Missions
St. James’s has so many valuable friends all over the world. Our emphasis is on long-term relationships maintained by annual short-term missions to build, heal and grow.
Regardless of skills, adults and teens, families and singles – all are encouraged to take part. The cost of each mission depends on the number registered and the location. For more information, contact the leader of each trip or The Rev. Carmen Germino at (804)355-1779, ext. 319. Register early, as team sizes are limited. For general information on the St. James’s Missions program, contact Missions Committee Chair Scott Hetzer at (804)285-9565.
A limited number of scholarships for missions are available. To request a partial or full scholarship, call The Rev. Carmen Germino (804)355-1779, ext. 319. All scholarship requests are confidential.
Haiti: relationship building, construction, education
November 5-12, 2011
This is our first mission to Port-au-Prince, and it comes at a time when all helping hands are needed. St. Joseph’s Home for Boys was a shelter for abandoned children who are pulled off the dangerous streets of the city into this safe and nurturing home. While the building was flattened in the recent earthquakes, the community is strong and seeking help to rebuild. Plans have already been drawn up. This trip requires no previous experience in construction.
Leader: Alan Stone (804) 370-1276
Co-leader: Mark Whitmire (804) 355-1779 ext. 323
Watch a video of the mission trip to Haiti!
March 2-9, 2012
This will be our fourth visit to a burgeoning Episcopal community in the central Haitian city of Gonaives. The Episcopal Church has a modest compound which performs major miracles, educating and feeding hundreds of children and providing medical care at a clinic, as well as a worshiping community. The classrooms are overcrowded as families continue to move out of Port-au-Prince. This trip requires no previous experience in construction.
Leader: Mike Sullivan (804) 314-2642
Co-leader: Page Londry
Read a a missioner’s account of her experience in Haiti.
Read a letter from The Reverend Kesner Ajax, Executive Director, Bishop Tharp Institute (BTI) Partnership program coordinator, Episcopal Diocese of Haiti
New Orleans: relationship building, construction
February 5-10, 2012
Still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans’s poor and working poor have been the most affected, unable to rebuild their homes, reclaim their jobs or restore their families and neighborhoods. Groups from St. James’s have worked through the Episcopal Diocese of New Orleans helping homeowners in the Ninth Ward and churches rebuild homes and buildings on several mission trips since 2008. Staying in a local church or low-cost guest housing, volunteers work daily on construction sites for a week, celebrate evening prayer and eat communal meals. This year St. James’s will partner with Phoenix of New Orleans, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the recovery of the residents of Lower Mid-City neighborhood in New Orleans.
Leader: Andy Smith (804) 310-1026
Co-leader: Russell Lawson
Read one team member’s notes about the New Orleans Mission
Honduras: relationship building, construction, education
March 3-10, 2012
While Honduras is our longest-running mission, it has taken on a new dimension. We are in our fifth year of partnership with San Jose de la Montana, a vibrant church serving a squatters camp in the city. We spend our mornings doing construction in this loving community, and in the afternoons return to Our Little Roses Home for Girls for games and dinner. This mission is full of community, work and play.
Leader: Kathryn West (804) 673-4019
Co-leader: Cleve Brannock (Christ Church Charlottesville)
Appalachia: relationship building, construction
June 3-9, 2012
Perched atop an economically impoverished yet beautiful mountain in Eastern Kentucky is St. Timothy’s Outreach Center. Each morning, we head out from the Center and go into the mountain hollers to repair and upgrade the homes of the extremely poor and equally proud people. We will enjoy a community dinner with residents and participate with their children in crafts projects. No prior construction skills or experience are necessary but are most welcomed.
Leader: Mike Bily (804) 285-5000, ext. 7808 (W) or (804) 262-3932 (H)
Sudan: relationship building and medical care
2013
This is a biennial mission. As the Republic of South Sudan celebrates independence, we remain committed to our partners at the Hope and Resurrection School and the Mustard Seed Clinic. The school and the clinic are the only ones of their kind for hundreds of miles serving young Sudanese. These youth are the greatest hope for long-term peace and prosperity in this new country. We are a source for education, healthcare, food and community stability in a part of the world where none of these things are in sufficient supply, but where the Church is growing in amazing and inspiring ways. We welcome medical and non-medical volunteers.
Contact Suzanne Hall for more information at (804) 353-4111
To learn about our past missions to Sudan, visit the Sudan Mission blog
Read a missioner’s perspective on the Sudan Mission.
Youth Mission: Welch, West Virginia
July 22-28, 2012
For four days, 13 St. James’s youth will work on various house projects ranging from outdoor painting to helping to install kitchen floors, porches and decks as part of the Highland Educational Project, an an ecumenical outreach ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia. Started as an educational ministry in January 1940, conditions in the area have since forced it to evolve into an outreach agency whose programs include distributing donated clothing year-round, children’s stockings at Christmas, and home repair and maintenance.
Contact Alex Riffee (804)355-1779 ext. 334 for information.