St. Stephen's Episcopal Church Outreach Programs

Do you have a desire to give of your time, talent, and energy to your church and community?

St. Stephen's has active local Outreach Programs including helping our community through service to Hospice and a Water Ministry, as well as an inreach program serving our members and friends in the community.

Water Ministry

St. Stephen's Water Ministry involves delivering water to people in our community who have no potable water and are unable to secure safe water for themselves. Twenty percent of the homes in Northumberland and adjoining Lancaster Counties have inadequate or no water supply. This desperate need in the community is one that parishioners of St. Stephen’s have begun to address.

More than a dozen St. Stephen’s volunteers have been delivering bottled water to roughly fifteen families since September 2007. In most cases these families are unable to acquire potable water for themselves because of illness or isolation. We recognize that delivering water to them is only a temporary stopgap.  Many of the families with water problems are also in need of assistance around their homes with roof and plumbing repair, yard clean-up, household repairs, etc. Our longer term goal is to build relationships, assess their needs and begin assisting with these other needs where we can. 

Helping people understand the water issues we face is one way we think St. Stephen's can make a difference. Some of the ways we can help raise this awareness is by hosting educational forums and going to communities and churches and demonstrating use of filtration systems. Some wells need filtration systems to make the water potable; others require repairs; many more of the shallow wells must be replaced with deeper artesian wells. The costs range from $600 for filtration systems to upwards of $10,000 for an artesian well.  The Diocese of Virginia awarded St. Stephen’s A Mustard Seed Grant in 2008 to help plan and finance the costs of broadening  this ministry.

Hospice

A dozen parishioners have been trained by Hospice and, under the direction of Northumberland coordinator Sally White, are assisting clients as the need arises.  Hospice volunteers will also use  the skills learned in Hospice training to provide pastoral care to our own parishioners and friends, a program we now know as “Inreach.” Rocco Tricarico heads up this organized effort to provide meals, transportation, and companionship to those in our parish community who are homebound.

For More Information

 For more information about St. Stephen’s outreach the projects, to volunteer to be part of the Outreach Team, or to make suggestions about possible outreach activities, contact Evie Cox, Ellen Kirby, Loretta Blakely, or Lucia Lloyd.

Our mission is to be a welcoming family, united in Christian love, worship, and service