Good Shepherd Episcopal Church - Outreach Ministries

Outreach Ministries

Good Shepherd Episcopal School

The Good Shepherd Episcopal School serves children aged 3 through pre-kindergarten. The School’s mission is to provide a safe and loving environment in which children’s lives are transformed through its high-quality educational program. At Good Shepherd Episcopal School, the well being of each child is foremost. Students flourish because of an educated and experienced teaching staff, a low child/teacher ratio, a high level of parental involvement, and a fully developed fine arts program. Good Shepherd Episcopal School nurtures the whole child, academically, spiritually, physically, and emotionally. The children of Good Shepherd Episcopal School attend during the fall and spring semesters according to a variety of schedules.

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The Horizon School

The Horizon School at Good Shepherd welcomed its first students in 2009 to provide an educational opportunity for children with Down syndrome and similar developmental delays. The Horizon school offers its students the tools and practical skills to enable them to become productive citizens. A structured learning environment in an atmosphere of love and understanding helps students achieve their full academic potential, contributing to their happiness and self worth.

The Nook

The Shepherd’s Nook is a thrift shop founded in 1978 by the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church Women. The Nook is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization that receives donations of clothing, toys, books and household items from individuals in the community and sells them at deeply discounted prices. The Nook is staffed solely by volunteers. All proceeds from The Nook are distributed to local non-profit organizations. The Nook also provides free clothing and household items to clients referred from area churches and community service agencies such as Christian Helping Hands (CHH). In addition to monetary donations, the Nook has provided free clothing, household items, videos and books to Galveston area residents, the Seaman’s Center at the Port of Houston, the Purple Heart ministry, The Lord of the Streets ministry, Bay Area community schools and others.

Community Garden

The Good Shepherd community garden was initiated during the summer of 2011. The garden is available to parishioners and members of the local community. Half of each gardener’s harvest is donated to Christian Helping Hands (CHH). CHH is a ministry of many local churches that provides short-term assistance with basic needs, primarily food, and helps others become more self-sufficient. Needless to say, we hope for more rain next season!

United Thank Offering (UTO)

UTO begins with a yearly gathering of contributions from the local congregation. It is traditionally collected on All Saints Day (November 1) and sent to the Diocese, which forwards it to the National Office of the United Thank Offering in New York. Each year, the national office provides grants for worthy projects that have great need and little support from other sources. The grants support ongoing programs and “bricks and mortar” projects.

Blood Drives

Good Shepherd’s blood drive ministry holds five drives per year (February, May, July, September and December) for the benefit of St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. Since 2008, Good Shepherd’s donations have averaged approximately 167 units of blood per year. In total, Good Shepherd has donated over 118 gallons of blood. Based on attendance, parish participation averages about 10 percent, which is twice the national average for blood donation. This level of participation can be credited in large part to strong support from the pastoral and lay church leadership.

Episcopal Youth Community (EYC)

Good Shepherd’s EYC is active in outreach. Both the Junior and Senior High EYCs go on Mission Trips each summer. This year our Junior High EYC participated in the Cathedral Urban Service Experience (CUSE) in downtown Houston, working at the Houston Food Bank, helping Palmer Episcopal Church’s breakfast team serve breakfast to the homeless, and working in a kitchen in a downtown Houston men’s homeless shelter. Our Senior EYC went on a mission trip to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, working on house repairs and painting. Throughout the year, the EYC participates in numerous outreach activities, including sponsoring a child in Malawi, Africa, supporting CHH food drives and St. Vincent’s House in Galveston, and participating in Sweet Jesus Season each Christmas, an outreach project that provides cookies, drinks and blankets to Houston’s homeless.

Episcopal Church Women (ECW) Outreach

The ECW is very active in outreach in our communities. Along with monetary support provided to Clergy Discretionary funds and many Good Shepherd ministries, the ECW provides educational scholarships for women enrolled in higher education, scholarships for youth summer camps, and donations to the Vera Gang Scott Scholarship fund. The ECW also supports Christian Helping Hands, parishioners involved in medical or other mission trips, and partners with the EYC for local outreach ministry events.

Daughters of the King Outreach

The Good Shepherd DOK is active in outreach, with particular emphasis on the seafarers in the Port of Houston, and US troops serving in war zones, providing over 100 “Holiday Boxes” filled with toiletries, goodies, hand-knitted scarves and caps. The DOK also hosts a luncheon for visiting Seafarers Chaplains at the Howard T. Tellepsen Seafarers’ Center.

The Brotherhood of St. Andrew Outreach

The Brotherhood of St. Andrew helps organize an annual golf tournament with an Episcopal church in Spring, TX. Proceeds from the tournament are donated towards a Camp Allen camping experience for inner city boys.

Good Shepherd actively supports several local Outreach programs, including:

Community Prayer Breakfast
The Friendswood Community Prayer Breakfast is a ministry that began in 1969. Once a month on Saturday morning, members of Christian denominations throughout the community meet for a time of prayer, fellowship and food. About 17 churches are represented, and Good Shepherd is among the 10 to 12 churches that serve as hosts on a rotating basis.

Christian Helping Hands (CHH)
“…Therefore, I command you, you shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor in this land” (Deuteronomy 15:11). The mission of CHH is to fulfill this commandment in our communities through the cooperative efforts of local churches. CHH provides short-term assistance with basic needs, primarily food, and helps others become more self-sufficient. Monetary assistance for medicine, fuel, rent and utilities is provided on a case-by-case basis, as available. CHH serves Friendswood, Pearland, Manvel and Brookside. Good Shepherd parishioners donate non-perishable foods to CHH on an ongoing basis. Parish members also contribute generously toward CHH’s back-to-school campaign for school supplies and its Christmas campaign to collect gift cards from local grocery stores.

Meals on Wheels
Good Shepherd participates in and supports the local Meals on Wheels program, delivering hot meals to shut-ins in the local area.