By Nell Anne Hunt

How might an affluent Episcopal church celebrate its Jubilee anniversary? Would it commission another stained glass window, expand its facilities, redo the landscaping, upgrade its parking lots?

All those options were on the table in 1997 when members of Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, Dallas, started thinking about its birthday bash. But then something strange happened. The celebration committee decided to put suggestion boxes around the church, and hundreds of parishioners cast their votes, and chose, overwhelmingly, to make a substantial investment in people living beyond the church’s upscale neighborhood. Members of the anniversary committee put away the silver service and got out their work gloves.

We had no money to invest, and scarcely knew where to begin. So we stepped out in faith — determined, by God’s grace, to transform the lives of others in need. Of course, we have ourselves been transformed, beyond our wildest imagining.

First we chose a neighborhood: Fair Park, a 62-block neighborhood in southeast Dallas, just 15 minutes from Saint Michael’s. The focal point of the neighborhood was a bar. There were several drug houses. The elementary school rated the lowest in the entire city. Many senior citizens were living there because they had no other place to go, but were afraid to go outside due to violent crime.

After the committee shared its vision with the parish, donations began rolling in. Working with AmeriCorps, Habitat for Humanity and the Greater Dallas Community of Churches, St. Michael’s acquired five acres to build a beautiful park, on lots formerly covered in whiskey bottles, syringes and trash.

We dedicated Jubilee Park in September 2000. A wrought-iron fence and security cameras helped make the park a safe place for children to play. Saint Michael’s asked the police department to locate a substation in the neighborhood for improved safety. Senior citizens were able to have picnics and sit on park benches to visit with their neighbors. The Dallas Mavericks added a basketball court. Teachers at the nearby O.M. Roberts Elementary School began taking their classes to the park.

So dramatic was the change to the neighborhood by the addition of the park that we might well have left it there. Instead, we turned our attention to the elementary school, by offering individual tutoring to children, pressing school-board members for improvements to the campus, and seeking out top teachers and an outstanding principal. We also created Davids’ Place, an Early Head Start facility for preschool children. Today the elementary school that was once the worst in Dallas has an exemplary rating and 31 neighborhood children have made it to college.

Housing also was an early focus. Habitat for Humanity coordinated construction of new, affordable homes. Existing homes were renovated. Hundreds of volunteers have come from churches, private schools and businesses.

And the ministry continues to expand. The Juanita Craft Diabetes Center helps residents of the Jubilee neighborhood and provides diabetes mapping, especially for the elderly. The American Cancer Society is using the neighborhood to study cancer rates among Hispanic women. Volunteers help residents whose relatives are in prison. Early Head Start is working on home-based programs. Teenagers are planting a community garden and learning floral design through Girls, Inc. Exercise classes are offered to help residents improve their health.

Another goal of the program has been to celebrate the various cultures in the neighborhood. Thus Black History Month brings storytelling to Jubilee Park. And during Holy Week Saint Michael’s observes the Via Dolorosa. At Christmas the nine-day Los Posadas celebration includes a procession with a donkey that recreates the Holy Family’s journey, through illuminated streets.

Saint Michael’s originally raised $250,000 for the project. Recently a philanthropist contributed $6 million to build a large community center and a resource center which will house the police substation and the community prosecutor. The total investment in the neighborhood by the church and other donors has risen to $15 million. The mayor of Dallas has praised Jubilee Park as a model for transforming other neighborhoods in the city.

Even with generous donations, however, volunteers are the heart of the program’s success — the many who rolled up their sleeves and gave of their time and talents in whatever way they felt called to do. One volunteer lives in Boston, and when she travels to Dallas on business she stays an extra day to work at Jubilee. Web designers donated their services to create jubileecenter.org. High school students who were earning community-service hours have returned to tutor and run sports programs and take food to the elderly.

The vision of Jubilee Park has also spread beyond Texas. Volunteers from Saint Michael’s were among Episcopalians from across the country who helped muck out houses in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. When residents of the Lower Ninth Ward asked that a church be created there, Saint Michael’s created task forces to help build what is now All Souls Episcopal Church; and members of All Souls have since visited Dallas to tour Jubilee, which is serving as a model for similar revitalization efforts in the Lower Ninth Ward.

All together, Saint Michael’s has learned that the road to our neighbors is not long when we walk it with prayer, hard work, and above all faith that when the Lord sends us out on mission, he provides the miraculous grace that sustains every step of the journey.

Nell Anne Hunt is a member of St. Michael and All Angels and a volunteer in the Jubilee Park program.