Church aims to fill spiritual void (video)

In order to fill that spiritual hole, as well as other pastoral needs of the neighborhood, Christ Church and the ministry interns of its St. Hilda’s House program are trying to bring the liturgical tradition back to the Hill, to Church of the Ascension at Howard Avenue and Lamberton Street.

The main goal is to meet both practical and spiritual needs and to help heal the “sense of hurt and abandonment that so many churches have pulled out of here,” Hendrickson said.

“We began to ask people, ‘What do you need in the neighborhood?’” said Hendrickson, who has handed out cards for people to list their prayer requests. A branch of New Haven Reads now meets in the parish house behind the church, and Hendrickson said people have asked for classes in English as a second language and training to earn their high school equivalency diplomas.

It is also a way for the interns of St. Hilda’s House to see if parish ministry is right for them. While living together as a community, the young people volunteer with church-related or other nonprofit programs to determine whether they will pursue clerical or lay ministry. Full Story @ New Haven Register