Outreach at St. George's
Seek out and serve others, proclaiming the good news of God in Christ using the gifts God has given us.
St. George’s Episcopal Church seeks to serve others in our community, the nation and the world through our resources, our time and our talents. Through our Outreach Funding Committee and our Mission Committee we offer our funds to agencies and projects as well as provide our congregation with opportunities for volunteer ministries. Jesus tells us “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” We pray that you will find a ministry (or ministries) that will match your interest and passion and that you will volunteer your time and your heart to seek and serve God in all persons.Please visit the Outreach table in our main hallway for more information or contact Larry Trabue 615-744-3777, Sam Coleman 615-210-6057, or Don Shriver 615-515-1714. You can also email volunteer@stgeorgesnashville.org.
Siloam Health Center
www.siloamhealth.orgIn 1988, several Christian medical providers had a vision for an interdenominational ministry in the Nashville community. Their service would live out the Biblical and historical commitment of the Church to care for the poor and the sick. The vision became a reality when the doors of Siloam opened in the fall of 1991. Siloam provides physical and spiritual care by providing affordable, high-quality health care to the uninsured and underserved by the health care system.
Nashville CARES
www.nashvillecares.orgNashville CARES is Tennessee’s leading community-based AIDS service organization. Its mission is to promote and participate in a comprehensive and compassionate response to HIV and AIDS infection through education, advocacy, and related supportive services. The doors of CARES are open to anyone affected by HIV and AIDS in need of comfort and care. There is no charge for any services.
Oasis Center
www.oasiscenter.orgOasis Center is a place where young people experience success. For more than 33 years, the professionals and volunteers of Oasis have dedicated themselves to making sure that all youth have access to a safe place, caring adults, and opportunities to contribute to the Nashville community. Oasis Center, over these years, has received numerous awards for achievements in management and public relations and is one of the nation’s most comprehensive and innovative agencies for teenagers and their families.
The Sponsors
This program grew out of Time to Rise, Inc. The Sponsor’s process addresses the needs of at-risk students in the public school system. Often students who are successful in completing high school are unable to continue their education at the college level without financial aid. The Sponsors provide aid to Tennessee high school seniors who have been nominated by their school through needs based scholarships up to $2500.
Boulevard Bolt
www.thebolt.orgFirst organized in 1994 by St. George’s Episcopal Church, this 5-mile run/walk on Belle Meade Boulevard is held annually on Thanksgiving Day. The Bolt is sponsored by three neighboring congregations, Temple Ohabai Sholom, Immanuel Baptist Church, and St. George’s. Proceeds from this event are designated to ministries for the hungry and the homeless.
The Campus for Human Development
www.chd-nashville.orgThe Campus for Human Development provides sanctuary and hospitality to over 3,000 homeless individuals in Nashville through Room in the Inn, Respite Care for the medically fragile, Guest House, the Education Center, and various other programs. Emphasizing the Scriptural ideals of love and community through service to homeless individuals, the Campus provides people of Nashville an opportunity to respond directly to those in need. The Campus emphasizes human development and recovery through education, self-help, and work. It is designed to create a public/private partnership that allows a comprehensive response to homelessness in Davidson County and provide a single site of services for the homeless.
Room in the Inn
The Room in the Inn program provides safe, warm shelter to Nashville’s homeless during the winter months. Over 150 congregations work with the Campus for Human Development to provide shelter and food each evening from November 1 to March 31 to Nashville’s homeless. St. George’s hosts Room in the Inn the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month from November through March.
Habitat for Humanity
www.habitat.orgHabitat is an ecumenical housing ministry which helps families own their own homes. Each family gives 500 hours of time to the construction effort. In 2005 St. George’s built their 6th Habitat for Humanity home and will begin work on a 7th home in Spring of 2007. The fellowship engendered by this project along with the satisfaction of making a significant difference in one family’s life are life giving.
Lenten Food Drive
St. George’s annual Lenten Food Drive supports the Second Harvest Food Bank. Over 6,000,000 pounds of food is distributed yearly through the Food Bank’s multiple programs. Food is distributed to over 32,500 families through the Emergency Food Box Program and to more than 450 agencies, soup kitchens, day-care centers, and other non-profit groups.Matthew 25
www.m25m.orgThis transitional shelter program for homeless men who are employed provides the time for them to accumulate funds to establish their own permanent residence. Counseling, job training, and social support services are provided. Volunteer opportunities include the preparation and serving of supper by area congregations.
Sunday Lunch Program
The Lunch Program, housed at the Campus for Development, provides a meal for up to 200 homeless men and women each Sunday from 11:00 to noon. It was founded by Episcopal volunteers and continues to be coordinated by Christ Church Cathedral. St. George’s Church allocates funds and provides volunteers to make and serve lunch six times per year.Pastoral Counseling Center
The Counseling Center, based at Vine Street Christian Church, provides individual and family counseling on a sliding scale basis. Participating congregations are able to refer individuals to the Center.St. Luke's Community House
www.stlukescommunityhouse.orgFounded in 1913 by the Daughters of the King and affiliated with the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee, St. Luke’s serves families in the West Nashville area providing a variety of services and ministries.
Children: Programs for children at St. Luke’s include a day care/preschool for 2 to 7 year olds, summer camp, well baby clinic, Boys and Girls club, recreational sports, Success by Six program, and the Christmas Toy Store.
Families: St. Luke’s provides counseling, medical services through the Family Clinic, emergency aid funds, and a satellite location for Second Harvest Food Bank. The Adopt a Family program provides families an avenue to share the gift of Christmas with those who live in the St. Luke’s area.
