Water Ministry | St. Columba's Episcopal Church

The Water Ministry offers community and hospitality to the needy and homeless in our neighborhood. We provide showers, laundry service, a place to relax and talk, and a hot midday meal. Parishioners and other volunteers manage the showers, run the washer and dryer and cook and serve the meals. Some of our neighbors badly need a place to visit where they can meet some of their daily requirements and are treated with respect. The Water Ministry meets that need.

When the church closed at the start of the pandemic the Ministry had to shut its doors too. Since reopening in June of 2021, our guest numbers have gradually increased, reaching between 25 and 35 a day; they continue to grow.

SERVE

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The Water Ministry is a wonderful opportunity to love and serve the Lord in a real and tangible way, as well as an opportunity for fellowship with parishioners and others who volunteer.

To sustain the Ministry we need more volunteers. There are opportunities to cook, manage the showers and laundry; as well as serve coffee, tea and meals to our guests.

Currently, we are open three days a week, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and we hope to be open for a fourth day as well. Every month we circulate a roster where volunteers can sign up for one morning in the month, one morning a week or however many mornings works for them. Sometimes a volunteer needs to skip a month, and that’s fine too.

We also prepare a wonderful Christmas lunch with all the trimmings every year, attracting as many as 90 to100 guests. A special call for volunteers goes out in November. This is a joyous occasion for guests and volunteers alike.

For families and those who cannot volunteer during the week, the church also runs another program serving the same population, the Friendship Place Snack Program. Information about this program can be found at https://www.columba.org/friendship-place/

If you would like to know more about the Water Ministry, please contact Charles Taylor [email protected], or Penny Ray [email protected].

CONTACT: CHARLES TAYLOR, PENNY RAY | E-MAIL

Penny Ray

Scheduling and Operations

Charles Taylor

Steering Committee Chair

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