Connect and Serve
At St. Stephen’s Church there are many ways to connect with one another, and to serve the church and the community beyond the church. In a large church with such a wide variety of ways to plug in, it can be daunting to know where or how to do that.
This fall we are launching a new initiative we call “Connect and Serve.” This is a year-round approach, but its roll-out is timed for the season when many of us are accustomed to “signing on” to something.
At St. Stephen’s we’ve already moved many things to the digital realm, such as reservations for events, sign-ups for groups, scheduling for worship roles, even options for online pledging and pledge payments. So while many of remember the fall ministries fair in terms of brochures and clipboards, beginning this fall we’re offering a sort of year-round virtual ministries fair. We hope that this new approach will be helpful to you, and we believe it will help ministry leaders be even more responsive to your expressions of interest. It’s designed to help you find the group or ministry that’s right for you, and to help leaders find the people who feel called to a particular form of engagement.
A video invitation from the rector and vicar
Interest forms
Under the “Connect” umbrella, there are forms for:
- Small groups: the very best way to connect and form community;
- Introduction to the Episcopal Church for newcomers or those interested in becoming members or learning more about the Episcopal Church and St. Stephen’s
- Newcomer receptions held several times each year to help those new to the community to meet the clergy, staff, and one another.
Under the “Serve” umbrella, there are forms for:
- Worship ministries such liturgical roles, choirs and instrumentalists, set-up teams and guilds;
- Outreach ministries such as food ministries, East End partnerships, and more;
- Parish life ministries including pastoral care, kitchen ministries, the Women of St. Stephen’s, racial healing, and creation care.
Don’t worry that when you indicate interest in a particular offering, you are committing to something before you’re prepared to do so. Think of these interest forms as ways to begin a conversation. We look forward to hearing from you!
Things to know
- If you are already involved in a particular ministry–say, as a chalice bearer or an usher–you do not need to “re-up,” or sign up again.
- If you would like to join a small group, keep in mind that some groups (Emmaus groups, focus groups, and Being With Groups) have a registration deadline of September 22. If you miss that deadline, you will have another opportunity to join one of these groups in the second half of the program year.
- Other groups do not have sign-up deadlines and you are welcome to participate in them as your schedule permits. One example is the Thursday morning Bible study.
- In the three Serve categories, you may sign up at any time; details about when you will be added to a rota or schedule are provided in the sign-up forms.
- Sign-ups for family ministry roles and formation opportunities for children, youth, and parents are addressed in the family ministry registration form.
St. Stephen’s is a large church, and whether you’re new to this community, or you’ve been here a long time but want to find ways to engage, we invite you to consider signing up for one “Connect” opportunity and one “Serve” opportunity.