2010 Annual Thanksgiving Dinner and Market

Thursday, November 4

11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

In addition to annual events, St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church has numerous outreach endeavors in the community and works with other churches and organizations to meet the different needs of people in the Hempstead community.

Community Outreach

St. Bartholomew is honored to host the monthly meeting of the Hempstead Community Outreach. The Outreach is a coalition composed of Hempstead churches that runs a food pantry, passes out gift boxes of food at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and distributes toys at Christmas for disadvantaged youth. Two of our parishioners, Helen Panetti and Gene Hawkins, are very active members along with individuals from other churches in the community.

Walking the Mourner’s Path®

Walking the Mourner’s Path® is a non-denominational, Christ-centered and scripturally-based bereavement and grief support program for individuals who have faced the death and suffer the loss of a loved one. Through the eight-week program, which includes a workbook and discussion, mourners learn ways in which they may honor their loved ones, seek spiritual direction, and discover Jesus Christ’s promise of comfort. The group, which is limited to 10 participants, meets once a week for 1.5 hours and is led by a trained, certified lay facilitator with clergy in attendance. Our group is led by Mary Flukinger, who received her Facilitator Training and Certification in Houston.

Ministry to Active Military Personnel

As part of our ongoing ministry to our men and women who are serving in the Armed Forces, St. Bartholomew’s has several ministries in addition to the annual Memorial Day Event.  At Christmas, we contribute to the Christmas Box Program for the Houston Seafarers Centers.

We are launching this fall a new ministry to provide copies of the Armed Forces prayer books to individual military personnel and to military chaplains for distribution.   In addition to traditional Episcopal liturgies, the prayer books have worship outlines for other denominations and faiths, prayers for special needs and occasions specifically directed to the circumstances encountered on the battlefield, and Psalms.   We invite anyone in the Hempstead community to submit the names and addresses of  family members or friends who are serving in the military, and we will send them a copy of the prayer book free of charge.  For more information, you may contact Gordon Borden at 832-615-9589.