We are a poor congregation that can only make the monthly bills thanks to the financial support from 2 other churches and the weekly offering baskets.  This being said, it is financially impossible for us to come up with $200,000 before March 1st, 2007.

SOS is the only church of its kind.  There are few churches in the country that call themselves Recovery Churches and we are the sole one that has stayed independent in order to not get tied up in politics and committees.  We feel strongly that these things would hinder our ability to help people.  This ministry would be a great loss to the community.  The everyday miracles that happen here are nothing short of amazing, and it's all being threatened by the need for a parking lot.

I know I'm asking for a lot.  I know there is only so much you can do, but is there any way you could help us reach our financial goal?  I know "quickly" probably doesn't work well in this situation, but I'm desperate.  I've been wracking my brain about how to help and this is all I can do...a list ditch public plea to help save our church.  I know the time table is short.  However, it's "crunch time" and I don't know where else to go.  This ministry has led me back to God after 17 years of not wanting anything to do with Him.  The support from Pastor Frank, Pam, and the other members has made it possible for me to stay clean & sober for 2 years.  With this ministry, I (and so very many others) get to have a life.  Recovery allows us to have families, jobs, a sense of self, and hope for the future...something that active addictions rob us of.

Please, if there is anything you can do, call Pastor Frank at 715-425-2288 or email him at pastorfrank@servantoftheshepherdchurch.org .  If you are unable to help but know of someone else who might, please forward this on to them.  Thank you very much for your time.

God's love & mine,

Tina S.