On Juneteenth, St. B's hosted a local justice group for a walk-a-thon fundraiser to support Black mental health counselors. Read more below!

WHAT'S HAPPENED RECENTLY?

On June 19, 2024 (Juneteenth), St. B’s welcomed The Black Mental Health Counselor Reparations Foundation (BMHCRF), as they hosted a fundraising walk in support of Black mental health counselors. A number of our parishioners attended the walk and heard more about the BMHCRF program, which includes assisting with student loan debt relief, supervision grants, scholarships and mentorship programs.

Many thanks to those of you who completed the Mission & Outreach Committee survey in May! We have posted a summary of the results on our website. In the coming months, we will be evaluating our volunteer opportunities, how we communicate about them and our mission and outreach partners, and how we prepare and thank our volunteers. Thank you for your valuable feedback and for your desire to serve!

Join us for our regular volunteer opportunities! 

August: We serve at The Branch of Nashville, a food distribution and language center in Antioch, on Saturday, August 10, 9:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. You can sign up here. Please fill out their volunteer form here if you have not done so before.

September: We serve at ShowerUp, a mobile shower site that assists people experiencing homelessness, on September 8, 2024 at 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. The sign-up will open in August.  (Please know that we are working hard with ShowerUp to ensure that there are not volunteer redundancies when we serve.)

You can also view a list of current volunteer opportunities with St. B's partners here.

WHO ARE OUR MISSION & OUTREACH PARTNERS?

During 2024 we are highlighting two of our mission partners each month in this email. The Mission & Outreach Committee gives funds, provides volunteers, and prays for our partners. M&O is a Vestry Committee. The full list of M&O partners for 2024 can be found on our website.

Founded in 1913 by the Daughters of the King, an order of the Episcopal Church, St. Luke’s Community House is supported by M&O. St. Luke's provides an array of services focusing on early child development, adult education, senior assistance, crisis support, and financial literacy instruction. These benefit low-income, working families, seniors and individuals living primarily in West Nashville. St. Luke's is looking for weekday volunteers in their food pantry and to deliver meals to home-bound seniors. St. Luke's also appreciates in-kind donations. Please consider helping! (We'd love to hear from you if you volunteer your time!)

St. B's supports the work of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, specifically the work of parishioner Don Paul Gross who serves as the Regional Director of Graduate Student and Faculty Ministries in the western states. This ministry seeks to develop on-campus communities of Christian graduate students and faculty that bear witness to the great love of God. These communities seek to encourage a growing love for God, for God's Kingdom, and for all people. 

According to the American Psychological Association and American Psychiatric Association, just 4 percent of psychologists in the U.S. are Black, and only 2 percent of psychiatrists are Black. Watch this NBC News clip for more information. One challenge to increasing the number of Black counselors is student loan debt. Black and African American college graduates owe an average of $25,000 more in student loan debt than white college graduates.

Bishop Sean Rowe, who was elected at General Convention this summer to be our next Presiding Bishop, is keen on reducing The Episcopal Church's carbon footprint. Read this article to find out more.