Outreach Ministries

St. John’s is a Jubilee Center of the Episcopal Church, a result of our significant commitment to social ministries of compassion within our community. We are a mission church!  From our location on the Square in downtown Carlisle, we have both tremendous opportunity and responsibility to reach out to those around us and share our time, our resources and talents, and our church facilities to support both local and national ministries. If you would like to be a part of one or more of these ministries, please contact the  Parish office.

• St. John's hosts Carlisle Area Alcoholics Anonymous meetings from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of each week.
• St. John’s has long supported Project SHARE, our local food bank. In addition to financial support our members bring a jar of peanut butter each month, because it is a staple food for many families, especially those with young children. We also assemble Easter Dinners for up to 150 families, which SHARE volunteers distribute to families as we celebrate the risen Lord. For more information (click here)
• Habitat for Humanity offers affordable housing to families who might otherwise be unable to have a home of their own. The parish provides financial support of our Cumberland County chapter, and many men, women, and young people from our midst lend a helping hand on one Saturday per month during the building season. For more information, http://www.habitat.org/.
• Salvation Army provides meals to local Carlisle residents who need assistance. St. John’s contributes financially and purchases, cooks, and serves the main meal in those months that have a fifth Sunday. For more information contact Holly Gwozdecki, mhgwoz@comcast.net.
• Carlisle CARES (Combined Area Resources for Emergency Shelter) provides emergency shelter to those in need during the months November – May. It is a ministry based on the coordinated efforts of a trained team of community-wide volunteers, professional social workers, police and area churches. Each church opens its facilities at night for one month during the winter season.  Volunteers from St. John’s participate as overnight supervisors throughout the winter. For more information check out, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fnnqOErY9M, and http://carlislecares.bbnow.org/  We are also working to provide a longer term solution that provides a one stop facility with shelter, showers, and the full array of social services needed for the area’s homeless. 
• Summer Program for Youth (SPY) is an eight week summer day camp for economically and socially disadvantaged children ages 6 - 10 years old in the Carlisle area. A staff of counselors, supported by church and community volunteers, creates a warm, supportive environment for the SPY campers. The program reaches out to children who have been identified by their school guidance counselors as pupils who need structure and educational enrichment during the summer. For more information contact, wronski@pa.net, Click here for, SPY BOARD MEMBERS and latest minutes for SPY BOARD.
• Youth Outreach Projects:  St John’s youth participate in a number of outreach projects, including the World Hunger Project, support of Bishop McGregor in the Diocese of Madagascar, Project SHARE, summer work projects and mission trips. 
• Each year, the United States Army War College at Carlisle Barracks welcomes a large class of senior officers and government service executives for a ten month residential senior training program.  The class also includes officers from many foreign countries, and typically, some of the members of the class are Episcopalians or Anglicans from the Church of England or the Anglican Church of Canada.  The St. John's Vestry always includes a staff officer from the post who is officially the War College Liaison to the parish. For more information contact our liaison, Boone Bartholomees, jbb70@comcast.net.
• Ugandan Scholarships. Since 2003, a number of St. John’s parishioners have been involved in sponsorship of school scholarships for Ugandan AIDS orphans in the South Rwenzori Diocese of the Anglican Church in Africa. Through the Bishop Masereka Christian Foundation, we are providing scholarships for the parochial education of elementary and secondary children whose parents were AIDS victims.
• Financial Support. St. John’s provides annual financial support to many local ministries including:

Project SHARE
Samaritan Fellowship
Domestic Violence of Cumberland County
Habitat for Humanity
Victory Circle
Safe Harbor
Bethesda Mission
St. Stephen’s School
St. Barnabas Summer Enrichment Program
St. Stephens School
County Prison
Meals on Wheels
Truckers and Travelers Ministry