Social Ministry

Saint Michael Lutheran Church utilizes more than10% of its operating budget to support those in need in our community and worldwide.  The social ministry committee reviews and recommends charities which fit the mission of our church.  In addition to financial support, our members volunteer their time and talents to provide support and services to these social ministry projects.

Blood Drive

Sunday, June 11, 2023

8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Fellowship Hall

Details

Social Ministry Calendar of Events – 2023

Lenten fundraiser  - February 22 – April 9

KACS Empty Bowls  - February 24

Habitat for Humanity Work Day – April 22

Stuff the Truck - May 22

Baby shower for Young Moms – TBD

Red Cross Blood Drive  - June 11

Meal packing for Stop Hunger Now – Sept/October

Red Cross Blood drive – Fall TBD

Work day for Habitat or Good Neighbors – Fall TBD

Thanksgiving baskets – November

Christmas for Migrants – November/December

Support for Chester County Missions:

Good Neighbors provides home repair, financial guidance, and assistance to those who do not have the physical or financial means to make repairs to their residences.

Kennett Area Community Services

https://kacsimpact.org/

Kennett Area Community Services is a non-profit charity that provides essential life-sustaining services to our neighbors in need.

LCH Health and Community Services 

https://lchcommunityhealth.org/

LCH Health and Community Services (previously known as La Comunidad Hispana) offers specialized & primary care to Kennett Square, West Grove, Oxford, and the surrounding communities of southern Chester County. We pride ourselves on being a diverse, dynamic care team that is dedicated to addressing the medical needs of our community and helping adults, teens, and children to stay healthy.

The Garage Youth Center is an after school and Youth Development program serving Middle and High School Students in Kennett Square and Avondale.

Kennett Area Senior Center  

https://kennettseniorcenter.org/

Kennett Area Senior Center helps adults 50 and better live healthy, active and independent lifestyles.

After-The-Bell provides a safe, enriching, after-school program of recreational, social, and academic skill-developing activities for Kennett Middle School students.

Community of Love Lutheran Church is a small ELCA congregation in Oxford serving our neighbors in the southwestern corner of Chester County.

Oxford Neighborhood Services Center

  https://www.oxfordnsc.org/

Oxford Neighborhood Services Center provides a centralized location where residents of the southwestern corner of Chester County can access health and social services and find help to meet their basic needs. The Neighborhood Services Center’s staff works to empower all people to achieve health, wholeness, and stability in their lives.

Family Promise of Southern Chester County helps families with children experiencing homelessness achieve sustainable housing and stability.

Under the direction of Lorraine Armstrong Martinez. CCMM works with the year-round population of people who harvest mushrooms in Kennett Square, the mushroom capitol of the nation. CCMM offers warm clothing for these workers, who often arrive in this country ill-prepared for northern winters. Other services offered through CCMM include, Bible study (which also help immigrants learn English), citizenship classes, transportation to Philadelphia for immigrant matters, translation services with doctors, etc.  CCMM helps at least 200 persons with the citizenship process annually.

Young Moms works with pregnant and parenting young women who enter the program between ages 13 and 21 and who live in Southern Chester County, PA.  Many of our participants face huge challenges: incomplete education, poverty, single parenthood, depression, and a general lack of options and opportunities.  Participants remain in the program between two and four years, allowing us to assist them in overcoming obstacles which might normally derail their progress in achieving goals.

Good Samaritan Services

https://www.goodsamservices.org/

Responding with compassion to the challenges of poverty-related needs across Lancaster and Chester Counties, Good Samaritan Services takes a customized approach to helping men, women, and children overcome homelessness and hardships. Good Sam serves up to 200 people a day; providing a flexible spectrum of services ranging from emergency shelter to permanent housing, along with personal development and financial stability resources to help people get back on their feet in a sustainable way. These resources include parenting education and support, job training, microloans, matched savings opportunities, and much, much more!  A residential men’s shelter will be opening in Kennett Square soon.

Habitat for Humanity of Chester County

https://www.hfhcc.org/

Mandy Johnson-Ramos, Director of Community Engagement, Good Samaritan Services.

March 5, 2023

Leah Reynolds, Kennett Area Community Services Executive Director.

February 26, 2023


Southeastern PA Synod – ELCA  

https://www.elca-ses.org/

The Southeastern Synod is made up of 160 congregations and new starts across Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee.  The Synod’s  ministry is funded through mission support (also referred to as benevolence).  Mission support is received in the synod office from our congregations.  As a partner in the ELCA, we share 43% of mission support receipts with the ELCA to fund ministries that we could never do alone.  Learn more about mission support here.  


Support for International Missions:

Lutheran World Relief

https://lwr.org/about-lwr

Founded by Lutherans in the United States at the end of World War II, grounded in Lutheran theology and building on decades of experience, Lutheran World Relief tackles global poverty by helping people adapt to the challenges that threaten their livelihoods and well-being. We work with people based on need, regardless of race, religion or nationality and we do not evangelize. We provide aid in emergencies and help families restore their lives. We partner with communities to build and grow rural economies. We break the cycle of poverty, so families and communities can thrive. Our goal is to help people build self‐sufficiency and create new community‐owned approaches to problem‐solving that will last long after our projects end.

The work of the ELCA through Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service includes responding to people caught in conflict and facing persecution, advocating for their needs and interests, helping people access resources for basic human needs, working with foster care programs for minors, legal assistance, developing new and innovative service programs and partnerships, and much more.