Outreach
The Community Ministry committee spearheads the church’s involvement in several interfaith service agencies including the Salvation Army, Samaritan Center, and Common Ground Benevolence Office. The parish collects non-perishable food items and the food is given on alternating months to Salvation Army and the Samaritan Center for distribution to the needy.
Salvation Army
Grace Church has diligently worked to establish an ongoing relationship with the work of the Salvation Army Center of Hope in Jefferson City. Parishioners serve in the following ways:
Lohman Prayer Garden and Playground
Grace Church has created a prayer garden and playground adjacent to the Salvation Center of Hope for use by center residents and the community. Both Grace Church and its scouting program work to see that the garden and playground are maintained and well-kept.
Meals at the Salvation Army Center of Hope
Each month a volunteer group of Grace Church members prepares and delivers dinners on the third Sunday of each month to 40 - 60 residents of the shelter and others in the community who are hungry.
Annual Salvation Army Picnic
On the 3rd Sunday in September, the Grace family prepares, serves, and shares a picnic meal with residents of the Salvation Army Center of Hope and people from the center neighborhood. Live music is provided by members of the parish.
Red Kettle Bell Ringing
Each December, Grace Church parishioners of all ages volunteer at Salvation Army Red Kettles Campaign in Jefferson City to raise money for Salvation Army’s work in the community.
Common Ground
Common ground is a partnership between the First United Methodist Church and six other downtown Jefferson City churches, including Grace Episcopal Church. The organization provides financial assistance through a small benevolence ministry, has a Families Forward program that works with families to become stable through housing and other needs. Grace Church’s involvement includes:
Benevolence Office tasks
Each Tuesday of the month, parishioners answer the phone and fill out applications for clients and give to the social workers to process.
Families Forward
Parishioners work as volunteer advocates for the families as they move through the program. Our deacon is the liaison between volunteer advocates, Family Forward participants and the Common Ground staff.
Vegetable/flower garden
Grace Church garden volunteers plant and tend to flowers – and in normal years – vegetables, in raised beds on the building grounds.
Samaritan Center
Parishioners do some clerical work and serve on the Samaritan Center’s advisory council and board.
Jefferson City Room At The Inn (JCRATI)
One of Grace Church's newer community ministries is helping at the low barrier winter shelter for the unhoused. JCRATI provides 20 cots every night from December 1 until winter weather moderates in mid-March. JCRATI provides shelter for both men and women and does not require an ID or background checks, so individuals who do not qualify for space at the Salvation Army Shelter of Hope can find a warm and safe place and a hot dinner and breakfast. If you would like to participate in this ministry by organizing a meal, providing food, helping to serve, covering a volunteer shift or contributing money for needed items, we would love to have you join us.
Beyond Our Community
Grace Episcopal Church has financially supported the following organizations that strive to serve the less fortunate of the world:
- Episcopal Relief & Development Fund – works in collaboration with church partners and other local organizations to facilitate healthier, more fulfilling lives in communities that are struggling with hunger, poverty, disaster and disease.
- Episcopal City Mission – provides for the ongoing spiritual needs of detained children in St. Louis City and County.
- Sierra Leone Association Scholarship Fund – the association raises funds and provides scholarships to youths in Sierra Leone.