Local clergy create Collars on the Corner
Program allows them to interact with community
When the light turned red at the corner of 51st and Center streets, Deacon Kevin Stewart of the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee and four other clergymen walked into the street and handed people in cars water bottles.
A couple minutes later, one of the cars returned to the intersection and told them they blessed his day and made it better.
“We’re just handing out water and praying, but God’s doing the heavy lifting,” Deacon Jim Starke of St. Boniface Catholic Parish said.
Shortly after, a couple stopped at the red light, rolled down their window and asked the five clergymen what was going on. The clergymen told them they were on the corner for one purpose only, to be present in the community. They offered them a water bottle.
The couple accepted the water and made small talk with the men until the light turned green. Before they went on their way, they asked the men in collars if they would pray for the husband as he had just lost his job.
Deacon Scott Campbell of St. William Catholic Parish went to the little brown table set up on the sidewalk and wrote that prayer down on a blank piece of paper and slid it into a wooden box.
That prayer, along with others from that day, would be added to a worldwide prayer chain.
Later, a man in a neon yellow T-shirt walked up and asked three of the clergymen if they would pray with him. He took his wallet and keys from his pocket and set them on the table. The three clergymen put their hands on the man’s shoulder and bowed their heads. The prayer lasted about two minutes, leaving the man in yellow with tears streaming down his face.
“My hope is that people will experience being cared for and cared about,” Stewart said. “That’s why we do what we do.”
Stewart has been coming to this corner almost every Saturday since September as part of a ministry of prayer and presence, Collars on the Corner. It was a concept he and Deacon Jim Banach of St. Gregory the Great Catholic Parish thought of over lunch.
“They wanted to get into the community and get out of the church,” Starke said. “With the Sherman Park (police) shooting and all the violence (that followed), they wanted to make the community a better place. If we wait inside the churches and they (community members) come in there, they’re going to behave how they think we’d want them to act. We want them to be how they are every day.”
So they went to this corner.
At first, they were greeted with questions and hesitation, as people
thought they were standing there trying to preach about God or on how to be saved. But the clergymen wanted to make sure the community knew that they weren’t there just for prayer, they were there to simply be present in the community and show people that they care.
As Stewart and Banach continued to come back, more and more people passing by started to show interest in the idea.
The community saw that the deacons were simply handing out water, talking to passersby about their day and, essentially, being part of their community. But if there is someone who says they want to pray, the deacons will do that right then and there.
For those who want a prayer from afar, they write one on a blank piece of paper and put it in a prayer box.
Stewart said they have received prayers from people asking them to pray for themselves, family and strength — but primarily for others. The most common theme was hope.
“Hope that things will improve at home, in their relationships and in the world,” Stewart said.
Representatives from
other clergy and laity, such as Muslim, United Methodist and nondenominational faith traditions have also started to get involved with Collars on the Corner.
Stewart said this growth and development is all relationship-based.
“It’s all about relationships,” Stewart said. “Relationships with our brothers and sisters we serve and relationships with our brothers and sisters who live lives of service.”
“True people of God are not supposed to be about dividing,” Banach added.
Stewart said he and Banach shared their experiences with those from other denominations and extended invitations to join them at the corner. After hearing the stories of the people Stewart and Banach met through this movement, Stewart said, “Hearts were moved and others became and are becoming involved.”
Collars on The Corner started branching out from its home base and went to other corners downtown, community events and meetings. It started to pick up speed in the fall, but when the colder months began rolling in, Stewart and Banach took their prayer
boxes inside — at 25 locations, including 12 laundromats, seven congregations, four community-based ministries, a seminary and an office.
Stewart said there’s an average of about 130 prayers in the prayer boxes each month. In order to attend to all those prayers, Stewart has a team that collects the prayer requests, types them up in a Word document and emails them out in a prayer chain.
When Stewart and Banach opened up shop Sept. 3, there were only three people in the prayer chain. Now, there are more than 100 people in nine states and several other countries.
Although 51st and Center streets may be Stewart and Banach’s home base three times a month, Stewart hopes others in different states and countries will go out and show their communities that people care and are willing to listen.
“We took a vague step of faith, but we knew people wanted that human connection. I want them to see that people of all faiths are reaching out to them in the community,” Stewart said. “My hope is that people will experience being cared for and cared about.”