Welcoming all as Neighbors

The members of Calvary Episcopal Church have faithfully risen to the needs of others whether here in the local community, throughout the United States, or internationally.  We have participated with gifts of our time, talent and monies.  There are many projects we participate in that are familiar to our members.  Calvary has many members who rise to the needs of the community on a daily basis.

At present we provide funds to the following groups:

• Blue Ridge Opportunities
• Community Transitional Housing
• United Way
• Blue RIdge Hospice
• Habitat for Humanity
• Rector's Discretionary Fund
• Warren Co. Ministerial Emergency Fund
• C-CAP
• St. Luke Community Clinic
• Boy's Home
• Episcopal Relief and Development
• Healthy Families
• Warren Co. Council on Domestic Violence
• Warren Co. Senior Center

During the year we receive requests for funds from other organizations that are considered on an individual basis.

As a congregation we participate in the following special fund raising appeals:

• United Thank Offering
• African Team Ministries
• Renk Theological College - Sudan
• Masaloto Theological College - Tanzania
• Christmas Shopping Spree for Needy Children

We also have many other outreach opportunities that are presented during the year which are enthusiastically received and supported by our members.

Our congregation sponsors the Warren County Senior Center Thanksgiving dinner each year.  Members prepare a Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings and gift bags for each person.  Our youth serve the dinners to the tables and everyone assists in clean up.  For several years, we as a congregation participated in My Brother's Table, serving meals to those in need in our community on a monthly basis at the Presbyterian Church .  We now have our own program, Calvary's Kitchen, and once again the call has gone out for help and individuals have responded with enthusiasm.

By our ongoing participation in the many outreach programs that we support, we here at Calvary truly live up to our Vision and Mission Statements.

Last but not least, following is a brief description of three important outreach endeavors.  Two of these have been long term efforts and the other is one we hope to begin in 2009. 

Lakota Pilgrimage

From 1992 through 2007, Calvary, along with other partnering churches,  sent an intergenerational team to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to offer a Vacation Bible School to the Lakota children in the area of Porcupine, South Dakota.   At present Calvary is working with the Lakota people and the Diocese of South Dakota on the possibility of sending a team to the reservation in the summer of 2009.   For more information on the Lakota Pilgrimage, past and present, please contact the parish office.

Grace House

Calvary is in the planning stages of a youth mission trip in July 2009 to Grace House, an Episcopal Mission in St. Paul, Virginia.  Grace House has served needy families in Appalachia since 1922.  Groups who go to Grace House in the summer are paired with families in need of home repairs who do not have the resources to make the repairs themselves.    More information on this mission opportunity will be posted as soon as it becomes available.

Memorial Scholarship

A $1,500 one-year scholarship is awarded by the congregation to a graduating senior at Warren County and Skyline High Schools.  These scholarships are funded through memorial and other donations.