Outreach at Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Hampton Ecumenical Lodgings And Provisions (H.E.L.P.)

For over twenty years, Emmanuel Church has participated with other churches in the community in this organization. H.E.L.P. was created as a means of pooling resources so they could be more effectively focused on identified social needs within Hampton. Our participation in several of the H.E.L.P. key programs is outlined below.

"A Night's Welcome" For the past fourteen years, Emmanuel has opened her doors to the homeless during the winter months. H.E.L.P. coordinates this program among numerous Hampton churches. This ministry provides the homeless and street people respite during the coldest winter months. We open the doors of the church to these individuals from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM each night for a week. Additionally, we provide them with dinner and breakfast meals. This is a tremendously successful program that provides an opportunity to participate in a "hands-on outreach" that we have found to be very rewarding for all who participate. Emmanuel's week for 2007 is November 10 to 17.

Community Food Pantry On the first Sunday of each month a special collection of food is gathered in the parish to support a community food pantry administered by H.E.L.P.

Jane Bryan Elementary School

In late 2005, the superintendent of Hampton City Schools proposed establishing partnerships between Hampton schools and faith communities. The partnership goal is to provide administrative and instructional support to the Hampton City School System. Emmanuel responded to this proposition by partnering with Jane H. Bryan Elementary School in the Phoebus section of the city. This partnership is an ideal relationship in that the school's namesake was a long-time Emmanuel parishioner. On September 12, 2006, our Rector, the Rev. C. Derek Pringle and Jane Bryan principal, Harry Morgan, signed the partnership covenant. Shortly thereafter some sixteen Emmanuel parishioners began working in a variety of roles at Jane Bryan School.

Peninsula Pastoral Counseling Center (PPCC)

Through annual financial support, Emmanuel is a partner church with PPCC, a lifeline to families and individuals seeking support. PPCC offers a wide range of professional services based upon Christian principles. Pastoral counseling is available for family conflicts, substance abuse, major life changes such as divorce or family death, as well as other concerns.

Camp Chanco

Chanco on the James, an outdoor ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia, is a residential co-ed camping experience for children and teens. It provides an opportunity for young people to discover God’s love as it is revealed in Jesus Christ. Learn more about Camp Chanco at its Web site.

Camp Wakonda

Emmanuel assists the Diocese in providing meals, staff and other support services for Camp Wakonda. This program provides children and their families infected or affected by HIV/AIDS with a day camp experience for a week each summer.

Adopt-a-Spot

This is a citywide program focused on maintaining the appearance of the community. The area of Mercury Boulevard between Andrews Boulevard and Pembroke Avenue is our adopted spot that we keep clear of litter and debris. On the fourth Saturday of even numbered months at 8:00 am parishioners gather to keep our part of Hampton clean.

East Mercury Boulevard Beautification Project

On October 19, 2002, our neighbors and friends along East Mercury Boulevard between Pine Cone Drive and Pembroke Avenue banded together with Emmanuel and city agencies to beautify our stretch of Mercury Boulevard.

Emmanuel was instrumental in getting the East Mercury Boulevard Beautification Project off the ground. We knew we wanted to see trees line Mercury Boulevard between Fox Hill Road and Pembroke Avenue. So Emmanuel approached the Clean City Commission to request the tree planting on East Mercury Boulevard. We then proceeded to rally the neighbors along the corridor, turning the project into a major team effort, with support coming from many different directions. Volunteers planted more than 200 trees and shrubs in the median of the Mercury Boulevard. In addition, landowners along the boulevard landscaped their grounds to complement the efforts undertaken in the median. Donations funded more than 100 trees and shrubs to supplement those provided by the city. This effort will benefit the community for years to come.

Twelve Step Programs

Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are held Monday nights at 7:00 pm, and Saturday mornings at 8:00 am. Call 595-1212 for more information.

Katrina Relief at Camp Coast Care

After months of waiting and planning, with anticipation and apprehension, six of us journeyed to the Gulf Coast the week of September 10, 2006, to be part of Katrina relief. What would we find? Would we have skills to be good help? Were we too late to be useful? It was a week of sensory overload for all of us: from many miles out indications of destruction began to appear: signs about a bridge out and places closed; huge road signs still blown out; billboards enjoining people to “refresh and rebuild.” As we got off the interstate and wound our way to Camp Coast Care, the Lutheran /Episcopal relief agency with whom we would be working in Long Beach, we saw FEMA trailers in almost every yard. Later that evening, when we took a ride along the coast to Biloxi, once again the landscape overwhelmed us. Along the beach, where the historic mansions had been, there were only oak trees. Some still had clothing blowing in them. Battered signs from businesses remained but only cement slabs were behind them. The entire side of a huge hotel was blown off and you could still see all the furniture in the rooms. Both Episcopal churches that were along the ocean were gone. Wherever we went, debris from buildings and homes that are slowly being demolished was piling up. The message we kept getting was that much clean up has been done, but rebuilding is just starting.

