COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES AT ST. JOHN’S
Adam Renner, Outreach Chair
“Our outreach ministry is dedicated to service in the local community by providing hospitality and assistance to those in need. We try to be purposeful about “encountering,” that is, providing opportunities for folks of all walks to create caring relationships and community. Through acts of kindness, practical assistance, and dialogue, we aspire to love our neighbors as ourselves.”
HOSPITALITY BREAKFAST
You are invited to join us as we serve our unhoused and food insecure neighbors a hot breakfast each Thursday beginning at 7:30 AM at St. John's in the fellowship hall. You don't need experience and your presence is always welcome!
THURSDAYS AT 7:30 AM
INTOWN CARES FOOD PANTRY
Our congregation supports the Intown Cares Food Pantry with our food donations. We are known as the Peanut Butter, Jelly, Pasta, and Pasta Sauce church as these are the items we supply to the food pantry each week. On Sundays these items are collected in baskets near the altar.
Collected Weekly at St. John’s
WINTER FREEZE SHELTER
Winter is a harsh season, particularly for our unhoused neighbors in need of a warm place to sleep. Throughout the winter months when the temperature drops below 32* our church opens up to provide space for people to eat, rest, and sleep soundly in the warm. Volunteers are always needed!
Evenings below 32 degrees
Mercy Community Church is a grassroots community of unhoused and housed neighbors who come together to build one another up in beloved community. They’re a big ministry partner with St. John’s, and we all work together to host a clothing closet, weekly breakfast, and shelter during the winter. We also collaborate on other ways to serve, worship, and break bread together.
Hunger Walk: Each Spring, church members support and participate in the Atlanta Community Food Bank's annual Hunger Walk/Run. Proceeds from this event support six different metro hunger-relief organizations, including Lutheran Services of Georgia. Over the past several years, St. John's has been the top fund-raiser amongst Atlanta-area Lutheran churches. For the 2021 Walk/Run, we raised $4,310.
Atlanta Pride: St. John's is a participating congregation of Georgia Lutherans Welcome You!, a group of metro Atlanta ELCA congregations that intentionally welcome people of all sexual orientations and gender identities (urwelcome.info). We participate in the annual Atlanta Pride (atlantapride.org) events including the Vendor Fair and the ever popular Pride March down Peachtree Street.
AIDS Walk/Run: St. John's members form a team each Fall to participate in the Atlanta Aids Walk, the Southeast's largest fundraiser for HIV/AIDS-related support organizations. We provide both walkers and runners, who together raise thousands of dollars for the cause.
