Outreach Ministries at Grace and St. Peter’s Church

“Dinner for a Dollar”

We have begun hosting “Dinner for a Dollar” on Friday nights. This is a ministry of providing a good, wholesome meal to anyone who wants to come. The suggested donation for this dinner is one dollar, but no one who wants to eat will be turned away. The food is great, and the companionship is, too!

Hamden Food Bank:

 Every Sunday, we collect food for the Hamden food bank. This food is brought to the altar as part of our offertory – the gifts which we offer to God to be blessed and used for God’s service. Grace and St. Peter’s Church collects A LOT of food for the food bank. Keep up the good work! When you are at the grocery store, remember to pick up a few extra non-perishable items for donation.

 Arden House Ministry:

Every Sunday, following the 10:00 AM service, parishioners go to Arden House, one of Hamden’s nursing home, assisted living, and rehabilitation residences for senior citizens. These parishioners lead a Sunday worship service for the residents. This worship service is very well attended by residents of Arden House, and is very meaningful for the people there.

Abraham’s Tent:

This is a ministry of providing overflow shelter space for about twelve homeless men during the coldest time of the year. The various congregations of Interfaith Cooperative Ministries provide shelter all winter through, with each congregation taking a week. Our week was January 2-9, 2012 and we were partnered with Temple Emmanuel of Greater New Haven to provide hospitality. Our homeless guests slept in the church social hall, and we provided dinner, breakfast, a bagged lunch, and companionship.

Church Street School:

Thanksgiving and Christmas have been brighter for many Church Street School families, thanks to financial contributions for food and the gifts purchased by members of our congregation for the past several years. Church Street School is a Hamden elementary school.

Chapel on the Green:

A few Sundays a year, we participate in Trinity Episcopal Church’s “Chapel on the Green” in downtown New Haven. Grace and St. Peter’s parishioners work together to prepare 150 bagged lunches, which we take with us. A group of parishioners goes to participate in this outdoor, afternoon Eucharist attended by many impoverished or homeless people, and others who do not feel comfortable worshipping inside a church. Together, we worship out on the New Haven green, and then Grace and St. Peter’s parishioners distribute the lunches we have made to people who need it.

Other Opportunities

Grace and St. Peter’s Church frequently has specific “drives” to help people in need. We collected a lot of money to help earthquake victims in Haiti and Japan. We had an extremely successful special food drive to assist with a specific need at one of the local food pantries. We have helped the Connecticut Diaper Bank, Youth Continuum (an agency that helps homeless youth in the area) and more. There is always something going on – so keep watch for opportunities to help!

Denominational Outreach: Episcopal Relief and Development

Episcopal Relief and Development is our National Church-wide outreach organization, and they do excellent work! They help with hunger relief, disaster relief, medical care, education and development all over the globe and at home in the United States. They have ongoing initiatives across the globe to create lasting solutions to hunger, poverty, disease and problems associated with lack of health care, education and basic resources.