Volunteer in the Community!

Outreach ministry in Wilmington, Delaware and beyond.

Below are some of the ways you can serve the world OUTSIDE the church. On other pages, we list how you can serve during worship services and ways of serving behind the scenes at church.

For details of any of these programs, please contact us.

Click here to learn more about our Community Advocacy Committee and recent outreach efforts.

Local Food Pantries

Click here or the graphic above to learn how you can help stock local food pantries.

VOLUNTEER IN COLD WEATHER!

Code Purple Shelter on Icy Nights

Any time the wind-chill gets to 20ºF or colder, we open the church as a shelter from 2:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., after which time the Salvation Army opens and provides a place for those seeking shelter to sleep. Our guests are offered soup and sandwiches. At least one person from Friendship House provides supervision. Click here to learn more about our Code Purple ministry.

Angel Tree Gifts in Mid-December

The Community Advocacy Committee sponsors the Angel Tree project which provides Christmas gifts for families (mothers with children) who are residing in Friendship House’s transitional housing. As always, you can select a “gift angel” and purchase the gift indicated on the angel. Gift request angels are given out around Thanksgiving and the gifts themselves are due back two weeks later for distribution. Click here to learn more about Angel Tree Gifts at Christmas.

Undee Sunday, Every November

When the winter and cold temperatures approach, our homeless friends need thermal underwear. In response, the Community Advocacy Committee has UNDEE SUNDAY every November. CLICK HERE to learn more about Undee Sunday.

VOLUNTEER IN THE SPRING!

Wilmington Garden Day

Room at the Table Breakfast to support Lutheran Community Services

Our church is an advocate for Lutheran Community Services and encourage you to be part of their annual fund-raising event, Room at the Table. Click here to learn more about this LCS event.

VOLUNTEER YEAR-ROUND!

Apostles in Mission (AIM)

Funds are regularly collected during worship services by our Community Advocacy committee to help people locally.

Chris White Art Gallery and Shipley Lofts Apartments

The five-story building at 701 N. Shipley Street was a wreck until members of SsAM galvanized the local community and state government to renovate the structure. Now, 23 lofts are rented to artists and others, with a two-level art gallery. Several SsAM members volunteer. Click here to learn more about the Chris White Art Gallery and Shipley Lofts Apartments.

Choir School of Delaware

The Choir School of Delaware is a local after-school program and a unique opportunity to minister to community youth. The Choir School supports local youth by providing musical training, leadership and language skills, academic support and college-bound mentoring. Click here to learn more about the Choir School of Delaware.

Delaware Churches for Middle East Peace

SsAM is a member of DCMEP which works by educating, elevating and advocating for justice and peace in the Middle East.

Environmental Justice Ministry at SsAM

Environmental Justice advocacy is needed now more than ever. As we go into the world as followers of Christ who care for all, we’d like you to join us. Participation in this ministry is also an excellent way to take SsAM beyond our walls and to get to know some of our neighbors. Click here to learn more about the Environmental Justice Ministry at SsAM and the Delaware Concerned Residents for Environmental Justice (DCR4EJ).

Episcopal Relief and Development

Our parish supports the worldwide outreach efforts of the Episcopal Church. We encourage you to visit the website of Episcopal Relief and Development.

Friendship House

Our church has an active partnership with Friendship House, a Christian ministry committed to making a difference in the lives of the homeless through hospitality, education, empowerment and community. The lower floor of our church building is dedicated to the Empowerment Center, which is a center that has counseling, case management, computer lab and advice during the day. For details, click here to learn more about Friendship House.

Lesedi School and Clinic, Zimbabwe, Africa

Lesedi School & Clinic provides quality education and health services to communities in a rural area not far from Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. The project is supported by the Ngoko Charitable Trust, a registered UK-based charity (charity no. 1163965). At SsAM, Chuck Bean is the most active supporter of this ministry. Chuck says, “They are doing great works. These are local initiatives, not colonial pressure projects. Hoping to get back soon. The school manor sponsor is a safari guide par excellence. I have been with them twice and, despite having to eat beetles and participating in antelope poop spitting contests, the thrill of seeing a herd of Cape buffalo and calling Lions out of the bush is excellent.” See: http://lesedizim.org/

Lutheran Community Services

SsAM is a partner-in-mission with Lutheran Community Services. Click here to learn more about LCS and their effort to serve those in need in Wilmington, Delaware.

Network Delaware

SsAM provides office and meeting space for Network Delaware, a citizen led, grassroots organization which build multi-issue community leadership across the state. Click here to learn more about Network Delaware.

Peace Week Delaware

Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative solutions. Peace Week Delaware promotes community solutions. Click here to learn more about Peace Week Delaware.

Sunday Morning Breakfast Ministry

Each Sunday morning between 7:00 to 8:00 a.m., seven local church communities, including SsAM, take turns preparing and serving a hot, healthy breakfast to people who are hungry. This ministry is also managed by Friendship House.

The breakfast we serve on Sundays is an egg casserole dish, called quiche by the members of the community who come to breakfast. They call our church the “Quiche House.”

United Thank Offering

This national program encourages prayers of thanksgiving while depositing spare change into little blue boxes that are then brought to church once a year. CLICK HERE to learn more about the United Thank Offering and the many ministries it funds.

SsAM Donates Annual Grants to:

Delaware Futures – this educational program is helping to prepare over one hundred disadvantaged students for college
Friendship House – for support of the many programs for the homeless
Sojourners’ Place – transitional housing program to help those recovering from drug or alcohol abuse.
St. Michael’s School and Nursery – scholarships for children; the school gives out $30,000 per month in scholarship aid.

For details of any of the above ministries, please contact us.