Outreach Ministry

St. Georgians make a real difference helping others in their community. They provide financial support and volunteer in a variety of ministries, including those the church supports financially and with the time and talent of its members. The Outreach Ministry also helps St. Georgians connect with and coordinate our ministries among the larger Episcopal Church, the worldwide Anglican Communion, and other Christian denominations.

This is a group of St. Georgians who encourage, coordinate, and support the St. George’s social ministries in the community and connection with the wider church.

The Arlington Interfaith Council acts as a coordinating body for local private nonprofit social organizations represented by 45 different congregations. St. George’s participates to ensure its outreach ministries are coordinated with those of other churches. Gil Terry is St. George’s representative on the Council.

Each winter night, November through March, a local non-profit organization operates an emergency winter shelter for homeless people in the Courthouse area. Teams of St. George’s volunteers provide assistance at the shelter on Sunday evenings for the five months the shelter is open. Our volunteer coordinator for the shelter is Patty Droppers.

Arlington’s CROPWalk is an annual fundraiser for relief of local, national, and world hunger sponsored by the Arlington Interfaith Council. St. George’s EYC (youth group) members and other St. Georgians walk every  year.  St. George’s is also an early stopping point on the walk (providing water, cookies, and rest rooms). One of St. George’s major events this year will be participation, on a parish-wide basis, in CROPWalk on Saturday, October 19, 2008.

Meals on Wheels

Through the local Meals on Wheels organization, St. Georgians deliver prepared meals to Arlington residents who cannot shop or cook for themselves.

Beyond our own church

Two other congregations also use St. George’s facility. One is Iglesia San José, the oldest Episcopal Hispanic mission in our diocese, which began in 1976 as a ministry of St. George’s Church. San José provides Spanish language worship, Christian education, and outreach to the Hispanic community. The other is Amanuel Evangelical Ethiopian Church, which uses our facilities on Sundays and several nights a week to provide worship, Bible study, education, fellowship, and outreach to the Ethiopian community. We use our Cycles of Prayer to pray each week for these and other congregations in Arlington, the Diocese of Virginia, the Episcopal Church, and the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Diocese of Virginia and Region 3 Councils

Members of our parish serve as delegates to the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia’s Annual Council, which meets each February, and to Region 3 of the Diocese of Virginia (the nine Arlington Episcopal congregations), which meets each month in September through June. In this way we stay in touch with The Episcopal Church beyond our parish and coordinate our ministries. The Diocese of Virginia’s 214^th Annual Council will be held January 23 and 24 at the Hyatt Hotel in the Reston Towne Center.

San José and Amanuel liaison

St. George’s Outreach Ministry is the primary liaison with our tenant congregations: Iglesia San José and Amanuel Ethiopian Evangelical Church. We also are helping to teach English to adults at Iglesia Santa María in Falls Church.

United Thank Offering

Twice a year—this year on October 26, 2008, and May 17, 2009—the United Thank Offering asks us to deposit coins in blue collection boxes in thanksgiving for all the good things God has given us. Then, members of the Episcopal Church Women use the funds raised by UTO to make grants to mission projects in this community and around the world.