Starting in April, Saint Peter began featuring a cause or organization during our Sunday Worship Service’s offering time. Below are links and summaries to those we’ve already lifted up. Be sure to check back in September and October during the churchwide God’s Work Our Hands celebration. We will continue to feature opportunities for loving your neighbor in the time of COVID-19.

Upcoming Community Blood Drives

Saint Peter will not be hosting a blood drive through Vitalant in the near future, but there are other opportunities to donate blood. Visit donors.vitalant.org where you can search for blood donation opportunities by zip code.

August 8 - Village Resource Center

The Village Resource Center (VRC) is a cooperative venture between six Christian congregations in Greenwood Village and Cherry Hills Village that provides financial relief to individuals/families to help keep them in their homes For this special offering, we have two requests.

• Please PRAY that alternative fundraisers surface – possibly even virtual fundraiser.

• DONATE what you can to VRC via the Saint Peter Vanco portal by following this link: https://bit.ly/2PuVYzR

July 12 - Anti-Racism

For this week’s offering, take time to reflect on how you and Saint Peter can be actively anti-racist. Here are a couple of good reads.

New Black Lives Matter Mural in Denver by Adri Norris

Last fall, a group of Saint Peter members participated in an eight-week Faith Table Talk Series on Race. The group enjoyed a visit from Adri Norris, a local artist. Adri was interviewed on 5280.com where she talks about her background as well as her work on an incredible street mural on Broadway near the Capitol building (pictured). https://www.5280.com/2020/06/meet-adri-norris-one-of-the-artists-behind-denvers-black-lives-matter-street-mural/

Theo Wilson on Colorado Matters

Theo Wilson, a local slam poet and activist also came to speak to Saint Peter last fall. He continues to contribute to local and national broadcast news shows and is currently coordinating community conversations in barbershops and beauty salons. Hear Theo on a recent episode of Colorado Matters when he talks about his own experience with police brutality. https://www.cpr.org/show-episode/june-2-2020-what-its-like-to-be-black-in-america-right-now/

June 28 - The Delores Project

The Saint Peter Church Chicks provide regular meals to the residents of The Delores Project, a Denver facility that provides safe, reliable shelter and housing for women. If you have a heart for cooking or would be willing to pick up supplies, the Church Chicks would welcome your contributions. Contact Annie Heath to get plugged in. You can also learn more about the organization at https://www.thedeloresproject.org/.

June 21 - World Refugee Day

Saint Peter members shared some of their experience mentoring a refugee family from Congo. If you are interested in becoming a cultural mentor or supporting Lutheran Family Services, visit the Refugee & Asylee Volunteer page on lfsrm.org.

June 7th and 14th - Selian Lutheran Hospital and Associated Ministries

Sign up for the annual Selian Run/Walk! Set your goals and get outside to support Selian Hospital in Tanzania all summer long.

May 31st - Support Our Students

In addition to celebrating with our graduates, we can honor them in other ways too.

• Donate to the StPLC Scholarship Fund. Each spring STPLC strives to award scholarships to Saint Peter congregants (of any age) who are furthering their education. The 2020 StPLC Scholarship recipient(s) will be announced in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we invite you to contribute to the fund by visiting https://tinyurl.com/donatetosaintpeter.

• Pray for students, especially those who attend programs out of town away from their families, those whose education is uncertain because of the pandemic and those who have graduated and are currently seeking employment. Remember what it was like those first months away from home? Consider sending cards and care packages in the fall, too.

• Support the ELCA Scholarship Fund for Leaders at https://www.elca.org/Our-Work/ Leadership/ELCA-Fund-for- Leaders/Our-Scholarships

May 24th - Prayers For COVID-19

Any prayer is worthwhile and that includes The Lord’s Prayer and turning to the book of Psalms for inspiration. There’s also this prayer from the Evangelical Lutheran Worship book (with the cranberry-colored cover you may recall having seen), which was published by the ELCA and Augsburg Fortress in 2006. It is the official hymnal of the ELCA and includes prayers, including the Prayer of God’s People that we pray on Sundays during worship.

