St. Stephen's Church Houses Needy Families

From June 27th to July 11th, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 3 John St., Westborough, MA has hosted homeless families and individuals through the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Worcester (IHN).

During the week of June 27th to July 4th, St. Stephen’s and its parishioners provided shelter, meals and hospitality for the guests.  The families slept in the rooms of the Church and are provided meals by the parishioners.  While the guests overnight in the Church, parishioners stay at the church with them for support.  The Evangelical Congregational Church will join with St. Stephen’s by providing the meals and overnight support from July 4th to July 11th.

The IHN is an organization that helps the homeless by coordinating religious organizations to provide temporary housing and meals to the homeless.  Thirty-one congregations in the Worcester area participate in this program.  While these people are being housed and fed in their time of need, IHN works to help them achieve their GEDs, and find permanent jobs and housing for them.  Since this program was formed in 1997, IHN of Worcester has helped more than 592 individuals, in a combined 196 families.  St. Stephen’s has participated annually in hosting IHN guests.

Massachusetts' Musicians Mark Mandeville and Raianne Richards Performs at
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

On Monday June 7th, 2010 at 7:00pm, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church hosted a folk music group consisting of Massachusetts' musicians Mark Mandeville and Raianne Richards.  

After spending much of the last four years touring the eastern United States as part of the folk trio “The Accident That Led Me To The World”, Mark Mandeville and Raianne Richards are on a statewide walking tour to promote their respective solo releases.  The two, accompanied by NY singer and songwriter Christopher Bell and his musical companion, Jenny Jade Albert, will walk from Becket to Somerville performing each evening along the way.  Why are they doing such a thing?  As a publicity stunt, as a statement for artistic integrity, or maybe just to get some exercise - whatever the case may be, these musicians will be taking their act on the road and through the interior of Massachusetts.   The Becket-Boston Walking Tour 2010 begins Thursday May 27 at the DreamAway Lodge in Becket and ends Saturday June 12 at the Nave Gallery in Somerville.  They will be followed for the entire length by photographer and amateur cinematographer Paul Gandy.

St Stephen's Youth Group Help Boston's Homeless

Five members of Westborough's St. Stephen's Episcopal Church’s Youth Group and their mentor traveled to Boston on April 30th to spend Friday evening and Saturday learning about and helping the homeless. 
The program, called City Reach, is a multi-church outreach program run by Ecclesia Ministries and based at St. Paul's Cathedral in Boston and is one of many outreach programs that St. Stephen's Youth Group participates in.  The City Reach program is unique however in its one-on-one experience with the homeless.  The youth made sandwiches, sorted and passed out clothes and food to the needy.  They observed and interacted with the homeless in alleys and doorways in the cold weather and got a real sense of their struggle. 
Prior to this trip eleven members of the youth group and two mentors prepared for the trip by fundraising and creating 30 care packages to hand out to the homeless people that they would meet out on the street.  The care packages contained basic hygiene products, new t-shirts, under garments and socks.  Some of the money raised by their fundraising was used to purchase food and beverages to give to the homeless.  A clothing drive in the church provided jackets and warm clothing to be handed out.
The City Reach program began on Friday with talks by former homeless people concerning their experiences, their past struggles and the strategies they used to survive.  One woman who spent most of her young life bouncing between being cared for by her homeless mother and being in foster care has made it her adult mission to help others that are homeless.  A recurring theme among the men was the destructive force of alcohol and depression on their lives resulting in their present homeless situation.  Many of them had attended excellent colleges and had good jobs but lost them as they tried to deal with life through the use of alcohol. Presently, many of them are trying to find jobs but once employers realize their address is a shelter they are let go.
After the talks the participants broke into groups and were taken on tours of homeless sites that have helped these people survive, followed by a late evening service open to all.  The next morning after a night of sleeping in the pews of the sanctuary of the Cathedral, the youth prepared sandwiches and sorted coats and clothes.   A free market of clothes, coats, toiletries and lunch was then open to the homeless.  Several groups went out into the streets to hand out food and clothes and interact with the homeless. 
At the end of the program the youth came together to discuss the experience.  A common feeling among the Westboro youth is that it isn't an “us versus them” but that we are all people and what we have today can be very easily gone tomorrow so we should always treat others the way we would always want to be treated.  They created a banner to show at St Stephen’s representing their feelings of concern for the homeless and their desire to make a difference to help the homeless including improving people’s perceptions of the homeless.  Their banner had the theme of “Make a Difference One Mission at a Time”.
This program is one that the St. Stephen youth participate in and each year it provides an emotional experience for the youth as they learn of the plight of the homeless and gain a respect for homeless people.

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St Stephen’s Collects for Frances Perkins House

In honor of Mother’s Day, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church collected items for the Francis Perkins House in Worcester. The parishioners donated many items some of which can be seen in the photo.  These items included infant car seats, infant carry seats, a high chair, activity boards, diapers, “Onesies”, baby clothes, baby bottles, wipes, towels, baby lotions and baby shampoo. 

The Francis Perkins House is dedicated to providing transitional housing and programs to teach independent living to homeless women and their children.  Francis Perkins committed her life to improving and increasing public awareness and public assistance for “poor” people during the Roosevelt “New Deal” Administration.  The program typically houses and works with an average of 8 to 10 families at a time, inspiring them to face their seemingly insurmountable challenges.

St Stephen’s Episcopal Church Parishioners Host “Our Father’s Table” Every 5th Monday of the Month

The parishioners of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church of 3 John Street, Westborough, hosted the community supper at “Our Father’s Table”, an interfaith feeding program in Marlborough on Monday, March 29th, 2010.   The program serves a free dinner to anyone who walks in but predominantly it serves the homeless.   St. Stephen’s parishioners bought, prepared, cooked and served the dinner and cleaned up, feeding the needy people who arrived.   During the dinner the parishioners socialized with the people who were there to eat.   St. Stephen’s hosts the dinner on the fifth Monday of any month, usually about four times a year, as part of its program to help the needy.

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church’s Holiday Giving Tree

The collection of gifts began recently for the annual Christmas Giving Tree at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church of 3 John Street, Westborough.  In this program, done by all churches in Westborough in which St. Stephen’s participates, parishioners provide presents to youngsters in town who would otherwise go without.  In late November, the St. Stephen’s Giving Tree was set up with gift tags on it for each child with his or her preferred gift.  Parishioners chose the tag, purchased, wrapped and are now returning them under the tree.  Bikes and other gifts were given to cheer the hearts of needy children in town.

 

 

 

Blessing of the Pets for Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi

On Sunday, October 4th, 2009, St. Stephen’s parishioners and members of the community brought their pets to be blessed on the lawn of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 3 John Street, Westborough.  This annual event is held on a Sunday near the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, a Saint known for his love of animals.  This year St. Stephen’s expanded the scope of the service to include the blessing of deceased pets, as well as stuffed animals for those children who do not yet have live pets.  Shown in the photo are some members of the community and their pets that were blessed following a short service in gratitude for animals and pets.