Second Blessings: Our thrift shop is staffed by church and community volunteers; earnings go to support both local needs and several missions abroad, with a special emphasis on children’s charities. You may find out more about Second Blessings through the page of this website.
Medical Mission: Twice-yearly trips sponsored by the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast. During a typical ten-day trip, healthcare is provided to thousands of individuals.
Community (ACORN) Dinners: At Thanksgiving and Christmas, St. Mary’s joins with other local churches in the preparation, serving and delivery of meals to those who might otherwise do without or may simply be longing for some companionship during the holidays.
Men’s Prayer Breakfast: The Men’s Prayer Breakfast is held every 3rd Thursday of the month at St. Mary’s Parish Hall. The food and fellowship provide an opportunity for all the men of the community to gather for brief worship and great food.
Women’s Luncheon: The women’s Luncheon is held every 4th Wednesday and provides a similar opportunity for women to fellowship. The meetings are held at various restaurants in the area.
Food Bank: The Christian Service Center Food Bank is a local service organization in Andalusia. St. Mary’s is active in supplying food to the bank by collecting non-perishable food items weekly, as well as assisting with the direct provision of food to the needy.
Hurricane Katrina Outreach: Following Hurricane Katrina, St. Mary’s mobilized quickly to act. The church fed Katrina refugees for a month after the storm, as well as gathered clothing and other badly needed supplies. In addition, several teams of volunteers traveled to Camp Coast Care in Long Beach, Ms. to assist in the re-building of homes.
United Thank Offering: St. Mary’s supports the United Thank Offering program, a national church program to enlarge the circle of thankful people by encouraging daily prayers, offerings and a personal awareness of the abundance of God’s blessings. We collect our blue boxes and daily place a coin or bill in the box in gratitude for God’s blessings. The monies are collected on a Sunday designated and then sent to the national church for dispensing as grants to address a variety of compelling human needs.
Episcopal Relief and Development: Episcopal Relief and Development provides emergency assistance in times of disaster; rebuilds devastated communities and offers long-term program development solutions to fight poverty.
Sasha’s Home: Sasha’s Home is a seven-apartment facility that houses nearly 40-orphaned children in Gorlovka, Ukraine, was founded by one of St. Mary’s families. The congregation supports this on-going ministry with prayers and supplies.
Alcoholics Anonymous: This group meets weekly and is an open meeting for women dealing with substance abuse or other addiction issues that have a negative impact on their functioning and/or interpersonal relationships.
Habitat for Humanity: Our local chapter has just completed their first build, and St. Mary’s has several members that taking an active role in this organization. Plans are now being made for a second project house for a deserving local family.
Blood Drive: Each year St. Mary's holds a blood drive. What better way to show your love to humankind than to share the gift of life. Your service in this ministry very well could save a lift. We welcome donors to give and volunteers to help during the drive itself.
The Ministry of Stewardship
St. Mary’s is financially sound with assets that far exceed liabilities. We encourage all to participate in our stewardship program with an annual pledge, and have used stewardship dinners to provide all of our members with accurate financial information. Over the years, we have been blessed with very generous members, but as always, there remains room for improvement as we strive to meet our goals in these challenging financial times.
