Home > Outreach

    Bridging Our Mission to the Community                     

     Our mission efforts vary widely in action, range, and scope, from the simple to the complex. This variety is an outward sign of our growing awareness of the many ways God calls us to serve and help heal those who, amid the world’s ways, feel broken.

     Currently, we provide support to the following groups; click on their logos for more informa­tion about thm. For information on our church’s Outreach efforts, click here; for notices of immediate needs, click here. Thank you.

Each November, just before Thanksgiving, we work with the Peninsula Foodbank and volunteers from many local churches and organizations, helping to move donated food and solicit monetary contributions to the Foodbank’s mission. Every dollar donated provides up to $10 worth of food to the hungry of our community. In 2012, we helped the Foodbank solicit and process donations and food for almost 200,000 meals.

Living Interfaith Network (LINK) is a nonprofit coalition of faith communities to help the needy through outreach programs, food, counseling, education, and advocacy. It was founded in 1990 in Newport News to break the cycle of poverty by helping people help themselves.

LINK is one of our special charitable recipients; in each of the years 2010 through 2012, from the net earnings of our annual Oktoberfest, we were able to donate $5,000 to LINK.

During the winter months, LINK operates a shelter program known as PORT. Each year St. Stephen’s takes a turn providing meals, shelter, and a compassionate spirit.

As part of the Episcopal Church’s outreach to college students, we operate our Can­ter­bury Ministry. In this ministry we provide students with food, fellowship, worship, and study in the Parish Hall and its Canterbury Room. We seek to let students know we care about them and are here if they need help, and we provide opportunities for them to worship and work with us.

The Gardens at Warwick Forest (formerly Riverside Regional Conva­les­cent Cen­ter) pro­vides continuing care around the clock. Our volun­teers meet in the chapel every fourth Tuesday to transport residents to and from 11:00 a.m. worship services celebrated by Fr Scott. This occurs in the Manchester III lounge; all are invited.

A faith-based retirement community, The Chesapeake provides assisted living, memory support, and full-time health care. Our volunteers trans­port residents to and from worship services, as scheduled by The Chesapeake.

Parishioners, neighbors, and friends can leave donations of pet food and supplies in one of the Pantry containers in the narthex and the parish office. (You can find a list of items needed by the Pantry here.) The Pet Pantry is a registered 501(c)(3) corporation and all donations are tax-deductible; if you would like a receipt, contact Elaine Marshall.

Please consider helping the Peninsula Pet Pantry; your donations can save pet owners from having to condemn a beloved member of their family to a kill facility or shelter.

St. Stephen’s donates half of its loose-plate offerings (i.e., unpledged donations received on Sundays) each month to a specific charitable enterprise chosen by the Outreach Committee. Recipients for 2013 are:

• Peninsula Pastoral Counseling Center
• Habitat for Humanity
• Episcopal Relief and Development
• The American Red Cross, Hampton Roads Chapter
• Peninsula Rescue Mission
• Menchville House
• Seminary support — Sewanee School of Theology at the University of the South
• St. Stephen’s Perpetual Fund for church-sponsored scholarships
• The ARC of the Virginia Peninsula   
• SPCA (Peninsula) 
• The Virginia Wounded Warrior Program  
• Virginia Council of Churches’ Refugee Resettlement Program

 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.
— Ephesians 2: 10.

This page last updated January 5, 2013.