Serving Our Community
Celebrant: “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” The People: “I will, with God’s help.”
— From our Baptismal Covenant
A Strong Calling to Social Justice
Activism, service, and mutual aid are informed by our connection to God and the example of Jesus. Church does not stop at the doors of our building. Our acts of service and advocacy have a local focus. We pursue justice and dignity for our neighbors on the block, in our city, and in our state. Continue reading to learn more about the themes of Saint Mary’s outreach and advocacy, current programs, and past initiatives.
Food Security
Having enough to eat is a basic human right.
We have a Little Free Pantry, which is like a Little Free Library except this one is stocked with food, household goods, and toiletries. People take what they need when they need it, and they give what they can. On Sunday, parishioners contribute food to the Little Free Pantry as well as money to support the church.
We partner with First Nations Kitchen, which provides weekly meals of traditionally indigenous foods. We volunteer at the Mission, and our youth group members also collect donations for First Nations Kitchen every Super Bowl Sunday, in the “Soup-er Bowl of Caring.”
We invite parishioners to meal packing volunteer days, for example with Harvest Pack and Every Meal.
Kids and Youth
It’s a tough world for kids today.
We love our Advent tradition of The Angel Tree. Every year, visitors and parishioners offer toys, gift cards, and cash to the Angel Tree. We donate these offerings to a school or social program supporting youth. Past partners and recipients have included:
- The All Our Good Holiday Giving event sponsored by the Racial Justice Network, We Win Institute, and Zion Baptist Church
- Local refugee families
- Galtier School (which sadly closed in 2022)
Until 2022, Saint Mary’s had a deep connection to Galtier School, a school in an impoverished neighborhood very close to our church. This was a longstanding, intergenerational, and lay-led ministry. Volunteers read with children, gave books to students, and provided gift cards to teachers for classroom materials. The beauty of this ministry was that it reflected our values of being in relationship and walking with our closest neighbors. This ministry is deeply missed.
Economic and racial justice
Let’s build a just and abundant Minnesota.
Members of our community are actively involved in ISAIAH MN, a multi-racial, state-wide, nonpartisan coalition of faith communities fighting for racial and economic justice in Minnesota. This ministry supports Saint Marians’ desire to “walk the walk” as people of faith.
Global connections
We go to listen with humility and to join God in healing a hurting world.
Saint Mary’s connects our community to the world through an active Kiva microloan program and intimate parishioner-led support of local refugee families.