OUTREACH
SERVICE TO OTHERS is the backbone of our faith. Explore all the ways you can serve and give back with Christ Church.
SUMMER OF SERVICE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES 2024
Bright Bridge Lunch
Friday, June 21 – 8:30 AM-12:30 PM
Join us in preparing and serving lunch to community members in need with Bright Bridge’s Food Ministry Program.
For more information on Bright Bridge Ministries, click here.
FavorHouse Round-Up Fundraising Event
Friday, June 21 – 6:00 PM-10:00 PM
Enjoy live country music from Blackwater Country, dancing, walkabout food tasting, fun & games,and charity. All proceeds directly support programs and services to help local victims of domestic violence and their children escape abuse and build a new beginning.
Tickets and more information available here.
Feeding the Gulf Coast
Friday, July 26 – 12:45-3:00 PM
Volunteers will help sort food at Feeding the Gulf Coast's warehouse located in Milton.
There are only 9 spots available, and a waiver is required, so you must sign up in advance.
Volunteers 12-15 years old must have a parent or adult responsible for them in attendance. Youth 16-18 can come without an adult chaperone.
If you are interested in volunteering, please email Krista.
FOR THOSE IN NEED
ONGOING OPPORTUNITIES
If you are interested in any of the below opportunities, please contact Krista McGraw (850-432-5115 or Email) who can connect you with the ministry liaison or committee chair member
Bridging the Gap
“Serving People in Need -- Rain or Shine, All Year Round.”
People in dire need of a meal continue to join the line that forms every Thursday afternoon at the Lee Street bridge. They appear all year round no matter the weather conditions -- heavy rain, cold and windy, or sweltering heat. Each week amid the crowd of 75 to 100 people are new faces and "regulars," women, children, teens, and men.
Help support this year-round ministry by assisting with food preparation, assisting at Lee Street bridge with serving food on Thursdays at 5:00p.m, donating food or funds to Bridging the Gap. This ministry is coordinated by Christ Church parishioners, Dawn and Carol Cooper.
Feeding the Gulf Coast Mobile Food Pantry
Especially during COVID-19 and the increased need for food for our neighbors, Christ Church partnered with Feeding the Gulf Coast to become a Mobile Food Pantry and hand out 10,000lbs of food to over 500 hundred individuals every other week. Christ Church will continue to be a food distribution site. Volunteers help sort and distribute the food with some labor-intensive jobs (i.e., carrying boxes of food) and other jobs (i.e., people filling out forms for each car). Honey Harris coordinates these events and volunteer opportunities.
Epps Christian Center
The Epps Christian Center is a non-denominational church with a mission to reach out to the lost at any cost. One component of their ministry that Christ Church provides support is with food distribution. As Pastor Sylvia Tisdale describes, “Food justice is an important part of community justice.” The Outreach Committee coordinates volunteer dates for the summer.
Manna Food Pantry
Manna is a local grassroots organization fighting hunger in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. They believe every person has a right to live free of hunger and to be treated with respect and dignity.
Food drives for Manna are a tradition at Christ Church, called “Bag It For Manna.” We hold events in both the spring and fall, in which decorated bags from the Episcopal Day School are handed out after services and parishioner return them full of needed food donations. The Fall event is our largest during the year, culminating in a joint event with the Episcopal Day School to Fill the Mayflower. Additionally, a year-round box is kept at the church office to collect needed food items.
The people who are Christ Church, both teens and adults, also have the opportunity to further assist Manna at their warehouse. Our “Bag it for Manna” is coordinated by Honey Harris. The Outreach Committee also coordinates volunteer dates in the warehouse throughout the year.
Waterfront Rescue Mission
“No one dreams of being homeless.”
The staff and volunteers at Waterfront Rescue Mission strive to address the physical and spiritual needs of people who are hungry and homeless by providing tools and services that bring about positive and lasting life change. Many seeking help at Waterfront Mission have jobs, but struggle to keep their families together and several are military veterans.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Episcopal Relief and Development
Episcopal Relief & Development is the compassionate response of The Episcopal Church to human suffering in the world. Hearing God’s call to seek and serve Christ in all persons and to respect the dignity of every human being, Episcopal Relief & Development serves to bring together the generosity of Episcopalians and others with the needs of the world. The People who are Christ Church support this ministry annually through a “March Madness” project that supports agriculture and livelihood of communities around the world, coordinated by Hilda Jones.