An inevitable consequence of a storm like Katrina, the greatest natural disaster ever in the US, is high depression and suicide rates, which the area is experiencing. Yet despite all this, we kept meeting wonderful people and hearing great “survivor” stories. The human spirit is an amazing thing. We spent one evening talking to a retired Episcopal priest who lost everything in the storm. He was in the process of moving into another house he had bought inland several miles. We met a delightful local resident who had decided she couldn’t take the stress of life on the coast anymore, so she was moving north to Jackson. We spent the last two days working on a house for a 71 year-old lady named Marian who had survived the storm in her house by treading water and breathing through an attic vent for seven hours until the water receded. Her friend with her didn’t survive. Marian is in a FEMA trailer but has redone her yard and flowers, things she could do, while waiting for help with her house. One of her neighbors, who was at least 10 years her senior, showed up to see the house the last day we were there. She had not even applied for help yet, but after seeing her friend’s reconstructed home, determined she was ready to move forward. We met staff members who had come as volunteers and decided to stay. And we met other volunteers like ourselves who came to do what they could.

The focus along the Gulf is changing from cleaning up to rebuilding. The mission of Camp Coast Care is shifting to accommodate this change. The need for help is greater than ever and will continue for the next several years. Both skilled and unskilled labor is needed to help with construction, plumbing, and electrical needs. Funds are needed to continue to buy building supplies and house volunteers. We heard again and again that without the support of the many religious denominations that are working along the Gulf, relief efforts would be at a standstill. Our contributions, though very small, make a difference. Thank you again for the prayers and support that made this trip possible. We can’t wait to send another team!

We’re West Virginia Mission-Minded!!

Our mission group is growing as we completed our fourth trip to McDowell County, West Virginia, in August 2007 to support an Episcopal project called the Highlands Educational Project. We plan return again next summer: July 20 - 26, 2008. The Missions Committee meets the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm. Come join us!

See the West Virginia Missions page for more information.

Books to Belize

Emmanuel, as part of our mission focus, is shipping used children’s books to the Anglican Diocese of Belize. We have been collecting books from schools, libraries and individual donations. We made our sixth shipment in July 2007. So far, shipments totaling 14,489 pounds have been distributed among the 5000 students in the 18 primary schools run by the Belize Diocese.

Shipping costs of $5168 have been paid by Emmanuel. This expense has been paid from our Missions funds and has also been offset by two Mile-of-Pennies ($844.80 each) grants from the Church Periodical Club and grants from our Diocese's Companion Diocese Committee and with contributions from other parishes . We welcome any additional contributions that parishioners wish to make. (Mark “Mission – Books” on your check to Emmanuel.)

Mrs. Carol Babb, General Manager for Anglican Schools, has written us, expressing her appreciation for our efforts, as books are in critically short supply in Belize.

Mission to Belize

Emmanuel completed its first ever short-term mission trip summer of 2003! It was to a small town in Belize called San Ignacio to construct an addition to the St Barnabas school. A group of ten of us left the 15th of July, 2003 for 10 days. Committees met to get all parts of this very special project completed: prayer, communications (including publicity), finances (including fund raising), and logistics to get the traveling team there. There was plenty of work to do at Emmanuel to make this "mission possible", and if it weren't for the efforts of the entire congregation, it couldn't have happened. In May 2007, we returned to Belize as again a group of ten from Emmanuel returned to work on a school: Holy Cross - this time in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye.

Here is a little history of how we got to Belize:
In June 2000 at a Vestry Planning Session, the first seeds were planted to organize a short-term mission from Emmanuel. We contacted the National Church (which recommended that we work through our Companion Diocese) and then the Companion Diocese Committee, requesting we be matched with a parish from our Companion Diocese. Despite numerous inquiries and follow-ups, this has not worked out.
In the meantime, in the fall of 2001 we met Francis and Vernon Wilson, two missionaries from our Diocese who had gone to Belize. We also found out about Foreign Missions Training that was being offered in the Diocese in November 2001. Several of us went to this training sponsored by SAMS, South American Missionary Society, which sponsors short-term missions. We came away from the training really excited about mission possibilities for Emmanuel. The Vestry was addressed with a proposal to establish a missions program at Emmanuel and field our first team in the summer of 2003. Our proposal was to go to Belize if possible; however, we would also consider other SAMS missions. SAMS invited us to undertake a mission in Belize with the Wilsons.
We came together as servants of the Lord, intent upon planting seeds. We did not change the world with a 10 day mission trip, but we gained insights and formed relationships that will affect us and others for a lifetime. As Emmanuel continues on this new chapter of parish life, mission work, we hope you will consider being part of the process.

