Newsletter, March 8

Join us for our spring spiritual study group “Pilgrim.”  A study guide aimed at introducing our faith to newcomers and going deeper for those already on the journey.  Wednesdays every week in the Rectory.

In 1987 St. Stephens became one of a few dozen congregations involved with a new ministry to homeless families – IHN – the Interfaith Hospitality Network for the Homeless.  Since then, another 6,000 congregations have done the same, involving more than 160,000 volunteers and collectively serving more than 600,000 children and adults.  Volunteer congregations host families for a week offering food and shelter while the case management team helps them move toward permanent housing and self-sufficiency.

We host next from April 8 to 14.  This year we will vary our normal hosting schedule.  With Passover and Holy Week only days apart and in partnership with Temple B’nai Jeshurun,  we will host from Saturday morning April 8 to Friday morning, April 14 – Good Friday.

We will be on hand on Sunday, March 19, to share more about IHN, family homelessness and how small acts of kindness can support families in distress and enrich our own.  If you are newer to the church and the program, come to learn how simple things like cooking a lasagna, reading to a 3 year old and sleeping overnight, help families stay together at a time of crisis – changing the course of their, and their children’s lives.  If you’re an old hand at IHN, come and share your experiences and expertise.

Volunteers are needed to stay overnight, to cook and serve meals, to entertain children, to run errands and for the set up and take down work to convert classrooms to bedrooms.  To learn more, talk to Margo Greenfield or Blair Majtyka.

To sign up, click this link.  https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/20f0845a4ac2ba02-ststephens1

As always, Meal Coordinator Sara Ruth Dorn will conduct signups during coffee hour for volunteers to prepare and serve dinners and purchase the necessary breakfast and snack staples.