Eternal God, amid all the turmoil and changes of the world your love is steadfast and your strength never fails. In this time of danger and trouble, be to us a sure guardian and rock of defense. Guide the leaders of our nation with your wisdom, comfort those in distress, and grant us courage and hope to face the future; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lor

May 17th - Lutheran Family Services (LFS) Rocky Mountains

LFS started out providing adoption services for babies and has grown into an organization that walks with the most vulnerable by offering services that heal, strengthen and provide hope. They now provide birth parent counseling, foster care, aging services, international adoptions, services to refugees/asylees, disaster relief and parent education.

Ways to Support LFSRM

• VOLUNTEER - Foster parents, tutors for foster kids, friends for seniors, tutors and mentors for refugees

• DONATE SPECIAL ITEMS - Collect school supplies, provide Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas gifts, create welcome baskets for newly arriving refugees and gift baskets for new moms. Give gift cards to Walmart, Target and King Soopers for clients, especially now in this challenging time of COVID 19.

• SUPPORT THE CLIENT EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUND - Visit https://www.lfsrm.org/give-now/donate/ and make a one-time or monthly donation so that LFSRM can continue to serve the vulnerable populations in our communities. You can also donate through Saint Peter’s website. Find the “Donate” button on the bottom of every page.

May 10th - Joshua Station

Joshua Station in Denver is a faith-based community helping families make the transition from homelessness to a healthy, stable living environment. Since 2001, Joshua Station has provided long-term transformational housing and support for high-risk families with multiple barriers to self-sufficiency. Joshua Station has the capacity to serve 30 families at any one time. (Image above is a mural seen on the outside of the Joshua Station building.)

Ways to Support Joshua Station

• VOLUNTEER - When we are past COVID-19 and social distancing restrictions are lifted, help serve a community dinner with other Saint Peter friends and volunteer at Joshua Station in other ways. They need help with babysitting, tutoring, facility repair, hair styling and more.

• DONATE - Make cash donations at https://mile-high-ministries.networkforgood.com/projects/17062-give-to-mile-high-ministries2 or purchase needed items through Amazon. Find their wishlist at https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/2DWMOIIA5OSMA/ref=cm_wl_upd_nojs_succ_ei

May 3rd - Hunger

Eleven percent of the world's people are hungry. That's about 1 in 10 people.

Ways to Help

• SUPPORT ELCA WORLD HUNGER - The organization provides a number of ideas for supporting the organization and those who face hunger. Not able to give financially? You can help spread the word, you can contact your representatives to make policy changes and you can pray. More here: https://www.elca.org/hunger

• DONATE TO COVENANT CUPBOARD IN GREENWOOD VILLAGE - Donate canned protein (meats, nut butters), canned fruits or vegetables, soup and chili, pasta and rice, cereal and oatmeal, breakfast and nutrition bars, and dry beans, PLUS cleaning and disinfecting supplies. Donations are accepted on Fridays from 8:30 a.m. -12:00 p.m.

April 26th - Environment

As people of faith, we should accept that caring for and protecting creation is central to who we are as followers of Christ.  We are called to be good steward’s of God’s creation and play a vital role in providing a healthier, safer and more stable world for all.

Ways to Create Change

• Hold Yourself Accountable at LutheransRestoringCreation.org - https://lutheransrestoringcreation.org/

• Donate Your Old Eyeglasses - It may be tempting to just throw them away, but why fill the landfills when you can donate them instead? The next time we are able to meet, bring your old eyeglasses to Saint Peter and find the box in the Narthex marked with the Denver Lion’s Club logo. These donated glasses will go to missionaries and others in need.

• Reduce Your Home Energy Usage

  • Clean/replace filters for all appliances/furnaces with filters

  • Replace all incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulb or LEDs

  • When not in use, turn off lights, TV, computer, appliances

  • Run full loads in dishwasher, washer and dryer

• Get Involved With The Earth Network at https://www.earthday.org/.