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Outreach Ministry:
Every month we receive thank you's from organizations in
our community and around the world for gifts that have
come from our parish.
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Members of St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church are engaged in a variety of ministries to the local community and the world. We consider both York and the world-at-large to be our mission field. Among the many ways we serve the world outside our doors are the following:
Adopt-a-Block – Parish members meet every two months to clean the 100 block of North Beaver Street as a ppart of the City of York’s Adopt-a-Block program to help keep the city streets clean.
Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen – Parishioners provide twenty-plus casseroles for the Our Daily Bread soup kitchen each month. Four to six parishioners serve the noon meal at Our Daily Bread the fourth Tuesday of each month
Meals on Wheels – Each Monday, volunteers from St. John’s pick up and deliver meals to homebound persons who participate in this program. Typically, meals are taken to four to six homes each week. Volunteers are always welcome to join in this ministry.
Food Pantry – St. John the Baptist participates with other food pantries in York in providing food for needy individuals and families. The Food Pantry Clearing House assigns appointments to individuals and families to come to St. John each Thursday afternoon to pick up food. We provide food to five to ten individuals/family units each week. We also provide single bags of food appropriate to the situation of homeless people who have no cooking facilities. These are kept in the food pantry, easily accessible for the church office personnel to hand out on an as-needed basis. The food pantry is supported by parishioners who bring food the third Sunday of each month or who provide a monetary donation and by the Gift Card Program, which raises funds to purchase food to supplement that donated by parishioners.
Gift Card Program – The Gift Card program began in 2003. Gift cards from Giant, Weis, and other stores in the area are sold on Sundays after each service. The church receives a rebate of approximately 5% of the dollar amount on each card. The money raised is used to help keep the food pantry stocked and for other Outreach projects.
Rummage Sale – The rummage sale provides a resource for clothing, toys, and miscellaneous items for needy people in the community. The rummage sale is held twice yearly, in the spring and in the fall. Items not sold are turned over to the York Rescue Mission or other low income service organization for their outreach work. Money raised from the Rummage Sales is used in St. John outreach work.
CROP Walk – Members of St. John the Baptist participate in the annual CROP Hunger Walk, held in October, which raises funds for Church World Service hunger programs and for hunger programs in the York Community. We typically have over twenty walkers who raise over $2,500 in pledges support each year. Twenty five percent of the funds raised in the CROP Hunger Walk remain in York to support feeding programs in the community. This program is coordinated by the York County Council of Churches.
Eyeglass recycling – Eyeglasses are collected for delivery to the Lion’s Club for their programs.
Box Tops/Labels for Education/Can tabs – Labels for Education and Box tops for Education are brought in by parishioners and delivered to the PTO at Ferguson Elementary School. The PTO turns in the labels and box tops for cash which they use to support various programs at Ferguson Elementary. Can tabs are also delivered to the Ferguson Elementary PTO, which turns them over to the Ronald McDonald House in Hershey. The can tabs are then turned in for money to support the Ronald McDonald House..
Companion Parish – St. John the Baptist has a companion parish relationship with the Episcopal Church of St. Steven in Aracatuba, Brazil. We work to find ways to assist the companion parish in its programs. The Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania has a companion relationship with the Diocese of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
St. Nicholas – coin-filled pouches – Money is collected by parishioners in small green bags; one quarter for the number of month of the year; January - 1 quarter, February – 2 quarters, and so on. The money is received at the Feast of St. Nicholas and used to purchase toys, clothing and other items for a needy family in the community
Staying Connected – This interfaith volunteer care giving network, based at Jewish Family Services, provides transportation for people who need to go to the doctor, dentist, therapist or other professional for care and do not have transportation..
Habitat for Humanity – Parishioners participate in York Habitat for Humanity building projects. We also provide funding for projects on which we are working.
Mission Trips – Parishioners from the parish participate in Mission Trips each year, having made trips to El Salvador and to the U. S. gulf Coast to assist in cleanup and rebuilding after hurricane disasters.
Easter Luncheon – We provide an Easter Luncheon for needy people and for First Responders who are on duty on Easter. The meal is prepared and served in the Parish Hall by twenty or more parishioners.
Time, Talent, and Treasure are given by members of the parish to such local organizations in need as Access-York, Logos Academy, York Rescue Mission, Contact York, and the Northeast Neighborhood Association. Our financial resources are also given to Episcopal Relief and Development, the United Thank Offering, and the All Saints Relief Fund.
Low Income Housing – Three houses adjacent to the church were purchased and renovated to provide low-income rental housing for the community.
Church Buildings – The church buildings are used by the Literacy Council to teach GED classes. They are used by the Lincoln Intermediate Unit to teach English as a Second Language classes. They are also used by twelve step groups and and by a recovery group.
2011 - Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist