Beyond St. Peter’s

Serving friends next door and around the world

American Cancer Society – Carmel Relay for Life  Relay For Life is a 24-hour, family-friendly fund raising event. Don’t let the 24 hours discourage you, participants don’t have to be there the whole time. It’s a wonderful opportunity for fellowship while raising money for a great organization that does amazing work! Please contact the church office if you have questions or are interested in joining the St. Peter’s team.

Blood Mobile  Did you know you can give the gift of life for three people with just one blood donation? At regular intervals throughout the year, the blood mobile comes to the St Peter’s parking lot. Please go to www.indianablood.org to register. Blood Mobile dates will be printed in the Epistle Newsletter, weekly bulletin and church calendar. Thanks for prayerfully considering being a part of this truly lifesaving ministries. Questions?  Contact Judy Joutras at or 224-3279.

back to top

Cincinnati – Washington United Church of Christ  One of St. Peter’s most popular service missions, Washington UCC is an urban church in Cincinnati Ohio.  It was founded in 1873, and in the past 40 years the church has been designated a "mission church" to serve the small, generally poor, and predominately Appalachian neighborhood of Camp Washington in Cincinnati, Ohio.

St. Peter’s youth (ages 4th grade through high school seniors) visit Washington UCC at least twice a year – for a week of service in the summer, and again at Christmastime to assist with  holiday preparations. There are also school supply drives and opportunities for adult service trips. Contact the Missions Team for more information. 

Crop Walk  CROP stands for Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty. This local fund raising event is sponsored by Church World Service, an international relief, development, and refugee resettlement agency. This agency helps families that are displaced from their home because of violence and wars in their country or caused by neighboring countries as well as helping local agencies.

back to top 

Cuba Trips  For several years – even during tighter restrictions on travel – St. Peter’s has enjoyed a unique friendship with people from the (church name) in (town name). As our Cuban friend (name) said, “We hope to build bridges of mutual understanding that our leaders can cross.” Approximately every other year, St. Peter’s sends a group of people to Cuba for a goodwill trip and cultural exchange. All who have attended have come back transformed. News about the next Cuba trip will appear in the Epistle Newsletter and this website. Questions? Contact the Missions Team.

Damien Center Food Pantry  There are many challenges for people affected by HIV/AIDS. The Damien Center serves our community by providing non-perishable food items, toiletries, and paper goods to those living with HIV/AIDS. Specific items that are needed include: cereal, canned meat, canned fruit & fruit juice, toothbrushes and razors. Please bring donations to the church.

back to top

Day of Caring  Periodically  a group from St. Peter’s gathers to provide a day of service to friends in the church and throughout the community. Some of the projects have included assisting IHN (Interfaith Hospitality Network), Exodus refugee resettlement, Rural Health mental health facility, and assisting homebound St. Peter’s members. We meet in the morning for a continental breakfast, go out into the community, then gather again in the evening for supper together. It’s a wonderful opportunity to serve and enjoy fellowship. For more information, please contact the Missions Team.

 East 10th Street Meal Serving Project  An amazing initiative started in 2011 is the serving project at East 10th Street United Methodist Church. On June 29th, 2011 eleven people came together to serve a much-appreciated meal to that community. The response was well received on both sides and the need continues to exist and other serving opportunities have been planned. If you’d like to donate food or money, or serve/cook, please contact the Missions Team to get on their email list.

back to top

El Salvador Trips  We are planning another life-changing trip that will allow us to see genuine heroes in action.  The people of El Salvador – particularly those in faith communities – demonstrate a bravery and strength of character that is humbling.  Despite decades of strife, natural disasters and economic deprivation, they persist with hope. For more information contact Kent Newton at .

Giving Tree  Each year, we decorate our Christmas tree at the church entrance with a variety of ornaments to select. The white ornaments are for the Angel Tree (for children of incarcerated parents), yellow ornaments for our friends at Rural Health, green tree-shaped ornaments for our kids at Washington UCC in Cincinnati, and purple ornaments are to help out families at Riley Children’s Hospital.

Hamilton County Kids Coats  Last year, family and friends of St. Peter’s donated over 100 coats to this collection. Since there is always a need for new and gently used winter apparel, we will again be collecting coats, hats, gloves, boots, scarves and snow pants.  Watch for the collection box at the church entrance in the weeks before Christmas.

back to top

Interfaith Hospitality Network  IHN is really a service passion at St. Peter’s. Four times a year (rotating with other area congregations), St. Peter’s hosts a group of families facing homelessness. Our goal is to keep families together during this challenging time, so they don't have to split up among different locations. During weeks that we host families, about fifty St. Peter’s folk volunteer for a variety of service tasks: setting up bedrooms, preparing breakfast and dinner, driving to and from the day center, coordinating activities for the children, staying overnight as a host to the families, and laundering the bedding at the end of the week. IHN is a great ministry opportunity for all ages! For more information, contact the Missions Team.

Korks for Kids  Korks for Kids recycles corks from wine bottles and other cork materials so they can be used to make flooring for playgrounds. Korks for Kids donates the money raised from cork recycling to the Autism Foundation. Drop your corks in the box in Fellowship Hall. Questions? Contact the church office.

back to top

Mental Health – Rural Health Center  Rural Health Center (named for its location – Rural St.), is a healthcare facility in Indianapolis for the differently abled. Several times per year members of St. Peter’s and Rural Health residents share in events and parties. If you’d like to participate or want more information, please contact the Missions Team. 

One Great Hour of Sharing  Last year St. Peter’s members donated financial gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing, which were used to provide clean water, food and medicines in Haiti and Chile following the  earthquakes. OGHS gifts are also used to provide education for children in Laos, equip community health facilitators in Chile, India, East Timor and Haiti and enable women in Egypt, Zimbabwe, Bosnia and Ecuador to  start small businesses and provide for their families.

back to top

Peace Garden  We had land. We had gardeners. We put them together and now we have produce to give to hungry families! Working in the St. Peter’s Peace Garden is a great way to roll up your sleeves (literally and figuratively) to help solve the problem of the availability of fresh produce. We grow food in our gardens here and deliver them to two Hamilton County pantries. Volunteers are needed to tend the garden (flexible, but mostly on Wednesdays and Saturdays for an hour or so) and to clean and deliver food to the pantries.  

Refugee Resettlement Ministry  St. Peter’s partners with Exodus by providing help and donations of all kinds of household goods. Exodus works toward the resettlement of refugees from all over the world representing many faiths, cultures and languages. In 2011 Exodus is projected to welcome 720 persons from countries including Burma, Iraq, Eritrea, Somalia, Iran and others. If you’d like more information or have something to donate, please contact the Missions Team.

Save Your Soda Tabs  Your little soda tabs can help Ronald McDonald House Charities (RHMC) serve children in need. Amazingly, the Upper Midwest chapter of RMHC raises about $30,000 a year through their soda tab program! After tabs are collected, the local RMHC Chapter brings the collection to local recycling centers, where they are weighed to determine their value. The recycling center then sends the local RMHC Chapter a check for the total value. Look for the soda tab box in Fellowship Hall to support Ronald McDonald House.

back to top

Campbell’s Product Labels  Ruth Spiegel heads a ministry collecting labels and other proofs-of-purchase from Campbell’s products. This programs assists educational and care facilities, such as The Shepherds’ Home at Union Grove, WI, where her son Gary Spiegel is a resident. Please remove Campbell’s labels and proofs-of-purchase and place them in the in the box in Fellowship Hall marked “The Shepherds’ Home.”