The campus of Hickory Neck Episcopal Church. From left to right: the historic 1744 chapel, the new church consecrated in 2006, and the parish house.       
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Outreach Council Coordinators
  • Gary Harvey
  • Chuck Jundt
Outreach Council Members:
  • Laurie Brown, Gay Forloine, Rick Garfield, Bob Gay, Esther Gay, John Greenman, Patty Kipps, Linda McGee, Pat Meszaros, Bill Teale, Coleman Ragsdale, Lauris Zeni
Outreach Council Minutes
Links to Charities We Support
Get Involved
Jewelry and craft items from African Team Ministry.
Jewelry and craft items from African Team Ministry.

Outreach Council member Laurie Brown delivers HNC's check to Jan Brown, founder of SpiritWorks Foundation.
Outreach Council member Laurie Brown delivers HNC's check to Jan Brown, founder of SpiritWorks Foundation.



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Outreach


Outreach takes several forms. As Christians we seek to carry the Gospel to every person we encounter, through our words, our prayers, and our actions. Happily, we had to build a larger church in 2006 to accommodate all those who answered our invitation!

Outreach also means being active in meeting the needs of the community. Hickory Neck’s Parish 2007 Visioning Process indicated a strong desire on the part of the congregation to be a city on the hill, shining forth the light of Christ. The Outreach Council guides us in fulfilling these desires, but it is the many parishioners who participate in these programs who make the light shine brightly.

We can do it. You can help.
We can do it. If you help.
We will do it with God’s help.
In 2007 Hickory Neck strengthened its commitment in several areas we support. Our annual Fall Festival raised more than $14,000 in support of several charities. For a full report of programs supported and our financial committments, see "Charity Details" below.

The Outreach Council's giving guidelines are available for your review. The Outreach Council generally meets at 7:00 p.m. on the 4th Monday of each month in the parish house. Contact Chuck Jundt for details.

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Charity Details


African Team Ministries: This annual jewelry and craft display is usually held in early May--just in time for Mother's Day gifts! Barbara Laroche coordinates this exhibit of beautiful handcrafted jewelry and accessories to benefit African Team Ministries. These items are one of a kind, and the money goes directly to support mission work for some of the world's poorest people. We bypass the wholesalers so that the artisans receive a fair price for their work.

Angels of Mercy is striving to achieve both growth and stability. They have established an advisory board that is attempting to improve their management and business practices. A Hickory Neck parishioner, Rick Garfield, is a member of this board. They also have a paid office manager. Angels of Mercy has also doubled their floor space by adding adjacent offices and hired a part-time Nurse Practitioner to increase the number of patients they can serve. Last year Hickory Neck donated $4,000 to AOM; this year we will give $450 per month for a total of $5,400.

Eastern State Hospital was given $500 toward the establishment of a chapel/meditation room in the new Eastern State facility.

Food for the Poor: Fr. Mike Casell is a retired Episcopal priest who visited Hickory Neck on May 20th and talked about the "Food for the Poor". This is a program that provides food, housing, health care, education, water projects, micro-enterprise development assistance and emergency relief to the poorest of the poor in 16 different countries. Food for the Poor reported that Hickory Neck parishioners contributed $3,659.

FISH: Hickory Neck has been a long time provider to FISH. However, the program was just a basket at church where people could place food items to be delivered to FISH. To restructure the program it was decided to call attention to the requirements of FISH with our program called Gone FISHn. Therefore, on the second Sunday of each month members of the congregation could take home a paper fish with a list of needed items. The third Sunday of month each is Gone FISHn Sunday when parishioners bring in their donations. In the first two months (October and November), 86 bags of groceries were collected and delivered to FISH.

From His Hands is a new program this year that provides meals to the unfortunate in the Grove area. Using a canteen truck provided by The Salvation Army, churches and charitable groups provide hot meals at The Grove Christian Outreach Center: Our first night in action was November 8th. Using the kitchen facilities at St. Martin’s, people from Hickory Neck prepared and delivered over 100 meals. Each participating church is asked to provide meals once each quarter. It requires about 14 –16 volunteers to prepare and deliver the food. We are looking for those who would like to help with this truly hands on ministry and/or would like to contribute to this effort to reach out to others.

