Shaped by Faith is an invitation from our diocese to discern our “right shape” in terms of structure and clerical support and in terms of mission in the neighborhood.
We are dreaming big …. imagining how we can further extend our feeding ministry into the neighborhood and make a real difference in the lives of others.
We’ve accomplished a great deal within the past two years– the establishment of a community garden, with 21 raised beds producing fresh organic food and flowers, which is a place of beauty and respite for our neighbors, partnered with The Gleaning Project so that we have given away 200 boxes (10 pounds each) every single week (in scorching sun and freezing rain), renovated a home to become a ministry center which opens space for free mental health counseling and a clothing bank, partnered with The Shippensburg Resource Coalition to deepen our reach into the community, provided assistance in many ways to the Community Cares Family Shelter next door to our church, invited members into our garden through a community worship event and many social events with delicious food — and most of all, engaged in our spiritual work of constantly reaching out to grow into this amazing dream which God has placed on our hearts.
Now we wish to create a food service job training program which will enable residents of our neighborhood to gain employable skills so they can offer stability and sustainability to their family lives. This helps move people from surviving to thriving.
In recent months, we have become a multi-cultural community, with people newly to our country and community from Nepal, Haiti, the Caribbean, Pakistan, and several Asian countries. We have much to learn! For we want to welcome everyone with open hearts, with a knowledge of their cultural context, and with resources to welcome them at depth into our neighborhood, which means we must be prepared not only to serve them — but to be among them, grow with them, become something new together.
There will be many ways you can become involved — in fact we’ll need you all!
Please watch this introductory video which explains the idea behind this initiative and invitation. The conversation is between The Rev. Canon Christopher Streeter (our former Diocesan Canon to the Ordinary and Director of the Shaped by Faith Program) and our rector, The Rev. Barbara Hutchinson.
To learn more about our specific program, please click below: