The Lynne Kerwin Byron Chapter of the Anglican Church Women (ACW)

Parish outreach is accomplished through the efforts of the Anglican Church Women of S. John's. Through various fund-raising activities, as well as through contributions to the ACW, the collected funds are then distributed to selected organizations at the end of the calendar year. A list of the current projects follows below.

The current Officers of the ACW are as follows:

• President: Fr Jonathan Ostman
• Treasurer: Susie Ashcom
• Secretary: Aimee Charboneau

Philosophy of Outreach

We understand Our Lord's Parable of the Sheep and Goats to apply to corporal acts of mercy performed by the Body of Christ: "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (S. Matthew 25:40) To minister to those in need is to minister to none other than Our Lord Himself.

We also make a distinction between outreach and evangelism, while at the same time recognizing that they are linked, both in Scripture and in the history of the Church. Evangelism (a word which in the Greek means "Good News") is communicating the reality that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ [Messiah], "Very God of very God," sent to restore our relationship with the Father (broken as the result of our sin). We evangelize by both word and deed.

Outreach is "reaching out" to those in genuine need to address their temporal concerns within the limits of our resources and in accordance with procedures we have established. Together evangelism and outreach facilitate parish growth, when done faithfully to the best of our ability, and thus imbued with God's grace.

In addition, we expect to remain "attached" to our outreach projects rather than simply "throwing money over the wall." Before a project will be undertaken, we will establish some on-going accountability.

Current Projects

• Providing assistence to the Anglican Diocese of Matabeleland (in western Zimbabwe) and Bishop Cleophas Lunga. Seeking to help the Mothers' Union in their work with women and children in this challenging environmen.
• Donating to Fauquier Family Shelter and to its Vint Hill Transitional Housing's Children's Program, which helps with after school educational activities; as well as participating in its Adopt-a-Family Program at Christmas. More information can be found at: http://www.fauquierfamilyshelter.org/
• Donating food, finances and household items, and volunteering to assist the Fauquier County Food Distribution Coalition at its monthly distribution held at Warrenton Methodist Church. Their website can be found at: http://www.fauquierfood.org/