Ministry
May the Holy Spirit guide and strengthen you, that in this, and in all things, you may do God's will in the service of the kingdom of his Christ. Amen.
Pastoral Care
St James has a very active Pastoral Care Ministry with dedicated and very caring pastoral care ministers. If you or someone you know is in need of pastoral care please call the St James Church Office at 830.308.3001.
Pastoral Care is the ministry of caring at the heart of the church’s life. It may include hospital visitation, counseling, and ministries of shared presence, listening, and support. Pastoral Care can refer to the ministries of hospital chaplains, pastoral counselors and therapists, social workers, and other professionals who serve in the name of the church.
Pastoral Care includes parish ministries of clergy and laity who respond to human need.
Meals on Wheels
St James is very active in the Meals on Wheels Program with dedicated and very caring volunteers. If you or someone you know is in need of Meals on Wheels please call the St James Church Office at 830.308.3001.
Through the Meals on Wheels Program, CACST provides meals for homebound elderly who are certified by TDADS (Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services.) Meals provided include one hot meal a day, five days a week, and two frozen plates for Saturday and Sunday. Frozen plates may also be delivered to clients on holidays with client approval. The program goals are to improve the participants' health and at the same time enable them to lead a more independent lifestyle.
Bethel Center
St James is very active in helping the Bethel Center with dedicated and very caring volunteers. If you or someone you know is in need of the Bethel Center's services, please call the St James Church Office at 830.308.3001.
Through the Bethel Center of Val Verde County, they try to alleviate hunger within Val Verde county by collecting and distributing food through partner agencies and programs while creating awareness and educating the community on the realities of hunger.
United Way
St James Episcopal Church provides office space for the United Way of Val Verde County as service to United Way and to the Val Verde community. If you or someone you know is in need of the United Way help please call the St James Church Office at 830.308.3001.
United Way improves lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities around the world to advance the common good.
In 2008, United Way World Wide initiated a 10-year program designed to achieve the following goals by 2018:
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Improve education, and cut the number of high school dropouts — 1.2 million students, every year — in half.
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Help people achieve financial stability, and get 1.9 million working families — half the number of lower-income families who are financially unstable — on the road to economic independence.
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Promote healthy lives, and increase by one-third the number of youth and adults who are healthy and avoid risky behaviors.
These goals are ambitious, but with your help, and by utilizing our core strengths — a national network, committed partners and public engagement capacity — we can achieve them.
Threads Of Blessing
St James in Del Rio has a very active Threads Of Blessing ministry. If you would like to find out more about this ministry please call the St James Church Office at 830.308.3001.
Threads of Blessing …(previously known as Hands of Hope), is an international ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas. We are an inter-generational group of ecumenical women who support and nurture the creative process.
By using each member’s unique talents, Threads of Blessing creates original pieces of textile art. Using appliquéd fabrics and hand embroidery, Threads of Blessing produces fine art banners, wall hangings and clerical stoles designed by group members. Members work together to create and sell the ministry’s own embellished works of art. The proceeds are then used to support the mission aspects of Threads of Blessing in emerging countries.
Threads of Blessing has continued to organize workshops in Honduras, Mexico and Uganda teaching the skills and providing materials and opportunities for women to create fine art textiles that visually record their culture.
The workshops are designed to encourage women to gather as a community; learn organizational skills, and help develop personal esteem. Women who have benefited from attending a workshop have called the proceeds from their work “blessings” or “gifts.” They have used these funds to pay school fees for their children, provide seed for crops, and build homes (mud brick and thatch) for their families. They are also able to provide medical care for themselves, and support for orphaned children in their care as the result of HIV/AIDS, poverty or war.
The finished products are marketed by Threads of Blessing throughout the United States as pillows, bags, on clothing, or simply as pieces of embroidery. All proceeds are returned directly to the individual women who created them.