Outreach Committee
St. John’s has a longstanding practice of devoting ten percent of its pledged income each year to support the ongoing work of organizations near and far that address pressing needs of God’s children.
The committee
- makes recommendations to Vestry for St. John’s grants
- makes recommendations to Steering Committee for the occasional use of “Raille’s Bowl” to collect freewill offerings during services for particular emergency needs, which the committee matches
- informs parishioners of opportunities to volunteer with organizations that St. John’s supports.
The organizations supported in 2022 were:
Elder Services of Berkshire County
Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity
Tent of the Beloved
Ukrainian Refugee Support
In addition to this annual program, the committee is in the process of recommending to Vestry targets of opportunity grants, drawn from the parish’s tithe of recent bequests, to advance initiatives in the community with the potential to have long-lasting effects.
The organizations supported so far are
Berkshire Black Economic Council
Questions and suggestions of organizations to be considered for support and of emergencies to support from Raille’s Bowl can be sent to Jim Kolesar, committee chair, at outreach@stjohnswilliamstown.org.
Results of the committee’s 2023 parish-wide survey are available HERE.