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Social Action at St. Paul’s
The St. Lawrence Guild helps members of St. Paul’s take action outside our parish walls by discerning and responding to the needs of those both near and far. St. Paul’s is located in the urban heart of Seattle, so we need not look further than our own doors to find persons in need. And while this group does focus on local ministries such as efforts to help the homeless, we also are joining our sisters and brothers in the larger Episcopal Church to respond to needs across the world.
Fundamentally, we see the purpose of our parish as nurturing our members so that they will bring Christian presence and action to their own family lives, work lives and civic lives. Thus, the emphasis at St. Paul’s is not on what might be called “corporate” social action, but rather on the way in which each of us embodies the “Christian Way” in our everyday lives.
With this said, the following are some modest social action efforts that we are currently engaged in as a parish:
St. Paul’s continues to deepen its relationship with the Millionair Club Charity, an 88-year-old agency in Belltown that provides services and job opportunities to homeless and near-homeless men. We are supporting the MCC in two ways: providing and training volunteers to teach basic computer skills to MCC clients, and offering occasional food drives and other volunteer work to support MCC’s meal program. In the spring of 2011, we plan to host another fundraising event at St. Paul’s similar to the successful fundraiser we held on Holy Thursday 2010.
We are continuing to collect donations of nonperishable food for the Food Bank at St. Mary’s .
We offer our homeless neighbors food coupons one day a week (Wednesdays 1:00 to 4:00 PM) out of our volunteer-staffed office.
We participate in the general appeals that come to us from Episcopal Relief and Development as well as special appeals we make on occasions such as the Feast of Saint Mary the Virgin at which we collect money for the Women’s Development Fund within Episcopal Relief and Development.
Please contact parishoffice@stpaulseattle.org for questions, or if you'd like to participate in one of these ministries.