Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. — 1 Corinthians 12.4-7
Many in our congregation find that faith can be explored, formed, and strengthened through giving of themselves to those in need in the Boulder community, in national service, and in international mission programs. For more information about any of St. John's outreach programs listed below, contact the church office.
A homeless day resource center called Carriage House is located in the alley behind First Congregational Church at Broadway and Pine. Carriage House helps homeless people find jobs, housing and the support they need to get off the streets. Open from mid-October through April, Carriage House is committed to helping people create long-term changes transitioning them out of homelessness. From its beginning, St. John’s has supported this wonderful ministry through prayer, financial donations and volunteers.
St. John's opens its facilities for meetings, lectures, concerts and community use in Boulder. Some examples include:
St. John's Church built the San Juan del Centro low-income housing project with money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the form of a long-term mortgage loan. The St. John's Foundation, accepted by HUD as a means of channeling sales proceeds, was organized by church representative with the focus of giving the earnings of the trust to address housing needs of disadvantaged Boulder County residents. Each year, the foundation supports numerous helping organizations throughout the county.
St. John's currently is involved with projects in Cuba and Haiti. Over the past six years small mission groups have visited and lived with Episcopal parishioners in Havana, Santa Cruz del Norte, Camaguey City and Vertientes, Cuba. Fr. Tony Garcia and Fr. Rafael Garcia have also come from Cuba to visit St. John’s and several other churches here in Colorado. Through our visit exchanges and ongoing electronic communication, we continue to build our relationships and a better understanding between two cultures isolated by politics, misinformation and lack of communication; and we continue to discover a deeper level of meaning in Christ’s presence, love and hope for a better world.
St. John’s houses the administrative office for the Colorado Haiti Project. CHP is a non-profit organization whose mission is to share Christ’s love, through partnership with our brothers and sisters in Haiti, to improve the human condition. Parishioners from St. John’s have been participating in trips to St. Paul’s Mission in Petit-Trou de Nippes since 1994. CHP, in conjunction with the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, has built a church and guest house and just recently completed a Women’s Resource Center and the first floor of a primary school that now has 600 students. CHP also helps support St. Basil’s in Gonaive, and the Epsicopal Seminary of Haiti. Over the past several years, St. John’s has been engaged in musician/instructor/conductor exchanges with Holy Trinity School of Music in Port-au-Prince.
Responding to the devastation and wreckage of Hurricane Katrina, parishioner Mike Mattingly has taken people on mission trips to help those in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Praying for one another, assisting individuals in the community rebuild their homes, along with collecting money have been the primary aspects of our sister relationship.
St. John's has a long history of assisting the homeless. We support the Carriage House Day Resource Center, where food vouchers, job support, hot meals, laundry and other services are provided. We also offer support to Stand Up for Kids, which works with youth on the streets, providing shelter, food, clothing and sleeping bags.
In addition, we run the only prescription voucher program in Boulder, paying up to $20 for any prescription that cannot be covered by insurance. St. John's has accounts with Pharmaca and The Apothecary.
Good Friday offerings made at the services of Stations of the Cross at St. John's were given to help support such ministries as hospitals, schools, and orphanages in the Middle East. It has been a tradition in the Episcopal Church for the last 83 years for the Good Friday offering to be used to support the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East. The Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East is comprised of four dioceses – Cyprus and the Gulf, Egypt, Iran, and Jerusalem and covers the territory along the southern Mediterranean coast to the Persian Gulf and into Africa. We continue to pray for peace in Jerusalem and the Middle East.
United Thank Offering (UTO) is a program supported by individuals in parishes across the country and administered by the National Episcopal Church in the form of grants to further the work of the church at home and around the world. Individuals drop donations and prayers into a box whenever they have something to be thankful for. These boxes are located on a table in the parish hall.
Helping families build their own homes with volunteer help from the community, Habitat for Humanity connects parishioners with the larger Boulder community. Parishioners and clergy participate in build days, and financially support new homes.
