Our Work
St. James provides opportunities for people of all ages to grow in faith, enjoy intergenerational community, and serve their neighbors. We believe our faith starts in church—then reaches out to shape our city and our world.
Programs & Projects we support
Faith in Action
Faith in Action is the social justice ministry of St. James SF. We are focused on those issues most affecting parishioners and our community. Our collective efforts are directed primarily towards homelessness and housing justice issues. As a group, we are actively involved in voter engagement including candidate forums and get-out-the-vote actions that support these priorities.
Individual members volunteer their time to homeless outreach (see Project Homeless Connect), environmental and immigrant justice including issues related to contamination at Hunter’s Point, accompanying newcomers from Ukraine and collaboration with Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity as they accompany new immigrants.
We hold bi-monthly meetings to provide updates and plan for future activities. We provide mutual support and resources to one another as we pursue justice in our community. All are welcome to join us on the third Sunday of the even numbered months following the 10 a.m. service. Meetings last an hour. SJFIA is co-led by Barbara Webb obipone@aol.com and Sandra Dratler sandradratler@gmail.com
St. James is a member of Faith in Action Bay Area, a network of congregations and community leaders working to uphold the dignity of all people.
Project Homeless Connect
The mission of Project Homeless Connect, a community-based non-profit, is to connect San Franciscans experiencing homelessness with the care they need to move forward. Services are provided in person at their offices, through mobile off-site services, and virtually on the phone and over email.
St. James parishioners have been volunteering with PHC for over five years. They are active in outreach to our unhoused neighbors in the Richmond District as part of the monthly mobile off-site services. These events take place on the third Friday of each month when we meet to begin our shift at 10:30 a.m. and finish up by 12:30. We walk the Inner Richmond and pass out hygiene kits to unhoused neighbors, encouraging them to seek services that day through the mobile van.
We also are represented at the PHC Community Day of Service, a quarterly one-stop shop where service providers come together at the Bill Graham Auditorium, providing easy access for unhoused and at-risk individuals. Services include medical and dental care, eyeglasses, on-site DMV and Social Security and other support organizations. St. James volunteers take on half-day shifts and have served as registrars, escorts and translators.
In addition to volunteering, St. James sponsors an annual recital and a craft fair that benefit Project Homeless Connect.
Contact Barbara Webb for more information obipone@aol.com and check out PHC’s website for more details on their services and possible volunteer opportunities.
Sacred Ground
St. James hosts Sacred Ground circles that explore race and racism in the USA through the lens of faith. This program is part of Becoming Beloved Community, the Episcopal Church’s long term commitment to racial healing , reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our ministries, and our society.
Vital + Thriving
Vital+Thriving Congregations is a ministry learning hub focused on building a beloved community. We’re committed to walking with you as you seek to discover your next steps, as you discern your congregation’s unique missional challenge.
The group is currently focused on identifying partners in the community who we will work together with to design, carry out, and learn from 1-2 missional experiments addressing community and social justice issues. After their first meeting, the MIT team decided to start this process by exploring what connections St. James members already have outside our walls regarding community and social justice issues.
We want to hear from you! What other community groups are you involved with? Where are you already serving in the community? What social justice issues and organizations are you already active with?
Please feel free to send your responses to the MIT team via Petrina’s email: petrinag@msn.com or tell any MIT member at coffee hour!