Growth/Community Outreach
Reaching Out
Here at St. Bartholomew’s, we feel that by doing our part of “reaching out” in the community, we will naturally be contributing to the growth of our church. Therefore, the two goals of Growth & Outreach are intertwined. We are committed to helping our community in various ways. Our focus changes with the ever-changing needs of our local community needs, and the national and/or international needs. From collecting donations for the Children’s Inn at NIH, to Manna Food Bank, to clothing donations, and most recently to the fundraising to help with the transition of Afghan refugees, we are there to help.
“’What should we do then?’” the crowd asked. John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.’” Luke 3:10-11
Projects and Events
Look below for some of the projects and events we have been involved with, and/or in charge of. We hope you will find that you, too, will want to join us in making a difference in this world — one project at a time!
2022 (Adhering to County Covid -19 Guidelines)
April
PALM SUNDAY
It was a cloudy & cool morning on April 10th as we celebrated Palm Sunday. We were even lucky enough to have, for the first time, a visit by a donkey. If it had not been so cold, we would have walked with him around the block to symbolize the journey Jesus took on the way to his crucifixion.
Rev. Jo-Ann Murphy led us with an outside prayer before we headed inside for the remainder of the service.
It was very evident that the children loved the donkey. It will make a great topic of discussion for Sunday School class!
We hope you will join us for next year’s Palm Sunday service!
January
WINTER COAT DRIVE!
In January 2022, our church participated in a Winter Coat Drive! We were proud to participate with the Laytonsville Lions Club in collecting 200 winter coats, rain coats & parkas. These coats were brought to the Town Hall porch during a few weeks in January & February, and all were donated to the Frederick Rescue Mission, the Red Cross & the Salvation Army.
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR KINDNESS & GENEROSITY WITH THIS OUTREACH PROJECT.
2021 (Adhering to county Covid -19 Guidelines)
December
In mid-December the Sunday school children made individual table top decorated Christmas trees for all 12 residents of the Montgomery County Veterans Home on Riggs Road in Laytonsville, with a few extra for the common areas and staff members! The trees were delivered to the delight of all residents.
We also arranged for a buffet luncheon to be delivered by our church caterer on Friday, December 10th for the Veteran Home residents. They were treated to some delicious food & desserts!
And as the year came to a close, the Committee decided that we should donate some funds to local community charities. After discussion, it was decided that we would donate $500 each to our local Laytonsville Fire Department for their new equipment fundraiser, and to the Episcopal Relief Fund (www.episcopalrelief.org)
St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal church has an abundant amount of energy for giving back to the community and the world! We are blessed to be able to contribute our time, our resources and our faith to our little community, and to the world at large! We would be honored if you would join with us in these events, and we look forward to continuing these programs in 2022. Please feel free to reach out to Betsy Taylor Calender at betsy.taylor710@gmail.com, our Chairperson for the Growth & Community Outreach Committee with any questions, or if you would like to volunteer with us.
November
On November 6th, several members of our church donated their time and also their own resources to the Montgomery County Veterans Home on Riggs Road in Laytonsville to perform some yard landscaping. There are 2 homes on the property. We will return in the Spring to do more mulching and more sprucing up of the property!
October
The church is now working with the Montgomery County Housing Coalition (www.mcch.net) with regard to the homeless veterans housing located on Riggs Road in Laytonsville. Current projects include landscaping work. Future projects include holiday projects.
September
We have spent the last couple of years closing a thrift store we had on the property, and we are currently in the process of removing all of the racks, etc. in preparation for its new purpose in life! In that process, we donated more than 70 bags of clothes to Interfaith Works (www.iworksmc.org) , A Wider Circle (www.awidercircle.org ) & Goodwill (www.goodwill.org)
June
This year we offered our property (outside) to the community for events. In June, we held a 6-week children’s’ music program for ages 0-5 on our Labyrinth. The program called “Music Together” (www.musictogetherwithsonia.com) is a 45-minute class geared toward music introduction. So successful, the Fall class is now in session and runs from September to November, with a total of 11 families participating.
March
Our annual Easter Egg Hunt for the children was also modified due to Covid restrictions. In lieu of having a property-wide egg hunt, we put together kits called “Kids Easter Journey Gift Bags” where each child received a carton of 12 plastic eggs filled with candy, a picture of each disciple, and the story of Holy Week, along with miscellaneous other toys. We gave out over 70 bags to both church parishioners and community families alike.
February
Because we could not hold a Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper this year (as we have done in the past), we decided to do a “Shrove Tuesday Doughnut” pickup. Participants signed up for the number of boxes they wanted, and we accepted donations. Photos below are from our March 2019 Annual Pancake Supper held in our undercroft:
2020 (Adhering to strict Covid-19 guidelines)
We donated $500 each to 2 local charities – Dorothy Day Place in Rockville, a transitional housing program for homeless men & women (www.catholiccharitiesdc.org/DorothyDay) and Shady Grove Pregnancy Center (www.pregnancy-options.org)
We made a $400 donation to Manna Foods in Rockville in anticipation of an increased number of people needing food assistance due to impact from Covid-19.
2019
For many of the past several years, we have participated in the Laytonsville Town Parade held in May.
Also, for the past several years (pre-Covid), we participated in the Laytonsville Town Picnic (typically the 3rd Saturday in September). We love partnering with the Town Hall events since they are next door to our property. For this event, we donated face painting for the children, balloons, and rock painting tables.
We found a date in September to hold a CPR/AED class in our undercroft. We had 10 participants. It was quite a success and we hope to hold another class in the future.
Prior to the start of the school session in the Fall of 2019, the church collected supplies for over 40 school backpacks. As they were not needed in Montgomery County, we researched and found they would be best served at the Episcopal Day School in Lake Charles, Louisiana. After receiving them, the school actually gave some to a local Louisiana charity called DeWanna’s Community Closet (www.dewannascloset.com)
In beginning our closure of the church 2nd Look Boutique, we donated about 30 bags of winter clothing to Interfaith Works (www.iworksmc.org)
November
The church raised funds and collected canned goods for a food drive. Betsy Taylor Calender, on behalf of the Outreach Committee, delivered the non-perishable food to Manna Food in Rockville (www.mannafood.org), along with a check for $250.
Labyrinth & Memorial Garden
As an outreach gesture to our community, in 2018 we constructed a Labyrinth with a Memorial Tree on our property. Our Labyrinth is open to the public 24/7.
