Soup kitchen opens its doors to the community
By Charles Sercombe
Every second Saturday of the month, the good folks at Holy Cross Polish National Catholic Church open their doors to the needy.
It’s soup kitchen day, and on a recent Saturday they were serving up a heaping bowl of turkey soup, salad, hot dogs, milk and coffee. And if you needed a fresh pair of warm socks, those were also free for the taking.
Surprisingly, on this especially cold January Saturday, not as many people as usual showed up. You’d think on frigid day like this folks would like a belly of warm food to fight off the cold.
But that’s how it goes. You never know who or how many will show up.
Holy Cross is a unique church in an area with dozens of churches and mosques. Their history is colorful to say the least.
Starting in the 1890s, a movement of Roman Catholics decided to break away from the Vatican and form their own version of Catholicism. Needless to say, they faced persecution here from the Vatican faithful.
Besides putting parish matters directly into the hands of the parishioners, the Polish National Catholic Church offers another even more radical departure: their priests can marry.
There is interesting history here at this parish.