Community Hands-On Ministries 2017
Outreach Hands-On Programs

Church of the Redeemer provides numerous opportunities for parishioners to participate in outreach ministries in a "hands-on" manner. Below you will find details for, and links to, more information on these enriching programs.
African Children's Mission

The African Children’s Mission at Redeemer funds community-based projects organized by local leaders to benefit infants and children orphaned by AIDS in Malawi.  We partner with the Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA) which not only works with us to identify worthy projects but also provides oversight of the funding to ensure that funds are indeed applied effectively and efficiently.
Christmas Meals/Baskets
Each Christmas season, Redeemer families generously contribute over 200 food baskets to local needy families and help bring cheer to our community. This program, supported by our outreach committee, provides food for community groups we work with throughout the year, such as ElderNet and St. Barnabas Mission. Outreach grocery shopping provides an easy, inexpensive way to involve yourself in the joy of bringing a meal to someone who otherwise would not be able to afford  traditional holiday food. For parishioners with young children, it provides a chance for kids to go shopping for the groceries, and gives families the opportunity to discuss how rewarding it is to help others. 
Beginning the week of Thanksgiving, shopping bags will be available with a recommended list of groceries. (The list is also available on our website.) Please shop, fill the bag and return to the parish house no later than December 19.  Only non-perishable items are needed; the church will provide the turkey or ham and fresh produce. The bags will be available for pick-up in the narthex and the church office. Please take as many as you can fill and return! 
If you have any questions, or are available to help deliver the food please, contact Jay Einspanier at jay@theredeemer.org. Volunteers are especially needed the morning of December 21 to deliver the food.

Click here for directions and shopping list for the Christmas Baskets.  PDF
Episcopal Community Services
The official outreach arm of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, ECS operates or oversees more than 30 outreach projects and programs in the Philadelphia area.

Volunteer needs: tutors in our after-school or evening literacy

programs in Philadelphia; sharing a special skill: family meal planning and cooking; teaching simple budgeting; hosting a kitchen shower among your friends and supplying needed household items to a former homeless client now getting permanent housing.

Parish contact:  Susan Ayres
Food for Friends
"Food For Friends" meets three Wednesday afternoons each month in The Redeemer Parish House Kitchen, where 89-90 delicious, single serving meals are prepared at each session by a team of 8-10 volunteers. These meals are wrapped, sealed, frozen and delivered on the following Monday to Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church, at 48th St. and Lancaster Avenue, where they are sorted, packaged in variety sets of seven meals, and delivered by Aid For Friends volunteers to elderly, indigent shut-ins in the North and West Philadelphia communities.

How can a service as essential and compassionate as this outreach ministry be so much fun for those who assist in it? Please drop by, or call us to find out! Contact David Randolph.
Interfaith Hospitality Network of the Main Line
The mission of IHN is to help momentarily homeless families achieve lasting independence, stability, and self-esteem. In the interim, the local network provides safe, temporary housing; a hot evening meal; and support services.  Hosting responsibilities rotate weekly among the 11 currently participating interfaith congregations.

Volunteer needs:  Individuals or families to prepare a simple dinner, to spend time with the parents and children after dinner, and to provide comfort and security by spending the night at the church. For more information, click on the links on the IHN page.

Parish contact: Mary Hopkins.
St. Gabriels Mission Lunch Program
At the invitation of the Rev. Nancy Deming, former Vicar of St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church, located at 101 E Roosevelt Blvd. Church of the Redeemer in Bryn Mawr is now partnering with members of St. Gabriel’s to provide a nourishing lunch to our hungry brothers and sisters on the fourth Saturday of each month. Volunteers meet at church of the Redeemer at 9:30am on the fourth Saturday of every month to prepare a nutritious meal and then take it to St. Gabriel’s where our volunteers eat and interact with those who drop in from the neighborhood.

Contact Jan Clarke for more information.
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