Reid Carpenter was so moved by a recent meeting of Protestants with Pope Francis that he was inspired to promote something along the same lines in Pittsburgh, where he worked for decades.
“The whole idea was, we have so many disagreements, but we have no excuse not to be friends,” Mr. Carpenter said. “Let’s get started in the most basic ways,” literally following Jesus’ admonition to “feed my sheep.”
So the idea was born for Amen to Action, a multi-denominational collaboration on the day after Thanksgiving. An assembly line of volunteers will be converging at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on Friday morning, hoping to put together up to a million meals for distribution for the Pittsburgh area’s needy. The event will include a worship service with various musical performers.
Sponsors are from major church groups in the region, including the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania and various Lutheran, Anglican, Episcopal, Presbyterian and other Christian organizations, churches, individuals, charities and businesses.
They’ll be using a system developed by the group Meals of Hope. The meals consist of a variety of foods with long shelf lives that can be prepared with a minimal effort. A morning worship service followed by a “packing event” are planned.
“Instead of fragmentation, we come unity and bless the poor and try to find some solidarity with those in need,” he said.
Mr. Carpenter spent much of his working years in Pittsburgh. He came here in 1961 to lead a local chapter of the evangelical group Young Life, then in 1978 inaugurated the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation, a Christian organization whose work includes training in leadership and in organizational culture change. In 2003, he went on to lead a national organization fostering similar foundations in other cities, and he now lives in Florida.
He hopes that Amen to Action becomes an annual event.
“There are not too many avenues to bring the whole kit and caboodle together in a way that actually does some good,” he said.
More information is at AmentoAction.org.
Peter Smith: petersmith@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1416; Twitter @PG_PeterSmith.
First Published: November 20, 2017, 12:00 p.m.
