Father James T. Yarsiah, Priest - In - Charge

Phone: 732-775-5414

             Email us at: saintjamesbb@gmail.com

605 4th Avenue

Bradley Beach, NJ 07720

CURRENT WORSHIP SCHEDULE

9:00 AM Holy Eucharist Rite II (Choir will resume in Sept.) 

Zoom Remote Worship is Available During the 9 AM Service        Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88377383368?pwd=UXV6YnM0Z0ZmVG9zckwrelRHUEZSZz09

Meeting ID: 883 7738 3368

Passcode: 629708

Sunday School will resume on September 10th - Rally Day!

All are welcome!

 THREE IMPORTANT LETTERS ON THE FUTURE OF THE BRADLEY FOOD PANTRY - August 4, 2023

St. James Episcopal Church

605 4TH AVENUE, P.O. BOX 1

BRADLEY BEACH, NJ 07720

(732) 775-5414                                 FAX: (732) 775-0104

saintjamesbb@gmail.com              www.saintjamesbb.com

The Rev. Canon Dr. James T. Yarsiah, Priest-In-Charge

The Rev. Father Paul Chalakani, Priest Assistant

August 3, 2023

Dear Members of the Congregation,

As you, know, the Bradley Food Pantry began at St. James Episcopal Church forty years ago and has remained an important source of support for those in our community who face food insecurity, poverty, and vulnerability. In recent months, neighborhood tensions around the food pantry have resulted in a breakdown of the relationship between the leadership of the Bradley Food Pantry and the vestry and clergy of this congregation.

On Tuesday evening, we met with the Rt. Rev. Sally French, Bishop of New Jersey, Canon Phyllis Jones, Chief Operating Officer, and the Rev. Canon Joanne Izzo, Interim Canon to the Ordinary, to discuss the situation. Over the course of our conversation, it became clear that the Bradley Food Pantry has grown beyond our capacity to support it. This is a wonderful thing, as this ministry that started informally in a corner of our parish administrator’s office now feeds hundreds of people each month and makes a genuine difference in our community. We give thanks to God for the success of this ministry. We also recognize that, as Linda Curtiss, the Executive Director of the food pantry, has shared with us on numerous occasions, the food pantry has outgrown the church facility where it now resides. We believe that many of the challenges we have experienced in recent months are related to this growth and to the limitations of our physical campus.

A few moments ago, we let Linda know that while we fully support the food pantry, and we give thanks to God for her gifts of leadership, it is time for the church to separate from the food pantry. The letter to Linda is attached.

We plan to continue to offer support as we are able, and to step aside from oversight of the leadership and management of operations. We will continue to make the church property available for as long as reasonably needed, while Linda works to find another location suitable for the expansion the food pantry requires, and we will ensure that all monies and furnishings that belong to the Food Pantry are directed to its leadership.

We are sad to lose this close connection to the Bradley Food Pantry. We also celebrate the growth that has made this necessary, and we remain committed to work to serve the poor and needy in our community. Finally, we are excited to consider what new ministries God may be calling us to next in that space. 

As we sort out the details of this transition in the days ahead, please keep the Bradley Food Pantry and its leadership in your prayers. We wish them every success and blessing as they move into this new phase.

Faithfully,

The Vestry and Priest-in-Charge,

St. James Episcopal Church

St. James Episcopal Church

605 4TH AVENUE, P.O. BOX 1

BRADLEY BEACH, NJ 07720

(732) 775-5414                                 FAX: (732) 775-0104

saintjamesbb@gmail.com              www.saintjamesbb.com

The Rev. Canon Dr. James T. Yarsiah, Priest-In-Charge

The Rev. Father Paul Chalakani, Priest Assistant

August 3, 2023

Dear Linda,

Forty years ago, St. James Episcopal Church founded the Bradley Food Pantry to serve the hungry and those in need in our community. Over the years, it has grown from a tiny, informal offering run out of the church office into a large and vital feeding program that serves thousands of clients each year and provides food security and hope for the vulnerable in Bradley Beach and surrounding communities. We are honored to have been a part of this and we give thanks to God for the opportunity to serve and make a difference.

In recent months, we have learned of difficulties with the Food Pantry that have presented challenges to daily operations in our neighborhood. We are saddened that our efforts to find a mutually satisfactory solution to the challenges have not been successful.