Seniors and Handicapped Citizens: Available services include mobile meals, visitation to shut-ins, transportation, and household repairs and lawn mowing.
Volunteer Opportunities: There are multiple opportunities to be involved at St. Luke’s with time, talent and resources. Hands on opportunities include delivering mobile meals, visitation to shut-ins, transportation for seniors and the handicapped. The Day Care uses volunteers for hosting special events and parties, providing supplies, reading to the children, helping with art, music, and sports programs. Volunteers may also assist with building and grounds maintenance, the newsletter (St. Luke’s Light) mailing, the Toy Store, and the This N’ That Thrift Shop.
This 'N That Thrift Shop
The This N’ That Thrift Shop, located at 5007 Georgia Avenue, opened twenty-two years ago. All profits support St. Luke’s Day Care Center and since its inception the Shop has contributed over a million dollars to St. Luke’s. This N’ That is staffed by volunteers from the Episcopal Churches in the Nashville area. Duties include sorting the merchandise, storing, pricing, displaying and selling.West Nashville Community Development Partnership
Many local organizations have partnered together to improve the R.U.N (Robertson, Urbandale and Nations) neighborhoods. Every second Saturday from April through October volunteers gather to provide home repairs to families in the West Nashville neighborhoods.Magdalene
www.thistlefarms.orgMagdalene, a residential housing and recovery program for Nashville women with a criminal history of prostitution and drug abuse, was formed in September 1997 by the Reverend Becca Stevens of Saint Augustine’s chapel. The first house opened with 5 women and today there are four houses with plans to continue to expand. Thistle Farms, a cottage industry, managed by the women of Magdalene manufactures bath and body care products.
Troop 31 Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scout Troop 31 was founded 76 years ago at the Church of the Advent. In the 1950’s, the Troop Chapter was moved to St. George’s Church where it continues to be a vital part of the Parish’s outreach. Currently there are 80 scouts and 30 adult leaders who continue the troop’s tradition of excellence. Troop 31 has awarded the rank of Eagle Scout to over 150 young men. Scouting stresses duty to God and Country, helpfulness to other people, and physical, mental, and moral strength. These traditional principles serve youth well in life and are consistent with the church’s teachings.
Our Little Roses Home for Girls
www.ourlittleroses.orgTo see a short highlight video of the 2007 Our Little Roses Mission Trip, click here.
San Pedro Sula, Honduras
In the summer of 1993, St George’s undertook its first mission trip to Our Little Roses, a home for 65 abused, abandoned, or orphaned girls, infants through twenty-two years old. Each year since, approximately 40 parishioners, youths and adults, travel to Honduras in February and June to provide physical labor to improve the girls’ home, to organize special activities for the girls such as swimming, crafts, a cookout, and to worship with the girls and the congregation at “El Buen Pastor” the Episcopal cathedral in Honduras.
The Our Little Roses Ministries has been expanded to include the following projects: a neighborhood medical clinic located near the home staffed by two doctors and a nurse; Mark 10:14, a freestanding building that has 2 bedrooms for infants to seven year olds and a bi-lingual school; and a transitional apartment building for the girls who have graduated from high school and are working and attending college. Funds to support the ministry come from individuals and churches. St George’s has contributed to the building of Mark 10:14 (where the dining room is named for St George’s), to the girls’ weekly allowance fund, to a dental fund to provide orthodontic care, and to a program offered in the home to teach the girls English. Each year over 65 St. George’s families participate in the “Shoebox of Love “ project by filling a shoebox with new items for a special girl. The summer missionaries deliver these boxes to the girls along with duffel bags full of donated nearly new clothing.
By giving in so many ways to Our Little Roses, the church continues to be enriched. As one St George’s youth who went on a summer trip to Our Little Roses said, “I now have a large and very special family made up of the 65 girls of Our Little Roses and the 30 St George’s members who shared this life changing experience with me.
Episcopal Relief and Development
www.er-d.orgThe primary relief organization of the Episcopal Church in the United States supports rehabilitation and self-help programs throughout the world, particularly when there are natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, or floods.
Mid-Cumberland Mountain Ministries
The Diocese of Tennessee provides services to the Grundy County area of Tennessee through the Mid-Cumberland Mountain Ministries. Services offered include assistance to battered wives and children, a truck stop ministry, an alternative school, and a GED program.University of the South School of Theology
www.theology.sewanee.orgThe Outreach at St. George’s includes the support of our seminaries, which train the future ordained leadership of our church. A General Convention resolution specifies that 1% of a budget be given for theological education. The Outreach Committee divides these Funds between the University of the South School of Theology at Sewanee and the Virginia Theological Seminary. The Rev. R. Leigh Spruill, The Rev. Gene B. Manning, and The Rev. Timothy Jones are graduates of Sewanee.
Blue Monarch
www.bluemonarch.orgLocated in Grundy County, the Blue Monarch is a nurturing community for the women of Tennessee, particularly the Cumberland Plateau area, who have lost hope or have been taught to never have hope for a better life. The Monarch’s mission is to provide a safe sanctuary for abused women and their children where their physical and emotional needs will be met while learning good work ethic, developing necessary life skills and experiencing a sense of community. Susan Binkley, Executive Director, 931-924-8900.
International Justice Mission
www.ijm.orgThe International Justice Mission is a Christian agency, led by human rights professionals, that helps people suffering injustice and oppression who cannot rely on local authorities for relief. The agency documents and monitors conditions of abuse and oppression, educates the church and the public about abuses and mobilizes intervention on behalf of victims. IJM was founded to serve God’s passion for justice and fulfill the Biblical mandate of Isaiah 1:17 that tells us to “learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan and plead the widow.