St. Peter's Church in the Great Valley

The Clinic was co-founded by a physician and parishoner of St. Peters to provide medical assistance to serve those who are uninsured or underinsured. Depending on the year, parishoners volunteer at the clinic. Yearly we provide funding and coordinate a collection of food and basic necessities for sharing with patients.

Led by current parishoners, Church Housing provides low-income housing to the elderly and those with special needs in Chester and Delaware counties. CHC. provides residences for seniors over the age of sixty-two who meet the income limits and are able to live with limited support. They also have facilities for individuals who are homeless and who have mental, illness, as well as for individuals with HIV/AIDS. Our parishioners provide Christmas gifts, books for the lending library, serve on the Board, provide prayer shawls, and volunteer to help with special needs.

The Food Ministry is the most active of the six key ministries supported by the Outreach Commission. Parishioners participate in a number of local food efforts. For more information on any of these opportunities, please contact food@stpetersgv.org.

St. Peter’s Ecumenical Monday Dinners is sponsored by St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Phoenixville. Volunteers from our church assemble in teams, to prepare and serve a nutritious meal each month. Two shifts are available for each evening meal: one from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. (prep and cook) and one from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. (serve and cleanup).

Darby Dinners  involves preparing and serving meals for over 100 in Darby Borough at the Darby Recreation Center. Affiliated with Episcopal Community Services, this outreach opportunity seeks to alleviate systemic hunger that stems from societal poverty. Parishoners also gather the ingredients for many families to have a special Easter meal.

During Lent, we prepare and distribute containers of soup to the families served by the Free Church of St. John in Philadelphia.

We have also worked with The Church Farm school to pack food supplies for international distribution.

The Can Do Crew  For over two decades, volunteers from St. Peter’s have gathered monthly to extend the love of Jesus Christ to low-income families by making their homes safer and more comfortable. Construction and repairs help all who are involved to develop deeper personal relationships and to learn or improve handy-work skills. in 2020 we have formed a partnership with the Chester County chapter of Habitat for Humanity, helping with construction of a new home in Coatesville. On-the-job training will be provided for those who wish to learn new skills, from dry-walling to painting and carpentry. Although volunteers must be 16 or older, other opportunities are available for younger teens.

The Chester Children’s Chorus offers talented children from Chester, PA the opportunity to develop their musical gifts, expand their intellectual horizons, and strengthen their life skills. Children are invited to join the chorus on the basis of musical potential, enthusiasm, and family support. The music staff conducts annual auditions in second-grade classrooms in every public, charter, and religious school in Chester, and a new group of second-graders enters the chorus every summer. Families pay a modest annual fee for chorus participation. St. Peter’s supports the chorus by hosting concerts and providing financial assistance.
St. Peter's provides funding and hosts a concert with the chorus on alternate years.

The St. James School is an Episcopal middle school in the Allegheny West neighborhood of North Philadelphia, educating traditionally under-resourced children in fourth to eighth grades and supporting them through high school and beyond.

St. Peter’s supports the school by giving funding, backpacks with supplies, tutoring students,  knitting scarves and hats in school colors for students, donating Christmas gifts for the families of students and by caring for the school property.

The Green Stewards was formed in response to the climate crisis to educate ourselves and others and to encourage more sustainable actions within our parish and community.  We host a yearly Creation Care day featuring activities, displays and a walk in a nearby nature preserve. Environmental themes have been featured in our adult forums.

Related activities include outdoor worship in area parks and blessing of the animals, as well as Labyrinth walks. Our  historic 16 acres features a butterfly garden, native plants, bee hives and a labyrinth.

Sacred Ground is dialogue series on race, grounded in faith. Small groups are invited to walk through chapters of America’s history of race, racism, and whiteness while weaving in threads of family story, economic class, and political and regional identity. The 10-part series is built around a powerful online curriculum of documentary films and readings that focus on Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian/Pacific American histories as they intersect with European American histories.

Sacred Ground is a resource coming out 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. This series is especially designed to help white people talk with other white people, while being open to all racial/ethnic groups. Participants are invited to peel away the layers that have contributed to the challenges and divides of the present day – all while grounded in our call to faith, hope and love.