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Outreach
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Outreach is vital to
our parish. We proclaim our faith through deeds of love by the generous
commitment of our time, energy, gifts, prayer, and financial support to make
Christ known within our church, community, country and the world, as we
become the people God has called us to be.
We fulfill our
mission in five different ways:
Below is more
information on all of these Outreach options. The Outreach Committee meets
the last Monday of every month at 7:00 pm in Saint David's Library.
If you would like more information
about Saint David's Outreach Team or any of the agencies that we serve,
please contact the church office at 860-464-6516.
Financial donations:
Saint David's
donates ten percent of our Total Operating Income to outreach opportunities.
Some of the agencies and organizations that we
support in ongoing covenant relationships are:
The
village
of
Decidé
in
Haiti,
the Kateri Medical Clinic in
Nigeria,
and
A Sacred Place
prison ministry here in
Connecticut.
As
well as financial assistance, we also support these agencies in prayer.
In addition, we give
annual donations to many local charities and agencies, such as the Bishop's
Fund for Children,
Alliance for Living, Martin House, Mystic Area Shelter &
Hospitality (M.A.S.H.), Thames River Family Program, TVCCA Shelter (Norwich), Covenant Shelter (New London), etc.
Internationally, we donate to Karen Emergency Relief Fund in
Thailand, Church World
Services, The USO, and The Episcopal Relief and Development Fund.
Giving Trees:
We use "giving trees" four times each year to collect material goods
from our generous parishioners to benefit several local agencies.
Some of the items collected are backpacks for children living in
local shelters, clothing for the homeless, and household goods for needy
veterans.
Community service opportunities:
The last Tuesday of every month we provide and serve dinner at the New
London Community Meal Center.
The second and third Sundays of each month we lead worship services at
Groton Regency, a local nursing home.
We host an annual Christmas party at Norwich’s St. Vincent de Paul Place,
for the children whose parents use
the food pantry.
For 21 years, we’ve held a Christmas Feast in our Parish Hall for anyone and
everyone.
We prepare, serve,
and/or deliver over 1200 meals on Christmas Day.
Parishioner outreach:
Once a year we hold the African Team Ministries Craft & Jewelry Sale, with
proceeds returning to the African villages where the goods are made. In
addition, the Good Friday Offering is donated to a foundation in Jerusalem,
and we participate in the CROP Walk, Bishop's 5K for Kids, etc.
Youth outreach:
The
youth of our church support a variety of good causes, like the Children’s
Sabbath project, Easter Egg stuffing for the TVCCA Shelter, “Souper Bowl”
Sunday collection, Heifer International, and more.
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