Grove Christian Outreach Center provides food, clothes, school supplies and support in many forms to the people in the Grove area. Last year we provided $500 which enabled them to purchase over 200 pairs of gloves to be included in Christmas gift boxes for children.

Kairos: The mission of the Kairos Prison Ministry is to bring Christ's love and forgiveness to all incarcerated individuals, their families and those who work with them, and to assist in the transition of becoming a productive citizen.
  • Nearly 3 million Americans are incarcerated.
  • The average age of the inmate is 21.
  • Almost 50 percent of inmates are there for drug violations.
  • By some estimates, 90 percent of all inmates are there due to drugs and/or alcohol.
  • The recidivism rate nationally is close to 85 percent, but the recidivism rate for Kairos graduates who stay faithful to the program is 15 percent.
You can support this ministry by baking cookies for the next weekend. Homebaked cookies are a tangible expression of Christian love and an indication of God's concern to a group of people who seldom encounter either in the course of their daily lives. Your loving sacrifice will provide the "bread" that will shine the light of God's grace into the darkest corners of the prison. Suggested cookie recipes and instructions are available via parishioners who have served on Kairos teams. (Due to prison regulations, the recipes and instructions must be followed precisely.) Those who've made Cursillo weekends are encouraged to attend the weekend closing. Want to learn more? Talk to some of our parishioners who have been involved with Kairos: Alison Bailes, Bunky Garfield, Joan Forrest, Dave Forrest, Tom Martin, Carol Hearn, Judy Wetta, and Joy Tanner.

Relay for Life for the benefit of the American Cancer Society was held June 8th and 9th at Jamestown High school. This was a record year for our youth as they raised $5,500 for Relay for Life. Hickory Neck youth and adults participated in both walking and support. There were 24 "official" relay members and about 25 others who helped in many ways. Money was raised from both sales of spaghetti to go and a car wash. There were also 20 people who signed up to be “Prayer Partners” who prayed for more than 80 people.

Salvation Army Angel Tree: Forty tags with the names of children and their Christmas wishes were on the tree in the Narthex. By December 2nd, all tags were taken and gifts were delivered to the charity.

SpiritWorks Foundation: The mission of SpiritWorks Foundation is to help individuals live free from the intergenerational cycle of addiction in their families. They deliver peer-to-peer programs and services for children, youth, and adults living in recovery from the disease of addiction. Their programs and services build resilience in children, inspire youth to live drug free, and support, educate and empower adults who live in recovery. Hickory Neck donated $500 for scholarships to the children's program.

Vibrant Life Ministries went through a major change in its ability to care for the homeless in the area. Earlier in the year it appeared that VLM would be able to house homeless men at Camp Mericle in Charles City County. Hickory Neck aided VLM with funds, drivers to transport men to their jobs and individuals who helped with the management of the program. However, as has happened many times before, the people in the area did not want such a facility in their neighborhood, despite the fact there had been absolutely no trouble from the clients the camp was closed. To avoid any such problem in the future Vibrant Life Ministries purchased four houses to serve as transitional homes. One of the houses is for a family and there are groups of three men in each of the other three homes. Hickory Neck has furnished and equipped one of the homes for the men, and Hickory Neck in conjunction with Bruton Parish and St. Martins believes the three churches can pay the mortgage on the house. In 2007 VLM was given $5,000 for 2008 The Outreach Council is allocating $450 per month. ($5,400)

Williamsburg Faith in Action is an established charity that helps people who need help remaining in their homes. Williamsburg Faith In Action coordinates volunteers who provide transportation, help with chores or respite to those who are homebound or care for homebound. A member of our congregation is the Executive Director of Williamsburg Faith in Action. Last year Hickory Neck donated $1,000 and for this coming year we will be giving $175 per month ($2,100).

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