Our Baptismal covenant calls us to seek and serve Christ in all persons; to love our neighbors as ourselves; to strive for justice and peace among all people. As individuals we want and need to heed this call, but how can we do this when the challenges seem insurmountable? War, violence, environmental catastrophe, hunger, economic instability, political corruption…The list of what divides our world, our country and our city is endless. What can one person do? What can one congregation do?
The people of the Cathedral are committed to supporting and strengthening one another as we respond as Christians to the brokenness we see around us. Each of us has a passion for a particular mission, whether it is mentoring youth, caring for the sick, building decent housing, advocating for just laws, supporting those in recovery, ending domestic violence or something else entirely. We invite you to share your passion, your vision of a just and loving world, with our community.
Outreach is integral to every part of our corporate life at the Cathedral. By tithing 10% of income to outreach projects, the Cathedral as a corporate body exemplifies good stewardship of God's resources. These funds enable the Cathedral Outreach Team to support financially those organizations with which our members are working across the city and region, and across the world. Committing our financial resources is a sign of our commitment to the work that our community is doing on behalf of others and in partnership with others. We seek to use our resources to deepen our community's relationships with people and organizations in our city.
Because we are passionate about using our voices as Christians to effect real change for the better in our city and our world, we seek to equip ourselves to do this work, and so outreach is a key component of both adult and youth Christian Formation.
The people of the Cathedral work with many partner organizations on many outreach projects. A few recent projects are listed below. We invite you to learn more about these organizations and consider how you can best use your time, talent, and treasure. To learn more about outreach at the Cathedral, contact Outreach Coordinator,
Amy Myers, or talk to any member of the Outreach Team.
All God's Children
BUILD
Cathedral Advocates for Public Education (CAPE)
Episcopal Refugee and Immigrant Center Alliance
Food Pantry - Church of the Guardian Angel, Remington
House of Ruth Maryland
The ONE Campaign
Sandtown Habitat for Humanity
Women's Housing Coalition
All God's Children
All God's Children summer camp offers Baltimore-area children from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds an opportunity to enjoy and appreciate their differences together. The one-week August camp provides children time to play, work, and learn in a community dedicated to peace. This week is spent at the Bishop Claggett Center, a conference facility of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, located on a 260-acre former working farm in rural Fredrick County, MD (visit www.claggettcenter.org). Our community provides financial support as well as many happy and dedicated volunteers. For more information, contact Dorris McElroy.
BUILD
The Cathedral of the Incarnation is a member of BUILD (Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development). BUILD is a broad-based community organization of organizations (churches, neighborhoods, schools, etc.) that is non-profit, non-partisan, interfaith, and multiracial. BUILD has sister organizations in Howard County and Montgomery County, and indeed through the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) of which BUILD is an affiliate, has sister organizations nationwide. These organizations share a commitment to grassroots change for the better in the communities in which they work. To learn more, visit BUILD's website.
Cathedral Advocates for Public Education (CAPE)
CAPE grew out of our relationship with one local public school Waverly Elementary/Middle. In getting to know the school community, we learned of the delay in building a new school facility that had been promised by the school board. In 2007, CAPE was born and organized our church community to partner with our school and broader community to put pressure on elected and appointed officials to secure funding for the new school. In the late fall of 2010, ground will be broken for the new school. CAPE has expanded its advocacy work by joining the Baltimore Education Coalition, a grassroots city-wide coalition of schools, education reform advocates, neighborhood groups and others who work together to ensure that all children in Baltimore City receive an excellent education.
Episcopal Refugee
and Immigrant Center Alliance (ERICA)
ERICA is a church-based community resource center offering
assistance to refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants in the greater Baltimore area. ERICA was founded by former refugees who have experienced first
hand the challenges faced by those new to American society. The Center offers many services to refugees, including interest-free legal aid and family reunification loans,
monthly workshops, crisis support and transitional aid during housing and utility emergencies, personal assistance from volunteer mentors, winter
clothing drives, local community referrals and INS documentation assistance. ERICA has an immediate and ongoing need for mentors, volunteers for its
workshops, advocates, transporters and help leading winter clothing drives and open houses. For more information on ERICA or to volunteer,
contact the office
or visit the ERICA Web Site
Food Pantry - Church of the Guardian Angel, Remington
The Cathedral sponsors an ongoing collection of canned goods
and other nonperishable food items for the food pantry at the Episcopal Church of the Guardian Angel in our neighboring community of Remington.
Items may be brought at any time and placed in the bins in the Cathedral hallway.
House of Ruth Maryland
During Advent, our community works with House of Ruth Maryland to provide Christmas presents for the women and children affected by domestic violence and served by House of Ruth. To learn more about domestic violence in our area and about the work of the House of Ruth, visit their website. To get involved in our work with House of Ruth, contact Amy Myers.
The ONE Campaign
The Cathedral is a ONE congregation. ONE is a grassroots campaign and advocacy organization that is committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease in the developing world. As a ONE congregation, the Cathedral supports efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) both financially and through education.
For more information on the MDGs and on being a ONE congregation, visit Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation's website. In fulfilling our financial commitment to support organizations that address the MDGs,
we choose those with whom we have a close relationship that we can continue to develop. We sponsor children at El Hogar Amor y Esperanza in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and our members travel to Honduras for mission trips there. To learn more about El Hogar, visit their website.
.
Sandtown Habitat for
Humanity
The Cathedral community is a long-time partner with
Sandtown Habitat for Humanity in building houses in the West Baltimore neighborhood of Sandtown.
We are in the process of completing work on our 19th and 20th houses; these two are in partnership with other Episcopal
parishes and a school. Volunteers also work at the Sandtown Habitat ReStore. The ReStore collects donations of new or gently used
building materials and sells them at a discount to Sandtown residents. Proceeds from the sales will be used to refurbish additional houses.
For more information on Habitat or to volunteer, contact the Cathedral's Habitat Coordinator.
For more information on the ReStore, visit the Habitat ReStore web site.
Women's Housing Coalition
WHC provides housing opportunities and services
to low-income and homeless women with disabilities. For many years, Cathedral members have provided
Thanksgiving meals to residents and their families. To learn more about WHC, please visit their website.
