News Blog

Volunteer Opportunities at The Table

April 29, 2016 by St. George's Leave a Comment

We have a number of needs and opportunities with The Table at St. George’s right now. For information, contact outreach@stgeorgesepiscopal.net.

Meet the farm truck on Sunday afternoons – They generally arrive at the George St. entrance of St. George’s around 3 p.m. — specific arrival depends on I-95 traffic. We need some muscle to move 50-pound crates, plus light work of checking in what we receive.
VA’s Health Insurance Programs for Children & Pregnant Women – There is a free workshop on Thursday, May 12, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Fick Conference Center – Carl D. Silver Health Center Bldg. Learn how to sign people up for these programs. Great addition to our SNAP signups.
SNAP – There are still classes in May at the Food Bank for anyone interested in learning how to sign up people for SNAP. The Food Bank is willing to come to St. George’s to do a training session, so let us know if you are interested.
Summer Feeding Programs with the Food Bank – They are looking for people for a feeding site at Spotswood Elementary. Training sessions for food prep, site support/monitor at the Food Bank. Contact us if you are interested.

Community Give 2016

April 28, 2016 by St. George's Leave a Comment

St. George’s has several ministries/ministry partners that are participating in this year’s Community Give. Learn more about them below.

The Table at St. George’s

The Table at St. George’s is our weekly market-style food pantry focused on distributing fresh fruits and vegetables to those living with food insecurity and health conditions. The Table feeds the whole person. Each week, shoppers can select their choice of food from the market-style food pantry packed with fresh produce. Everyone is encouraged to contribute and participate in The Table. Children can select from a supply of gently used books. Nutritional information and cooking classes are offered to share healthy-living tips. At The Table, a community comes together to support one another. Donations to The Table’s Community Give will help support the operations budget and fund these continuing programs.

St. George’s Episcopal Preschool

The preschool is a play-based environment where children bloom and thrive. Donations to the preschool on Community Give help fund scholarships for families who may need some financial help to send their child to a quality preschool program. This special mission helps us reach students who might otherwise head into Kindergarten with no prior school experience, and helps them gain the extra boost to help them get their academic career off to a great start

Micah Ecumenical Ministries

Micah, one of our ministry partners, is a Christ-centered community supporting people experiencing homelessness and identifying pathways to permanent housing. Every $20 in donations to Micah helps provide services to a homeless person each day. Ending homelessness means working toward a crisis response system where it is rare, brief and non-recurrent for people living on the street or in shelters. The agency has track record of spearheading community efforts that have resulted in a 58% decrease in chronic homelessness in the last five years. In 2015, Micah was part of the community effort that helped Virginia become the first state in the country to achieve a functional end to veteran homelessness.

Stop Hunger Now Meals Have Shipped

April 28, 2016 by St. George's Leave a Comment

The meals from our “Souper Bowl of Caring” event on Feb. 7, 2016 were shipped in a container totaling 282,312 meals from a Richmond, Va. Stop Hunger Now warehouse to Highlands Friends of Haiti, whose school lunch feeding program reaches more than 2,500 needy school children at the LaPleiade School and 7 other rural schools in the area of Cange, Haiti

Founded in 1995 in connection with Zanmi Lasante (Partners in Health), La Pleiade has been faithfully serving to better the lives of children in rural Haiti, along with the network of other rural schools. This feeding program furthers the goals of the schools as these meals have both a short and long term effect on the community, schools, and on both the students and their families. When students are hungry, grades suffer. With meals, health improves, grades improve, and school attendance improves. A hot meal at school is often the only food these students will receive.

Visit www.stophungernow.org for more information about how you can support Stop Hunger Now and continue your involvement in the fight against hunger. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/stophungernow for updates, videos and photos from the field.

Thank you for volunteering with Stop Hunger Now. We truly appreciate your dedication and commitment to the vision of a world without hunger.

Rogation Sunday

April 20, 2016 by

WHAT IS ROGATION SUNDAY?

Rogation Days, an ancient custom observed since the 5th century. Rogation—meaning to ask God’s blessing of the harvest, earth and sea, reminding ourselves that we are the stewards of Creation. Originally an agricultural observance, it has been broadened and made more inclusive—the crops, the catch of the sea, the fruits of our labors in all their aspects.

A pagan custom was “beating the bounds”, with a procession walking out the boundary lines of the village and marking the bounds with stakes. Sticks of willow and birch were used to strike the stakes; hence, “beating the bounds”. Subsequently the custom became incorporated into Rogation Days celebration and was celebrated by walking the boundaries of the parish and acknowledging in this way our tangible stewardship.

Rogation Days are to honor God for all creation, and to pray for the land and sea and the gifts of labor, and for the needs of all. The traditional Rogation Days are the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day and Rogation Sunday is the Sixth Sunday after Easter.

Bring Your Shovels!

At all services today we will pray for God’s Blessings on your gardens and the community Garden and the Flores family farm that provides produce for our food ministry The Table. Bring your seeds, your hoe or trowel or a small garden ornament to be blessed at our services on Sunday, May 1.

THE SCIENCE & SPIRITUALITY OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Rabbi Devorah Lynn and Fred Lipschultz, Ph.D

Sydnor Hall May 1, 10 a.m.

In honor of Rogation Sunday join Devorah and Fred as they talk about the current scientific wisdom and how sacred text speaks to us. They will also talk about what impact we can have individually and as a community.

Dr. Fred Lipschultz is the Regional Coordinator for the National Climate Assessment and Senior Scientist at USGCRP. The Program works to coordinate 13 Federal agencies that conduct climate research for the President’s Climate Science Advisor in the Office of Science & Technology Policy at the White House. He also teaches Salsa Dancing .

Rabbi Devorah Chaplain for The Jewish Social Services of Montgomery County Maryland and Georgetown University Hospital.

Death Penalty Awareness at St. George’s

April 18, 2016 by St. George's Leave a Comment

On Sunday, April 17, 2016, during confirmation and the renewal of baptismal vows, the Right Rev. Ted Gulick asked the St. George’s congregation, “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” The Outreach Commission is having conversation about the laws in Virginia that directly impact those who have been found guilty of taking the life of another, requiring the loss of their own life at the hands of the state. Can we respond to the call to respect the dignity of every human being when at the same time our justice system resorts to state sanctioned killing of its citizens who have done grievous wrongs?

Our present legislative body has struggled this session with bringing back the electric chair as default method of execution should lethal drugs be made unavailable. (Drug companies having provided the “lethal cocktail” in the past no longer choose to sell their drugs to states which use it for executions.)

The Governor has vetoed that “electric chair” bill and instead has proposed seeking out other manufacturers to provide execution drugs and keeping the identity of those agencies secret. The Governor contends that manufacturers will continue to refuse to supply drugs to Virginia unless their names are kept under wraps. Other lawmakers insist that the execution of human beings is something that ought to have the maximum transparency and not be shrouded in secrecy.

Join us in this most timely conversation as the Governor proposes changes to the vetoed “electric chair” bill and looks to continue executions through secret compounding agencies. If interested in being part of this conversation or if you would like more information on how we can create awareness of this present day issue of justice and respecting ALL life, contact Debbie Simpson or Carey Chirico.