United Thank Offering
The United Thank Offering (UTO) is a ministry of The Episcopal Church for the mission of the whole church. Through UTO, individuals are invited to embrace and deepen a personal daily spiritual discipline of gratitude. UTO encourages people to notice the good things that happen each day, give thanks to God for those blessings and make an offering for each blessing using a UTO Blue Box. UTO is entrusted to receive the offerings, and to distribute the 100% of what is collected to support innovative mission and ministry throughout The Episcopal Church and Provinces of the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church Women of Christ Church coordinate the UTO ingathering.
Mission Trip to Border
In late August 2019, Christ Church sent a small, hard-working team to the border. Our purpose for going to the border between the United States and Mexico was to learn, to discern, to build relationships for ways we can continue to support and empower the work of people who are transforming the lives there. We are all God’s children, made in His image and redeemed by Christ, and we are sent forth as that explosion of joy to go out to all the world – to show compassion and love, especially to those who face struggles. Therefore, our trip was one of actually putting our hands and feet and resources we have to use in showing people – people who are often forgotten – that they are loved.
For more information on our trip and potential future trips to serve at the border, please contact Rev. Katie. Additionally, check out the following organizations where we continue to support and build relationships to be a channel of God’s blessing to those in need:
FOR CHILDREN IN NEED
ONGOING OPPORTUNITIES
If you are looking for ways to be involved, please contact Rev. Katie (850-432-5115 or Email) who can connect you with the ministry liaison or committee chair member.
Montclair Elementary
Montclair Elementary is an amazing school, located in one of the most impoverished communities of Pensacola. Students often struggle, have traumatic lives, and find the school to be a safe haven. The school has a mission to create a place where students want to learn, teachers want to teach, and the community comes together. The administration, staff, and teachers have done incredible work in transforming the school and making a positive difference in the lives of the students.
Over the past two years, Christ Church has become a community partner for Montclair where we listen to the administration and learn ways that we can bless the ongoing work of the staff. We are committed to providing mentors, assisting with school experience trips, engaging ways to appreciate the teachers and staff, and continuing to stock the school store. To be involved with the partnership at Montclair and to learn more about how to be a role model for students, contact Rev. Katie. Jennifer Adkins serves as the coordinator for school parties for classes throughout the year and coordinating teacher appreciation events.
Central Gulf Coast CDF Freedom Schools
The Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools® Model is a summer program, rooted in the Mississippi Freedom Summer project of 1964, designed to be a literacy and cultural enrichment program for children and youth in underprivileged communities. As a research-based, multicultural integrated reading curriculum, the program provides academic enrichment, parent and family development, civic engagement with social action, intergenerational servant leadership development, and a focus on nutrition and health.
The Central Gulf Coast CDF Freedom School opened on June 24 to promote literacy for the youth in our community from Montclair Elementary, Dixon School of the Arts, and Global Learning Academy. Thank you to the Rev. John Phillips and to Jennifer Adkins, board members, in helping to prepare the opening of the school.
Children in Crisis
Since opening its doors in 2008, Children in Crisis (CIC) has provided a safe, secure, loving home to more than 800 children at the CIC Children’s Neighborhood. The CIC Neighborhood, located in Fort Walton Beach, contains an emergency shelter and five family-style homes, all staffed with full-time, round-the-clock house parents. The beautifully landscaped campus also has eight studio apartments for transitional housing to help prevent young adults aging out of the foster care program from becoming homeless.
FOR WOMEN IN NEED
ONGOING OPPORTUNITIES
If you are looking for ways to be involved, please contact Rev. Katie (850-432-5115 or Email) who can connect you with the ministry liaison or committee chair member.
FavorHouse
FavorHouse of Northwest Florida is a domestic violence center serving Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. FavorHouse shelters and crisis lines are staffed 24 hours a day, year-round. Victims, their families, and those who are assisting them may call for help at any time at (850) 434-6600. Christ Church continues to support FavorHouse and women in need.
Pathways for Change
Those who are imprisoned
Pathways for Change is a faith-based, non-profit organization focused on changing lives, reducing crime, and building futures. Pathways fulfills its mission by offering programs in the areas of education, workforce development, counseling, reintegration services, family support services, and veteran services. Additionally, Pathways fights poverty through four community programs including the Men’s Residential Treatment, The Family Center, the Women Veteran’s Treatment, and P.A.T.H. Internships. Sarah Ballew coordinates with Pathways for Change.