On September 16, 2001, Vernon and Francis Wilson left Poquoson, Virginia, for Belize to serve as missionaries in cooperation with the Episcopal Relief and Development agency of the National Church.
The Wilson's are serving in several ways: First, Vernon, a professional jewelry maker, is working with the Diocese of Belize, the local government, and the school system to establish a vocational training program to teach jewelry design, manufacturing, and repair. Initially, a school opened with two workbenches (at a cost of about $10,000 each). Vernon has donated the use of his tools and hopes that he will be able to expand to ten workstations before long.
The Belize Director of Education has already offered to hire the first ten graduates from this vocational training program to teach these skills in the public schools. Emmanuel has sold pewter crosses made by Vernon’s students as part of our fundraising efforts. Everyone involved believes this to be a very exciting program.
Second, the Wilsons are working with the Episcopal Relief and Development, which has launched a $500,000 project in partnership with the Diocese of Belize and the Church of the West Indies (of which the church in Belize is a part) to rebuild 30 houses destroyed by a devastating hurricane. Francis is the liaison between the national church office in New York and the church in Belize.
Francis also serves as coordinator of the volunteer work teams coming to Belize, including Emmanuel’s mission team traveling in July. She is coordinating projects to meet the needs of local schools and churches through the Diocese of Belize, our Diocese and through SAMS, South American Missionary Society.

St Barnabas School is located about 10 miles east of San Ignacio in a beautiful mountainous section of Belize. It is about a 2 and 1/2 hour drive due West from the Belize City. The school has 92 students and 4 teachers. Many of the students are Hispanic and classroom instruction is complicated by the fact that some do not speak English. The school is in desperate need of the computers that the government has given them. However they can't get them until they have a secure room in which to put them. Right now the school is bulging at the seams with only 4 classrooms and not a spare inch of space.
Emmanuel’s mission team was the third of three teams that constructed a computer room addition to St. Barnabas Anglican School. The first group was from St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Durham, North Carolina, did the foundation work. The next team from Trinity Episcopal Church in Huntington, WV, was accompanied by a missionary team from St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. This group added the walls. Emmanuel’s team of 10 arrived July 15th for 10 days. We added the roof, wiring, ceiling, and plastered the walls, as well as repainted 94 pieces of furniture and refinished seven blackboards! Supplies for the work was already on the site. Each team donated a portion of the cost for the building – our share was $2,500.
We also packed one trunk per team member with supplies for the school - which were purchased with $1,000 of the funds so generously donated by parishioners through our fundraising projects. Frances has shared that the schools run with almost no supplies, so anything we could bring - books, paper, craft supplies, pencils & sharpeners, bookbags, water bottles, flashcards, coloring books, etc., would be most appreciated.
Our group stayed at the Casa Blanca Hotel in San Ignacio.
There is a strong Anglican community in the area and two great missionaries from the States, Lin and Nancy Walton, assigned there. Nancy is the chaplain for St Barnabas and Lin the priest at St. Andrew's, the local Parish. Although the Waltons were back in the U.S. during our visit, we worshiped at St. Andrew’s Parish Sunday, July 20th – with Father Derek as the celebrant! Although we had a very real mission to help with a building, the primary focus of our mission committee is to build relationships with people different from ourselves. We are hopeful that we “made a connection” for a continuing relationship with the people of Belize. It is also our hope that mission work in some form will become a continuing part of life at Emmanuel.

Church Periodical Club (CPC)

Founded in 1888, CPC gives grants for books, periodicals, audio, and videotapes and computer software throughout the Anglican Community. Emmanuel focuses on this special outreach one month each year.

Contact Judy Kaiser 303-1481

Episcopal Relief and Development

This is an outreach that Emmanuel focuses on one month of the year. It provides grants for emergency relief, rehabilitation, and development. It responds to people in need in the United States and around the world.

Contact Mary or Scott Arnott 850-4480

Jackson-Feild Home for Girls

Serving troubled teenage girls who are referred by social services and the juvenile courts, Jackson-Feild designs programs including education, counseling, work experience, and Christian spiritual guidance.

Contact Jimmy Chisman 838-5558

United Thank Offering (UTO)

UTO is a personal and family devotional program of the U.S. Episcopal Church. Offerings based upon your prayers and thanks are used to fulfill the dreams for tomorrow’s life and give hope to people all over the world. Emmanuel focuses on this special outreach one month a year.

Contact Adrian Duncan 850-1520

Chairs for Uganda

The Rt. Rev. Livingstone Nkoyoyo, Retired Archbishop Church of Uganda, in a recent letter to Fr. Pringle, requests that his sincere appreciation and gratitude be conveyed to all those at Emmanuel Church who made contributions toward the purchase of the more than 1,000 chairs they were able to buy to support their Orphanage and Vulnerable Children's (OVCs) programme. Bp. Ngoyoyo enclosed this photo to show us some of the chairs bought.

Emmanuel also provides use of the parish hall for a yoga class, as well as periodic meetings of academic and medical groups. We also have weekly meetings of two chapters of Alcoholic Anonymous and local Girl Scout troops.

LOCAL & COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROJECTS:

WORLD OUTREACH PROJECTS