Outreach

Our Outreach committee currently includes nineteen active parishioners. Each year the Outreach Committee strives to maximize help to others through long-standing partnerships as well as in new, meaningful ways.

Free. Ministry

As Christians, we respect the dignity of every human being. When parishioner Kenzie Blackwell learned that welfare benefits do not cover personal hygiene supplies, that donations of menstrual products were low, and that many South Shore residents were missing school and work because of it, she took action. She spoke to St. John’s leadership about creating a new ministry to address period poverty, and Free. (pronounced “free, period”) was born. Just two years later, Free. has supplied more than 800,000 products (“moments of dignity”) worth more than $125,000, and recently secured a $500,000 grant to become a source of support to schools across Massachusetts. Supplies have outgrown Kenzie’s garage, and require warehouse space covered by other grant funding. Parishioner-owned Hingham Moving Services provides transportation of large donations, and parishioners of all ages are involved in product collections and packing. Free.’s ministry ensures that a basic biological function doesn’t act as a barrier to living a full life. Free. has served as a model for multiple other groups in Massachusetts and beyond. Please visit freeperiodministry.org for more information.

Appalachia Service Project

St. John’s has enjoyed a strong alliance with The Appalachia Service Project for 10 years. In 2023, our group of 10 youth and chaperones traveled to three counties in West Virginia, helping families with critical housing repairs to make homes warmer, safer, and drier.

B-SAFE

For 24 years, St. John’s and the Episcopal Parish of St. Stephen’s in neighboring Cohasset have provided a day camp on the South Shore for Boston youth during a week of their summer vacation. Together, we host around 100 B-SAFE campers in July. The youth take field trips to the South Shore Arts Center and Holly Hill Farm, go to the beach, and have a barbecue lunch and games at St. John’s. Sixty-five volunteers help make this happen.

Laundry Love

A monthly ministry serving low-income clients at a local laundromat, Laundry Love also holds an annual Valentine’s Day fund-raiser, which raised $2,000 to support the program in 2023. On average, we fund 50 loads of laundry per month.

Becoming Beloved Community

The mission of the Becoming Beloved Community (BBC) at St. John’s is to identify and dismantle racism and injustice while building an antiracist community in our church and beyond. The BBC team currently has 17 serving members, including our parish clergy and youth group parishioners. BBC focuses its energy on three areas: youth education in the Sunday School and Youth Group classes; working with adult education in offering Sacred Ground and other programs to enhance adult formation around racial and ethnic justice and identity; and community outreach, partnering with five of the seven historically Black congregations in the diocese through Roxbury-Dorchester Power in Community organization, and through Episcopal City Mission, which focuses its ministry on the urban poor and oppressed.

BBC continues to identify areas where St. John’s can continue to ensure BIPOC voices and perspectives are an active part of shaping important decisions for our parish. For example, in 2022, BBC advised parish leadership on key questions we should be asking as part of the interview process for new staff members, and advocated successfully for the Rector Search Committee to include BIPOC representation. BBC also worked closely with the Sunday School leadership to assure age-appropriate focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. BBC has also increased diversity at our Holiday Boutique fund-raiser by recruiting and inviting BIPOC vendors to attend.

Additional Outreach Ministries

Addressing Food Insecurity

We work with local clergy to organize a meal-packing event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and support three local food pantries through food drives and monetary support.

Back-to-School Supply Drive

We collected about 100 backpacks and many school supplies for our annual Backpack and School Supply Drive for the Quincy Family Resource Center.

Angel & Warming Christmas Trees

Gift cards, essential outdoor winter wear, toys & games are donated by our generous parishioners to provide brighter Christmases for scores of people in need on the South Shore. Organizations that we partner with include Blue Hills Healthy Families, Quincy Family Resource Center, St. Stephen’s Youth Programs, Christmas in the City, and Wellspring.

Spring “Closet Clean-Out” Clothing Drive

We partner with Cradles for Crayons in Boston to provide infants and children living in homeless or low-income situations with essential items they need to thrive. In the spring of 2023 a group of 15 parishioners delivered more than 75 bags of donated clothes, books, diapers, and toys, and helped sort incoming items at their Giving Factory headquarters.

Responding to Current Needs

St. John’s regularly responds to support local and global communities in times of acute need.

In 2023 we donated $7,100 to the Family Welcome Center, a local refugee intake and housing center established by Bay State Community Services. These monetary and in-kind gifts were raised by the Not-So-Spooky Haunted House in partnership with the Hingham Unity Council.

In 2022 we raised $1,333 from the Not-So-Spooky Haunted House for Ukraine relief. SummerFest raised another $2,500 for Ukraine that year. Additionally, the Vestry used earmarked funds to support the World Central Kitchen’s relief work in Ukraine.

Outreach Mission Statement

To help our fellow children of God, both near and far, through compassionate service and thoughtful financial support.

You’ll find Jesus at Laundry Love. Every single time!

— parshioner comment

I think of St. John’s as a dynamic parish of folks who are joyfully ready to roll up their sleeves and help.

— Guest preacher Rev. John H. Finley IV, co-founder and head of Epiphany School