We give thanks for your work in shepherding the Bradley Food Pantry, for your vision, leadership, commitment, and skills, and for the ways that, with you as director, the food pantry has grown and expanded in ways that we could never have imagined when we started it forty years ago. We have also heard you name, repeatedly, over many months and beginning long before the recent difficulties, that the Bradley Food Pantry has grown beyond the scope of our building. Needs remain unaddressed and no further expansion of programs is possible because our campus is at capacity. We believe this physical limitation is one of the reasons why there have been challenges lately, and we recognize that the Bradley Food Pantry, under your leadership, has the potential to offer so much more.

We, the vestry and priest of St James Episcopal Church, Bradley Beach, remain deeply committed to the success and survival of the Bradley Food Pantry. With this in mind, we believe that it is time for the church and food pantry to separate, and for you to remain as Executive Director, in a new location, with the capacity to build and expand this ministry to serve those in need in new and exciting ways.

Over the next few weeks, the church will step away from oversight of the operation and leadership of the Bradley Food Pantry. We will work with you at your direction over the coming months as you prepare to move to a more suitable location under your own organization and governance, with your own separate 501(c)(3) status. We will ensure that any funds or building contents that belong to the food pantry are transferred to you on behalf of the Bradley Food Pantry. To further accommodate a smooth transition, we plan to provide access to additional church spaces for food pantry use, including the undercroft and, when appropriate, our sanctuary, until you move to your new location.

There will no doubt be many details to sort out in the days and months ahead, and we commit to being supportive and helpful as the Bradley Food Pantry enters this new season. We hope and pray that this renewed commitment from us will give you the ability to remain in place for the time needed to secure and transition to an appropriate new location, and that you will recognize in this offer our deep commitment to support the mission of the food pantry, and to be of service to those in need in our community.

The Bradley Food Pantry has been a blessing to us and to the community. It is now time for us to set this ministry free to grow and flourish. We hope to continue as volunteers, donors, and supporters, with you as the Executive Director. Again, we give thanks for the opportunity to begin this work forty years ago, and we rejoice to see it continue in a new direction under your leadership.

Faithfully,

The Vestry and Priest-in-Charge,

St. James Episcopal Church

St. James Episcopal Church

605 4TH AVENUE, P.O. BOX 1

BRADLEY BEACH, NJ 07720

(732) 775-5414                                 FAX: (732) 775-0104

saintjamesbb@gmail.com              www.saintjamesbb.com

The Rev. Canon Dr. James T. Yarsiah, Priest-In-Charge

The Rev. Father Paul Chalakani, Priest Assistant

August 3, 2023

Dear Members of the Bradley Beach Community,

Earlier today, we notified Linda Curtiss, the Executive Director of the Bradley Food Pantry, and the members of our congregation that after much discernment and reflection, we are stepping away from oversight of the leadership and management of the food pantry and would like to provide our full support to Linda and her team of volunteers as they seek to continue this important work in a new, more suitable location.

The Bradley Food Pantry began forty years ago, in response to hunger and food insecurity in our neighborhood and community. Over the years, it has grown into a force for good, making a difference in Bradley Beach and beyond. We are honored to have been a part of this important work and we remain deeply committed to feeding and serving those in need. We rejoice in the ways that the food pantry has grown and flourished under generations of leadership, culminating with Linda’s. We also recognize that, as Linda has told us on many occasions, the program is at capacity given the limitations of our physical campus. We believe that this is one of the reasons why there have been growing challenges with the impact of the operation of the food pantry on the surrounding neighborhood in recent months.

We are a small congregation with limited resources. We do not have the capacity or vision for this ministry that Linda and her leadership team have, and we recognize that it is time for the church and the food pantry to separate. We affirm and fully support Linda and her executive team in their expressed desire to continue to expand and grow the offerings of the Bradley Food Pantry. Further, we remain deeply committed to continued participation as donors and volunteers.

In a spirit of transparency and disclosure, the letter to Linda and the Bradley Food Pantry Board is attached. The Bradley Food Pantry has also posted a release on their Facebook page. We hope that by sharing openly you will see that we remain – as we have always been – mutually committed to feeding the hungry and supporting those in need. Our hope and desire is for the Bradley Food Pantry to succeed and flourish, to remain a source of inspiration and support for our neighbors and all those in need, even as we are excited to consider what new ministries God may be calling us to next on our own campus.

Faithfully,

The Vestry and Priest-in-Charge,

St James Episcopal Church