All Saints' Episcopal Church

Ministries and activities at All Saints’ Church are all part of our mission to know and serve the Risen Christ in all we do. The list on this page (following the description of our on-going community outreach projects) is a summary of our ministries and activities, some of which are described individually on other pages on this site. Please contact the church office to inquire about these ministries, meeting times, or to contact the co-ordinators of any of these groups. Nearly all groups welcome new members or volunteers at any time.

All Saints' House-Building Ministry

In September 2007 parishioners and friends of All Saints' (ages 14 through 60) returned to Mexico to build a house for another family living in a pallet shack with a dirt floor near the U.S.--Mexico border. The work was carried out under the direction of Border-to-Border Missions, the sponsoring organization, based in El Paso, Texas. Barb and Jim Hetzel, the Border-to-Border directors work with the local Mexican pastors in the "colonias", small communities in the desert outside of Juarez, to coordinate the construction of around 20 houses per year. Those receiving houses earn $5-10 per DAY in the city, which is enough to support their families but not enough to pay for reasonable housing. We help them by sharing God's love in a very practical way. Many parishioners who couldn't go to Mexico donated money to cover the cost of building materials.

Members of All Saints' have also worked for Habitat for Humanity in Trenton to help provide housing for people only 15 minutes away from our church who need a decent place to live.

All Saints’ and its parishioners presently help sustain fourteen separate ministries, either through direct personal involvement or through financial support. Some of these are internal, some local and others international in scope. Most of our ongoing ministries in the community are in support of established charities. Links to the web sites of these groups can be found on our “Links” page. Some of those with which we are closely involved are listed below. All of these worthy organizations would welcome new volunteers.

All Saints’ Concerns Committee provides vital services to members of the parish in temporary need of assistance. These may involve preparing and delivering meals to parishioners recovering from an illness or providing transportation for the elderly or infirm.

HomeFront’s mission is to provide food, clothing, shelter and employment counseling for needy families in the county. All Saints’ parishioners prepare and deliver meals once a month to homeless families (about 100 persons) housed in motels in Mercer and Burlington Counties through the auspices of HomeFront. We also maintain a clothes closet that delivers serviceable clothing to those in need throughout the year and a hold a drive to collect Christmas presents for inner city children.

Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton prevents hunger and homelessness by providing food, financial assistance and advocacy for low-income people in Mercer County. The parish has supported this important ministry for many years with food donations and contributes personal time to a number of the organization’s initiatives.

Womanspace aids families impacted by domestic and sexual abuse in Mercer County. Its programs include crisis intervention, emergency shelter, counseling, court advocacy and housing services. All Saints’ volunteers work as counselors to those seeking to recover from abusive family situations and the parish regularly collects personal items for victims who are forced to leave their homes on short notice.

Trenton Area Soup Kitchen provides food throughout the year to needy inner city residents. All Saints’ supports the work of this organization in various ways, particularly with a commitment to donate the cost of meals and to prepare and serve lunch at the Soup Kitchen each year on All Saints’ Day.

Border to Border Missions builds housing for the homeless in Juarez, Mexico. For the past two years members of All Saints’ Youth Group and adult parishioners have raised funds for construction materials and have traveled to Juarez to build a three-room house in the space of two days.