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
facility, the Good Samaritan Shelter, for the past 20 years. In addition to providing shelter and food, there are after school tutoring
sessions, a detox unit, counseling, and an art project for children, to name a few
of the programs at Good Sam's. Volunteers from St. Peter's prepare and serve 110-140 dinners and sack lunches at the
shelter on the third Wednesday of each month.
Martha’s Meals
On June 5th, 2009 the Martha’s Meals Program received a $3500 grant from the
Marian Outreach Fund. Additionally, a $1000 anonymous donation was made to the
program. The ministry began informally in 2007 with the purchase of food cards
from Jack in the Box. In 2008 and 2009, it evolved into putting together
nutritious, economical, shelf stable bag lunches, allowing us to feed more
individuals and families. Requests for assistance have increased from 6-8 per
month to 24-30 per week. It is expected that requests will continue to increase
due in large part to the economic downturn. Programs such as Good Sam and The
Salvation Army are unable to meet the increased demand for food assistance. Our
additional funding will enable us to provide at least 1800 additional sack
lunches in the coming year. We are also exploring the possibility of providing a
Soup and Sandwich lunch once a week in the Parish Hall. Martha’s Meals truly
speaks to our parish outreach mission to show forth God’s love to those in need
in our community, addressing basic human needs for the lost, the least, and the
forgotten.
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.
RagDolls2Love
Soft, colorful, pancake style rag dolls are
created for children who are enduring trauma or stress in their lives.
During Lent 2009, 135 rag dolls were made with the help of the youth from our
church. On the Sunday after Easter, the sanctuary was filled with dolls of all
colors and patterns. Parishioners gathered the dolls and took them to the alter
to be blessed before being sent to Marian Medical Center for use in the ER,
Pediatrics and out-patient surgery. These huggable dolls are created at a
workshop held the first Thursday of each month throughout the year.
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.
Home Sweet Home
A ministry of caring for our college age members. Care packages are
sent (usually in October, December and February) containing letters, little
gifts and home made cookies. It's a way for us to give them more than our
prayers.
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.
Red Shirt Project
Deborah, our
rector, Michael Cunningham, rector of St. Mary’s Church, Lompoc, and the Rev.
Robert Two Bulls, Director of Indian Work for the Diocese of Minnesota, have
spent the past eight years leading the journeys of young people from the Diocese
of Los Angeles to Red Shirt, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Rev.
Two Bulls is a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe and a second-generation
Episcopal priest. This reservation is listed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as
the poorest in the United States.
In 2009, participants
including youths and adults from several churches, worked on various building
projects across the reservation and helped to lead a Vacation Bible Study
program at Christ Episcopal Church in Red Shirt. Each year they journey to the
sacred site at Wounded Knee, as well as visiting Crazy Horse Monument in the
Black Hills. The participants encounter more goodness than they know what to do
with and learn much about our Lord's unconditional love and the abundance He has
given this world. Needless to say, their lives are forever changed.
St. Peter’s supports this ministry with $1,000 annual
donations.
Alternative Christmas Market
In Advent parishioners are encouraged to buy gifts involving donations to
support our work with the needy. This year we will be concentrating our
efforts on the Angel Tree, Home Sweet Home, the Red Shirt Project and Episcopal
Relief and Development.
Please Contact Us
if you have any questions St. Peter's Episcopal Church.
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