One of St. Brendan’s four core values is Kingdom Action in the City and the World. We try to express this value through our vocations, volunteer work, simple acts of loving neighbor, prayer, opportunities for mission trips, and financial giving.

Our outreach giving focuses on three main areas:

1. giving to ministries in the city
2. giving to international ministries with which we partner
3. support to the diocese

We are grateful for these small opportunities to be a part of the work and ministry of these great partners. We praise God for them and look forward to hearing ways in which the Kingdom comes through the work of the Spirit through them.

For more information on any of these ministries, please contact St. Brendan’s in the City.

Giving in the city has varied, but in recent years has primarily been to ministries that bring shelter, rescue, hope, and renewal to the homeless, those on the margins, or those struggling with various types of addiction in Washington, D.C.

Our main partners include Samaritan’s Inn and Central Union Mission, which hosts us weekly for our Sunday evening worship service.

The ways in which we interact with Central Union Mission are varied. We have church wide events such as our participation in the Mission’s annual Operation Backpack, which distributes backpacks and school supplies to children in need every August. This year St Brendan’s donated 50 backpacks.

We also have Tuesday evenings set aside for church members to serve dinner at the Mission. This takes place every Tuesday, from 4:45 to 6:15 pm. It is an opportunity to serve (by dishing out hot, nutritious meals or by washing dishes) or to just fellowship. More than anything else, the men enjoy good conversation with someone who cares.

On an individual basis, members of the DC Outreach serving team interact on a personal level with the men at the Mission, serving as tutors or mentors, opening the doors of their homes to offer food and fellowship to these men in need.

In the past, St Brendan’s has supported the Mission financially in a variety of ways, including:

• purchase turkey dinners for over 50 families at Thanksgiving
• purchase and fill SmarTrip cards so that men might have transportation to medical appointments and job interviews
• double the amount available for the Mission’s Seniors Ministry
• assist the Hispanic Family Ministry with it’s Bible study outreach

Our community gives internationally to four main partners in three geographic areas.

Bolivia
St. Brendan’s partners with an organization called Word Made Flesh Bolivia, which ministers to prostituted women and children in El Alto, an impoverished area above La Paz.

Giving varies from year to year and has included support for the capital and operational costs of La Casa de Esperanza (House of Hope), support to individual missionaries, and sponsorship for women participating in Suti Sana, a holistic transformation program that helps women find healing, new life, and livelihoods outside of prostitution.

Staff members have visited us and we have visited them on multiple occasions, spending time with the women in the brothels, volunteering in La Casa de Esperanza, and offering contemplative retreats for staff.

Sudan
St. Brendan’s has supported the Good Shepherd Leadership Training Program in the Anglican Diocese of Bor, Southern Sudan.

Giving has varied per year and has included support to John in his work at Daystar, and support for various needs in his ministry in Kakuma Refugee camp in Northern Kenya, which some from our community visited in 2007.

Most recently, we provided support for the construction of a tukul (hut) on the land in South Sudan where John hopes to build the Good Shepherd College/Seminary. We have also provided funding for retreats for World Relief staff working in Darfur to enable them to find some rest and renewal from their work.

India
Over the past three years, our community has provided support to those living in displacement camps and to those that have lost their livelihoods through persecution by Hindu extremists in Orissa, India.

St. Brendan's has also given support to pastors, assistance to start a business, and assistance to return to school. This past year, we provided funds to enable the rebuilding of a church that was burned during the persecution.