Ways to Serve
Serve Local Children
- Angel Tree Ministry—This effort partners with Mercury Court and Oakland Court preschools served by Murfreesboro Family Services to provide Christmas for 3, 4, and 5-year-old children attending these preschools. These children would not receive Christmas gifts were it not for the generosity of our parish.
- Boys & Girls Club Volunteers—Parish members who help to empower young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.
Serving Local Residents with Economic Insecurities
- CONNECT Ministry—Offers a supportive place for people to come and address their financial needs and other problems they may be facing. With a limited budget each session, we attempt to help as many as possible; gas for vehicles, bus tickets, food certificates, utility payments, prescription assistance, and rental assistance. Through focused listening, we will look for additional needs and offer direction to other suitable resources. Our hope is to offer CONNECTIONS to get people to a better place.
- Craft and Bake Sale—Fundraiser that sells member-donated items such as cupcakes, cookies, and artisanal handicraft. Proceeds go toward the clergy’s discretionary fund, which is a resource to help impoverished community members.
Serving Local Residents with Housing Insecurities
- Coldest Nights Ministry—A drop-in emergency shelter program when overnight temperatures fall below 30℉ for homeless women without children. It provides food, a hot shower, a warm place to sleep, and compassion.
- Christmas Card Project—Spread holiday spirit and joy by providing Christmas cards and postage to the homeless and working poor clients at a few non-profit ministries in Murfreesboro. Volunteer to drop off cards and to pick up the addressed cards. Donate Christmas cards and postage.
- Undie Sunday—St. Paul’s accepts donations of new underwear, socks, and new or gently used bras in support of the “Undie Sunday” event organized for The Journey Home, a local agency striving to humanize the homeless and disadvantaged by providing customer service-based street outreach. In partnering with the Church of the Holy Cross, our congregations have collected hundreds of items for The Journey Home Clothing Closet.
Serving Souls on Death Row
- Death Row Prison Visitors—Members dedicated to ministering to those housed at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution awaiting execution.
Outreach Committee
St. Paul’s Outreach Committee is the board that oversees and supports new and existing outreach programs ministering to the impoverished within the St. Paul’s downtown footprint. To learn about serving in an outreach ministry, please click here.
Community Partners
The Journey Home
- A Christian community outreach program that assists the homeless and disadvantaged of Rutherford County. Our members help by serving monthly dinners and clothing drives.
Nourish Foodbank
- Quarterly Food Drive—This event helps maintain the stocks of non-perishable foods at Nourish Foodbank which is an available food pantry for underserved residents of Rutherford County.
Salvation Army Red Kettle
- Each Christmas members volunteer to ring bells outside local businesses. As a bell ringer, you are a vital fundraiser for a campaign that offers seasonal care such as Christmas food and toy baskets, or a gift for residents of elderly care facilities.
Rutherford County Habitat for Humanity
- Ministry that helps people build safe, affordable housing. We participate in Panel Build events within the local community that constructs all of the walls in just five hours.
Healthy Gardens by Inspiritus
- Coordinated by Inspiritus (formerly Lutheran Services in Tennessee) this program focuses on empowering families in low-income housing to grow their own food right outside their door. It provides materials, instruction, and ongoing support.
Episcopal Disaster Relief & Development
- Episcopal Relief & Developmentis the compassionate response of The Episcopal Church to human suffering in the world. Hearing God’s call to seek and serve Christ in all persons and to respect the dignity of every human being, Episcopal Relief & Development serves to bring together the generosity of Episcopalians and others with the needs of the world. Committee members and their contact links may be found here.