Outreach ministry has always been a core part of life at St. Edward Church in Texarkana. For decades, the parish’s Outreach Center has worked to make sure those in need have enough to eat. The effort started more than 35 years ago with a group of women in the parish who provided sack lunches for people in need. The outreach grew faster than anyone expected.
“We had two parishioners, Florence and Joe Garcia. They were in charge,” pastor Father William Burmester said in an Outreach fundraiser promo video. “They had some clothing, and I think they would give out about like 14 meals a day, perhaps. And then it kind of evolved to where they would give out a little bit more. And it has evolved now that … we have sometimes 200 people a day come through. Our ministry deals, in large part, with the homeless population. That’s where we focus our center. And along with the food insecure, anyone who walks in our door, they get … a sack lunch. It’s a sandwich, chips, fruit, hard boiled egg. That is what we do. And our secondary purpose there is to be kind to these people, to look them in the eye, to try to see Jesus in them. And he is there.”
Efforts are currently ongoing to raise $950,000 to construct a new Outreach Center on the church property, with more than $400,000 raised so far.
As parishioners began to brainstorm ways to raise more money for the campaign, artist and potter Chris Thomas had an idea.
At first, Thomas wanted to make “functional” pottery, but as the years went by, her desire to learn more and make more new things out of clay blossomed. As her creativity deepened, so did her faith.
As she looked around her pottery studio, she had an idea.
“I’m so proud of what our parish does to reach out to the community in general, and always astounded when I hear the number of people fed every single day. So, I wanted to support the pledge drive. I put together a flyer and put it on Facebook.”
She create a special workshop for groups to create two sheep pottery pieces each, called the “Feed My Sheep” program, benefitting the Outreach Center. Thomas was already teaching individuals how to make sheep pottery as part of her Lenten offering.
“It just literally all fell together.”
Five to 10 friends or coworkers can spend two hours at her studio making the pottery. Thomas’ flyer provides more details.
“The host will collect a suggested $65 donation from each participant (all amounts are welcome and someone has offered to match all donations). Cash or a check payable to St. Edward Church are preferred,” the flyer reads.
Approximately two to three weeks after the class, the flock of sheep will be delivered to the group host for distribution to the participants.
“I put it on Facebook for maybe 48 hours, and I had five people come forward and say, ‘We would love to play with clay in your home studio,’’ Thomas said with a laugh. “And three of them do not belong to our parish. They’re just people who wanted to support something that does such a great job of supporting the community of Texarkana. … This was a way that they felt that they could have fun and participate in the fundraiser to help that mission continue.”
For Thomas, two Bible verses, in particular, have guided her work: John 21:17, when Jesus tells Peter, “If you love me, feed my sheep,” and Matthew 25:31-46, when Jesus explains the separation of the sheep from the goats — the sheep having given food to the hungry and clothes to the naked.
“You can’t be Catholic and say, ‘Oh, I never heard that before,’” she said. “Most, if not all, of the social justice issues are covered in that story that Jesus tells us about separating the sheep and the goats. … I don’t have time at the moment to go down (to the Outreach Center) and volunteer on a regular basis. But I do have the time and the gift of being able to offer these workshops, and that’s my way of feeding the hungry.
“And not only will it feed literal stomachs, but it also feeds another hunger — people have a hunger to create. To take that time to build community, to enjoy each other’s company and to do something they’ve never done before — like creating sheep. … These little sheep … they’re just a whole lot of fun. They feed the stomach, and the soul.”
Contact Thomas at christhomaspottery@gmail.com or (903) 244-6339 to reserve a Feed My Sheep pottery workshop.
St. Edward Outreach Center pledge drive underway
The Outreach Center at St. Edward Church in Texarkana provides 150 to 200 sack lunches to those in need every weekday. In all, they served more than 52,000 meals in 2024.
Director Deacon Leon Pesek said the building that currently houses the Outreach Center is more than 100 years old.
“It’s gone through a number of remodels over the years. The contractors have indicated that we’re now at the point where … it’s time to look for another alternative. So that’s what’s led to this project — to look at building a new building that will allow us to continue the operations that we have, as well as to expand the programs that we currently operate,” he said.
Pesek said the parish hopes that with the new building, they will be able to provide utility assistance and more clothes, tents and sleeping bags to those in need.
“One of the programs we’d like to expand into and that the new space will allow us to operate is an emergency pantry … People can come and get a box of food to hold them over until they can get on their feet. So that’s one of the other things that we’re looking to try to hopefully incorporate into the new program,” he said.
The new center will also have an outdoor pavilion area.
The current Outreach Center is approximately 1,200 square feet. The blueprints for the new center double the space. Pesek said the construction timeline depends on when the funding goal is met. The church is currently also looking into grants and other donations that might be available for the community.
One family has put up a $100,000 matching donation for the project.
“The idea of this ministry is to carry out our faith and put our faith into practice,” Pesek said. “And that provides our volunteers here at the church with the opportunity to put their faith into practice by serving those that the Lord loves most. This is a perfect place to do that — there’s a need here for that service, and there has been for the last 40 years.”
Anyone interested in donating to the St. Edward Outreach Center Pledge Drive can visit saintedwardstexarkana.com/resources/online-giving and select “Building Fund” under the fund dropdown menu.
