From January 12-19, 2025, WPC hosted the Community of Faith Mission’s (COFM) winter shelter. COFM is a faith-based, non-governmental emergency shelter ministry that provides emergency shelter and food to those in need in Williamsburg, James City, and Upper York Counties from November to March. The shelter rotates among local churches every week. This is COFM’s thirteenth season. WPC has participated in ten of those seasons, pausing only during the pandemic.
During the week, our church hosted over 30 different guests, with an average of 24 guests per night. We opened our doors at 6:00PM each day and provided a home-cooked dinner, showers, a warm and secure place to sleep, a hot breakfast, and a bag lunch before bidding our guests a good day at 7:00AM. The shelter operated in the basement area of the church. Our guests were men and women of all ages and races, and they were generous in their expressions of gratitude for the warmth and hospitality displayed by WPC members and the volunteers of our partner churches. Our partner churches were Williamsburg Baptist Church, Life Church, First Baptist Church, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, and Stonehouse Presbyterian Church.
Additionally, on November 26, 2024, and December 23, 2024, WPC members reciprocated with St. Martin’s and Life Church by fully staffing the shelters at their churches.
The Hunger and Homeless team of WPC’s Christian Outreach Ministry coordinated the program led by site leaders Joe Avellar, Jim Winthrop, Jim Austin, and Tom Moul. Barb Timko, Mary Ann Kimminau, and Happy Simmons served as kitchen coordinators during the dinner hour. WPC Facilities staff also supported the shelter. Over fifty WPC members and friends volunteered many hours to support the shelter; they are:
| Len Shartzer | Ruth and Tom Cobb |
| Nate Green | C.W. Stacks |
| Anne Schulte | Larry Foster |
| Rob Brown | Jim Kirkpatrick |
| Elizabeth Burkey | Dougie Winthrop |
| Doris and George Gilfillan | Matt and Parket Slack |
| Karol Sibley | Dale Trowbridge |
| Matt Sun | Dick Lee |
| Sarah Houghland | Bruce and Donna Powell |
| Eric Beckhusen | Dick Hubbard |
| Ellen and Gene D'Orsogna | Charlie Peters |
| Pete Osman | Happy and Ralph Simmons |
| Barb and Chuck Timko | Jane Vogel |
| Tracey Schwartz | Dorothy Geyer |
| Jay and Jeri Hardy | Bob and Nancy Archibald |
| Lynn Newcomer | Debbi Stipe |
| Katie Plum | Molly Lawrence |
| Ken and Sue Goff | Bill and William McGuire |
| Jack and Judy Lassiter | Roy Stewart |
WPC’s successful shelter week was a marvelous opportunity for WPC to be a welcoming congregation and to build the Williamsburg Community of Faith. WPC expects to host the shelter again next winter and invites all members to volunteer to support this critical ministry.
