REACHING OUT THE COMMUNITY & THE WORLD

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African Palms is an outreach ministry of St. John's church. The ministry sells palm crosses to churches,  schools, hospitals, prisons, book stores, and church goods distributors  for use on Palm Sunday and other special occasions.  The crosses are  hand-woven by villagers near Masasi, Tanzania and are made from the  dried leaves of the dwarf palm. The proceeds from the palm cross sales are returned to Tanzania, and other countries in African in the form of humanitarian aid grants. 

St. John's Food Pantry is an outdoor brick cabinet repurposed to make food accessible to those in need 24/7/365.  It is stocked with the belief that every human has the inherent right to nourishment free from embarrassment, discrimination, judgement, or loss or privacy.  The pantry is stocked with non-perishable, shelf stable food items twice daily, Monday through Friday and once on the weekends by volunteers from the church and St. John's School.  The food is donated by parishioners, St. John's School parents and students, Olney Help, and the surrounding community.  When our food supply is low, cash donations are used to re-stock our food supply.  Our aim is to serve those in need as well as the un-housed in the Olney community. 

Our Neighbor's House is  a parish effort to help refugee family travelers coming to the United States from all parts of the world, we work with the International Rescue Committee to furnish a first US home for State Department supported families.   

St. John's Our Neighbor's House Ministry welcomes as our neighbors Afghans and other refugees  by furnishing the first apartments of refugees legally being resettled in our community by the U.S. State Department and International Rescue Committee. We hope to expand the ministry to include mentoring a family resettled by the IRC in Montgomery County. In teams of up to four we will be matched with a family and hope to engage with the family weekly for six months to offer friendship, advice and support.  We encourage you to join this ministry to welcome the stranger. 

The Outreach Ministry reaches out and gives back to the community around us by coordinating coat and food drives, collecting school supplies, and joins with other local groups and churches to help meet the basic needs of neighbors. 

Centered around a rich, research-based curriculum, St. John’s is a  traditional school with many strengths and offerings. In the  long-established Episcopal tradition of education, “Students are  encouraged to fulfill their unique potential through intellectual,  moral, and spiritual challenge.” From the very youngest students to our  eighth-graders, we prepare each child for a successful future in high  school and in life.