The Giving Church Strikes Again

St. John’ the Divine Episcopal church at 183 E. Bay St. in Cost Mesa has responded again to the call to do good in the lives of others outside other church community, so they can continue to grow We see the results of the work our small Parrish is doing when we deliver the donations to our various outreach ministries. Donations of clothing and even small appliances are generously donated by the people of the St. John the Divine community to help support various outreach programs in the greater Orange county area. Those include Grace’s Place-a Phoenix House and Rainbow Outreach. Both of these programs help women and men who are making the transition from incarceration to productive lives in the world outside the walls of prison.

Donations of clothing, so that they will be able to dress for success for that important interview or just to take pride in themselves, are delivered to these programs from the church on a regular basis. These deliveries are looked forward to as well as the very human contact that they have with our Deacon Sue Beck on Sunday afternoons. Deacon Beck’s enthusiasm and exuberance for these programs are the driving force behind its success as well as the stories of hope that she brings to the congregation after her deliveries. For example; a young woman in Grace’s Place-a Phoenix House had been remanded by the Superior Court to serve her custody at this residential program. She arrived at the program expecting a child and with the help the residence has been working to develop the life skills to raise a baby and have a stable life. St. John’ the Divines ministries heard about the birth of the baby and collected a diaper bag and bath blankets, a rattle, several outfits, two crocheted blankets, and a little knitted sweater for this new family. The mom was moved to tears when Deacon Sue Beck delivered the gifts. Her baby has been wrapped in bath towels, for lack of blankets. She was doing laundry every night so the baby’s one outfit is clean for the next day. Mom feels loved and cared for by a Christian community that is reflected in our Parrish’s out pouring of love and care for its neighbors.

The men in the Rainbow Outreach program are helped in a different way by the people of St John’s, on topof the donations of clothing the men’s project has receive a number of items that can be used when they transition from the group home environment into an apartment of their own. Welcome packages that include items like pots and pans, dishes and silverware as well s small appliance are presented to these men so that they can have that much needed boost to help make this transition easier to adjust too. The men of the program make reference when the donations arrive to that “Big Church “ in Costa Mesa, as they assume from the generosity that these donations are coming from a large congregation , when the reality is that St John’s is a very small one..

One of the men from the Rainbow Outreach summed up what the gifts from this little church mean to them when he said to another resident “God tells the people of St. John’s what

The men need and we bring it so they will have a better life.” Recently that focus was on a little seven pound miracle named Isaiah Elisha, and the Church responded with new clothes and blankets for his and his Mom’s new life. Be it a group of seniors getting together for an evening of food and comradely or a young mother trying to make a better life for her family while adjusting to life after prison, the little church with the big heart will try to be there to give a helping hand and