St. James Episcopal Church

A group to help our church be proactive in caring for the earth and encouraging our community to do the same.

St. James has been a part of establishing a new emergency warming shelter, at which church members serve as hospitality volunteers during the coldest months.

St. James has two breakfast teams who prepare breakfast twice a month at our local shelter for those who live in the shelter and those coming in from the cold.

The Sewful Stitchers make quilts to raise money for the Pride in Motion Camp in Keene, quilts for comfort care patients at the local hospital, specialized pillows for breast cancer patients and other helpful sewn items for the wider community.

The prayer shawl ministry knits or crochets prayer shawls for those in need of spiritual comfort, and also hats and mittens for people who need them.

St. James is a partner congregation with the Monadnock Interfaith Project, a faith based community organizing organization that promotes interfaith understanding and social justice in our area.

St. James has had a booth at the Keene Pride Festival since its inception.  We give away items to young people, and have cookies and other knitted and sewn items for sale to raise money for the Pride in Motion Camp.  Our priest has an “I will listen” area to sit with people who’d like to connect.

Each spring we rent a uhaul truck and park it on our front lawn and invite the entire community to fill it with cereal for “Feeding Tiny Tummies,” an organization in Keene that addresses food insecurity for kids, providing snacks, breakfasts and weekend/vacation food to families. Cereal is their most requested and distributed item.

Our minister of music has gathered a chorus from all area musical and theatrical groups to perform food-aid concerts three times a year.  Admission to each concert, which always includes special guest musicians, is a bag of non-perishable items and/or a monetary donation to the Keene Community Kitchen.

Every Sunday we collect non-perishable food for our local food pantry, as well as toiletry items for “Raven’s Rations,” the food pantry at Franklin Pierce University.