Outreach at St. Peter's Episcopal Church
Ministries to Serve Our Community and Beyond
Good Samaritan Shelter
Members of St. Peter's have been volunteering time, food, and money to the local homeless shelter in Santa Maria, the Good Samaritan Shelter, for the past 20 years. In addition to providing shelter and food, there are after school tutoring programs, a detox unit, counseling, and an art project for children, to name a few. Volunteers from St. Peter's prepare and serve 110-140 dinners and sack lunches at the Good Samaritan Shelter on the third Wednesday of each month.
Prayer Shawl Ministry
The prayer shawl ministry reaches out to those in need of comfort during times of grief, illness or medical treatment as well as times of joy and celebration. Each shawl begins with a prayer for the recipient. Quiet prayer continues throughout its creation and is culminated with its blessing at the altar on Sunday morning. Since our first meeting in March of 2008, we have presented over 35 prayer shawls as an expression of God's love and healing power.
Angel Tree
Every year St. Peter's provides Christmas gifts to every man, woman and child living at the Good Samaritan Shelter during the Christmas season. A Christmas tree in the Parish Hall is decorated with paper angel ornaments. The angel decorations contain information regarding the recipient's first name, gender, clothing size, wish list, etc. Church members choose the angels they want to shop for and then bring the wrapped presents back to the Christmas tree at St. Peter's. All of the gifts are delivered to the shelter for Christmas.
Food Bank
For many years generous donations from parishioners have provided approximately 150-200 pounds of food per month to the Santa Barbara County Food Bank in Santa Maria. Each month we have a specific type of food that is collected weekly in a red wagon located in our church courtyard. The supplies are taken each week to the food bank by parishioners.
Habitat for Humanity
For the past four years St. Peter's has supported Habitat for Humanity with
checks of $1000 at a time (approximately 1-2 times per year) to assist with acquisition of materials needed to build new homes in the Santa Maria and Guadalupe area. There have been heart-warming reports of tears shed by families moving into their new homes.
Easter Baskets
Food-filled Easter baskets are provided to the Salvation Army for distribution to needy families in our community by a committee from St. Peter's. Many churches and organizations provide food baskets at Thanksgiving and Christmas; therefore, we, at St. Peter's have decided to reach out to those in need at Easter.
Operation Christmas Child (Samaritan's Purse Shoebox ministry)
Three years ago the Junior High and High School Sunday school classes at St. Peter's brought Operation Christmas Child to St. Peter's by assembling 14 shoe boxes filled with gifts and news of God's love. These shoeboxes are collected every year by churches around the world and sent to children in over 90 countries.
Two years ago the High School group encouraged the whole Sunday school to participate, by shopping together one Sunday after church. They collected 23 gift-filled boxes. This past Christmas the youth made announcements in church inviting parishioners to participate. The support was overwhelming, with 34 shoe boxes and over $200.00 in cash donated to Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child!
Please Contact Us
if you have any questions St. Peter's Episcopal Church.
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