COMMUNITY
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COMMUNITY |
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SERVING THE COMMUNITY At the core of our identity at St. John United is a community that reaches out to act for and with the larger world. We do so in many ways and in collaboration with many other groups of people. Advocacy St. John United takes seriously its constitutional mandate to: “Serve in response to God’s love to meet human needs, caring for the sick and the aged, advocating dignity and justice for all people, working for peace and reconciliation among the nations, and standing with the poor and powerless, and committing itself to their needs.” We do this by partnering with other organizations, particularly the Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington State, and by encouraging individuals in our congregation to advocate on particular public policy issues with local, state and federal officials.
Partners in Advocacy Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington State (LPPO) . Check the LPPO site for Washington State advocacy alerts. Lutheran Office of Governmental Affairs. St. John United is a congregation of Northwest Washington Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Americaand our advocacy positions are shaped by the ELCA national advocacy alerts and social statements. Compass Housing Alliance (an alliance of the former Compass Center and the Lutheran Alliance to Create Housing) Church Council of Greater Seattle Washington Association of Churches Earth Ministry. Devoted to environmental stewardship. Check the Earth Ministry web site for volunteer opportunities and advocacy alerts.
Community Service Tuesday/Wednesday Soup Kitchen: In partnership with the Phinney Neighborhood Association, St. John United hosts a Soup Kitchen on Tuesdays at 5 PM and Wednesdays at 12 noon. Now in its 24th year, the program provides hot, nutritious meals to anyone who comes. In 2002, the program served an average of 292 meals per week. Donations of money, food and time are gratefully accepted. Share Shelter: Every night about 9 PM the St. John United Fellowship Hall becomes “home” for up to 20 homeless people, under the sponsorship of SHARE, an organization of homeless and formerly homeless persons that coordinates about a dozen self-managed shelters. Sewing Quilts for Refugees: On Tuesday morning during the school year, the Fabric Fantasy sewing group gathers at 10 AM in the Fellowship Hall to sew quilts and other items that are distributed by Lutheran World Relief to people in need around the world. Meeting Place: St. John United serves as a meeting place for a wide variety of groups, including Alcoholics Anonymous and other recovery groups, Washington Association for the Mentally Ill, the Retired Firefighters, and the Fremont SNOW group (Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War). We also provide space to the North Seattle Fives Pre-Kindergarten and to the Northwest Washington Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
SJU Organic Community Garden The garden is:
This garden is tended by members and friends of St. John United Lutheran Church. Garden stewards from the church and community adopt plots in the garden and plan each season’s planting together. Other volunteers come to garden work parties for an hour or two to weed, mulch, plant, or harvest. Work parties are held nearly year-round on the second Saturday of the month, from 9:30ish AM to noonish. The mulch in the upper levels of our garden includes hulls from organic, fair-trade cocoa beans donated by Theo Chocolate in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. The mulch in the lower levels was donated by Ballard Tree Service. |
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5515 Phinney Avenue North |
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