St. Thomas, Whitemarsh

Outreach

* * * Second Saturday Sales ~ PREVIEW EVENT: MAY 9 * * *

Our Little Roses Mission Trip 2008

Believing that outreach is a tangible response to the teachings of Jesus Christ and a heed to his call, the Outreach Committee is committed to help the parishioners of St. Thomas' Church, Whitemarsh reach out with love and support to those in need locally, nationally, and internationally.

Citizen of the Week: DEB STEEVES

Our ministries include programs directed towards:

Children, Youth and Education – to promote education by supporting fund-raising events and offering direct services to support the academic, social, economic and emotional development and needs of children, youth, and adults.

Healing – To support those needing healing through fund-raising events and offering direct services.

Hunger & Homelessness – To support direct-service initiatives for the needy by ministering to poor and oppressed people.

Prisons – To address opportunities for reaching out to those in prison by offering direct services to support academic development.

Urban Church Mutual Ministries – To develop relationships with other faith organizations by working collaboratively with churches in the inner city, involving all generations of church members.

National Ministries – To address how to contribute to national economic and social justice.

Global Ministries – To address how to contribute to international economic and social justice.

Domestic Abuse & Violence – To focus on ways to prevent violence in our society.

Inclusivity – To address the prejudices that diminish all of us.

Servant Leadership – To develop our roles as servant leaders to the community.

Currently, St. Thomas ' Church, Whitemarsh is actively involved in the following programs:

CHILDREN, YOUTH AND EDUCATION

ECS Literacy Project . Parishioners assist the Episcopal Community Services' Literacy Project by reading and recording multicultural books for inner city children and their families. The project fosters parent/child reading skills and quality time. It welcomes donations of books, audiotapes and tape recorders and needs readers to put the books on tapes. For more information about Episcopal Community Services visit their website at www.ecs1870.org.

ECS St. Barnabas Mission Camp: July 2007

Second Saturday Sales: SUCCESSFUL SEASON!!

Youth Mission Trip: June 2007

Our Little Roses Ministry Mission Trip: May 2007

HEALING

Calcutta House. St. Thomas ' supports Calcutta House, an independent, non-profit, personal care facility in Philadelphia that cares for adult men and women with AIDS, by cooking breakfast once a month for the residents, and by providing paper products, cleaning supplies and personal hygiene needs. In recent years, parishioners from St. Thomas' have visited the Calcutta House on Thanksgiving morning, bringing with them placemats created by children at St. Thomas' Nursery School, fresh fruit and homemade baked goods, and cooking breakfast. Each year, St. Thomas ' assists with the purchase of a major product, such as a frost-free refrigerator for use by the residents. Paper products, cleaning supplies and members of St. Thomas ' donate personal hygiene necessities twice a year. New volunteers are welcome to join parishioners who cook breakfast at the hospice.

HUNGER & HOMELESSNESS

Ambler Food Cupboard. St. Thomas ' sponsors a number of activities each year to benefit the Ambler Food Cupboard, an organization that supplies 25 to 35 families a week with vital food and clothing. The recipients are often elderly, shut-ins, poor, homeless, disabled or those recently unemployed and come from many townships in Montgomery County . St. Thomas ' runs food and staples drives every Sunday in Advent and in Lent. All non-perishable foods and toiletries will be collected in the Narthex each Sunday during the drives. All collected food will be delivered to the Ambler Food Cupboard for distribution to local residents. Financial contributions to AFC may be made during the offertory collection and are used to purchase perishable foods and to pay for some of the delivery and rent expenses incurred by the food cupboard. Checks are made payable to St. Thomas ' Church and must indicate "Ambler Food Cupboard." Other activities for the Ambler Food Cupboard include a "Souper Bowl Party" on Super Bowl Sunday, to which parishioners bring cans of soup and a $1 donation to AFC; and the purchase of turkeys for Thanksgiving food baskets for distribution to those in need. Volunteers from St. Thomas ' pick up potatoes donated to the food cupboard by a national food distribution program for use in the Thanksgiving food baskets.

Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity is a national organization that builds houses for the needy. St. Thomas ' currently provides Habitat for Humanity/Germantown with skilled and minimally skilled workers two to four Saturdays a year. Carpentry, repair work, sanding and clean-up are among the building site activities.

Hope Gardens/Interfaith of Ambler. St. Thomas ' is one of seven parishes that helps formerly homeless families through a program sponsored by Interfaith of Ambler called Hope Gardens (Ambler Supportive Housing Associates). St. Thomas ' "adopts" a family at Hope Gardens , a transitional family housing complex of eight apartments. St. Thomas ' helps its "adopted" family with rental assistance, money for Christmas, utility assistance, clothing and trips for summer camp. Volunteer opportunities for St. Thomas' members include serving as liaison between congregation, family and Interfaith of Ambler; babysitting, building and grounds maintenance and repair; painting and cleaning the apartment for a new tenant; working (one shift per month) on the Emergency Hotline, assisting callers who are homeless, are threatened with eviction or are victims of abuse, and filling orders for the food cupboard.

PRISONS

Prison Tutors. From September through May, parishioners tutor inmates at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Eagleville. Our ministry is to work closely with the inmates as they prepare to take their GED exam. Tutoring sessions are conducted on weekday evenings and Saturday mornings. No teaching experience is necessary. Both men and women are encouraged to volunteer.

URBAN CHURCH MUTUAL MINISTRIES

After School program. Helping to provide a safe, happy and enriching place for children from the Church of the Advocate in north central Philadelphia to spend their after school hours is an active ministry of St. Thomas'. Volunteers from our church read with small groups of children on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoons. Music, arts and crafts, and homework assistance are other possible areas for volunteer involvement. Many of the children in the program come to St. Thomas' in the summer as part of the Church of the Advocate's summer camp and also participate in the Be and Angel Christmas party hosted by St. Thomas' parishioners.

Fall Harvest Festival. Children from Church of the Advocate and Hope Gardens enjoy an autumn day at St. Thomas '. The Fall Harvest Festival, hosted by St. Thomas ' parishioners, includes a pumpkin hunt, games, a barbecue and other fall activities.

Be an Angel Christmas Party. True Christmas spirit is shared by parishioners of St. Thomas' with children and families from the Church of the Advocate's after school program at the Be an Angel Christmas Party held each December at the north central Philadelphia church. Preparation begins in November when names of children and families from the after school program are placed on Christmas trees in the Narthex here at St. Thomas '. Parishioners select a nametag and return it in early December with a wrapped gift for the recipient. Many parishioners believe these are the most rewarding gifts they buy the whole Christmas season!

The parish hall is decorated for the party and crafts tables are set up for the guest children. On the Sunday of the party in mid-December, dozens of St, Thomas' "chefs" prepare a delicious celebration dinner, which is served to the guests. The guests enjoy the entertainment, the crafts, the camaraderie, and, of course, the distribution of bags and bags of highly anticipated gifts. The Be an Angel Christmas Party is one of the highlights of our church year.

Summer camps. Children from the Church of the Advocate and St. Gabriel's Church summer camp programs in Philadelphia come by bus to St. Thomas ' two days per week in the summer to garden, play, picnic and have fun. For three-hour periods during each visit, the children garden in our community gardens, do arts and crafts and play games. Volunteers help in the garden and with arts and crafts and games. Behind the scenes, volunteers from St. Thomas ' prepare the garden and bake cookies.

National Ministries – New initiatives under consideration

GLOBAL MINISTRIES

Companion parishes. St. Thomas ' has been paired with three parishes in Guatemala City, . St. Thomas ' parishioners can help explore ways in which we can deepen the relationship between our parishes. A trip to is among the possibilities.

December Jewelry Sale: Proceeds Go to Honduras Trip

SEVEN DAYS IN MALAWI, AFRICA: August 2007

Honduras Water System Installation Trip: May 2007

Domestic Abuse & Violence – New initiatives under consideration

Inclusivity – New initiatives under consideration

Servant Leadership – New initiatives under consideration

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