The Prayer Shawl Ministry
 

This unique ministry was founded in 2012 when Mary Jo Jennings visited Christ Church in New Bern to see how their ministry could be duplicated at St. Francis. 

This group's purpose is to provide comfort through shawls, available to any parishioner who has a family member, friend, or neighbor experiencing health issues or a personal loss or who just needs a sign that someone is thinking of them. 

In addition, lap robes are provided to our local hospice for the patients' use. From 2012 to 2017, 364 shawls were made, and over 500 were made in 2020. 

Martha's Mission received a contribution of $250 from the group in honor of Mary Jo Jennings. 

The group meets every Wednesday from 10:00 to noon. All are invited to join for fellowship, friendship, and outreach (no experience necessary). Yarn, patterns, instruction, and fun are included.  All are invited to attend and enjoy making these garments and the fellowship it provides.

Outreach at St. Francis by the Sea

Outreach is vital to our ministry at St. Francis by the Sea. We support several ongoing ministries, including Martha’s Mission Cupboard, Meals on Wheels, Carteret Preschool, Trinity Center, Hope Mission, and other short-term projects. We honor our call to be the hands and feet of Christ, and all are welcome to participate in any of these efforts.

Martha’s Mission Cupboard is our local emergency food bank. Located in Morehead City, MMC serves families and individuals by providing grocery and personal items. More than 30 St. Francis parishioners regularly pick up and deliver food recoveries from local grocery stores to support MMC. These recoveries are a substantial part of the distributed food and help avoid food waste. We also hold regular food drives during Lent and Lobsterfest; these drives collect thousands of items each year to support families in our community. Each February, we participate in the Super Bowl of Caring, when parishioners share a soup lunch and bring canned goods and/or cash donations to support Martha’s Mission.

Our Meals Ministry Team cooks for Meals on Wheels recipients every other week throughout the year. We prepare nourishing meals that are frozen and sent with the regular Friday deliveries so that recipients have a substantial meal for the weekend. Our MMT also serves parishioners who have special needs, and we keep Love Meals in the freezer to be shared with anyone who would enjoy having them. Parishioners donate many of the ingredients that we use for these meals, so everyone can take part in this effort - shoppers and cooks alike!

St. Francis serves the families at Carteret Preschool in Newport. In the summer, we collect snacks for the children and provide lunch for the staff as they prepare for a new school year. We also serve the children at Christmas with our Angel Tree, providing gifts and grocery store gift cards for deserving families.

Each spring, we collect items for campers at Trinity Center, including sunscreen, sandals, swim goggles, beach towels, sunglasses, etc. These items support campers who are unable to bring these essentials to camp.

In the summer, the Daughters of the King provide school supplies to fill book bags for our Diocese Episcopal Farmworkers Ministry. These book bags are provided for farmworkers’ children.

In September, we honor our First Responders in Indian Beach with a luncheon on September 11. We deliver a feast along with our thanks for their important service in our community.

All parishioners are invited to participate in our regular visits to Carteret Landing in Morehead City, where we sing familiar hymns and secular music and interact with residents.

Our Meals Ministry Team prepares and serves lunch at Hope Mission in Morehead City on a regular basis. These hot, nourishing meals are provided for needy and/or unhoused folks in our community.

On Thanksgiving Day, the Meals Ministry Team prepares a Thanksgiving feast for the residents of Hope Mission and other community members who typically dine there. Parishioners cook turkeys, and the MMT prepares side dishes of sweet potato casserole, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans, and rolls. This meal is served by STFBS volunteers, who are grateful to serve on this day of thanks.

All are welcome to be part of Outreach at St. Francis by the Sea. Join us as we serve our neighbors!

For more information, contact: The Reverend Deacon Robin Smith at sfbtsdeacon@gmail.com

The Choir At St. Francis

The Choir of St. Francis by the Sea plays a vital role in the life of St. Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church.  Their mission is to sing to God during worship with hymns, choral anthems, and other service music proclaiming our faith.  Their music helps to create a meaningful and memorable worship service experience at St. Francis by the Sea that welcomes all to lift their voices in praise.  A great theologian once said you can gauge the faith and spiritual vitality of any congregation by the way they sing, thus, we believe that music plays an important role as we prepare our hearts for worship.

The Choir of St. Francis is a vital part of our church life, offering all styles of church music.  We seek to honor, worship, and glorify God with our musical offerings.  This choir is open to all who feel a call to serve God through their musical gifts. The choir sings a variety of styles, from hymns that reflect our heritage to the latest Sacred choral works.  Special efforts are given to align all hymns and choral anthems with the weekly scripture readings of the Revised Common Lectionary.

The Choir of St. Francis is a non-auditioned group with an active roster of 28 singers with an average attendance between 20-22 people.  This SATB choir rehearses each Wednesday from 4:30-5:30 pm and meets again on Sundays at 9:15 am to prepare for the 10 am Worship Service.  Since the choir is composed of primarily retirees, it is understood that our members travel frequently and choir attendance can vary.  We are also a walk-on choir, and visitors are encouraged to sing with us anytime without rehearsing.

The Choir of St. Francis is a 12-month, 52-week per year choir.  While some church choirs take the summer months off, our church attendance swells during the summer months due to our location on the Crystal Coast shores of Bogue Banks.  In addition to providing music each Sunday, the choir also presents special music for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday.  Highlights of the church year for the choir include presenting a Ceremony of Lessons and Carols during Advent/Christmas, and larger works with woodwinds and or brass for Palm Sunday and Easter.  Our choir is honored to sing for memorial and funeral services throughout the year as needed.

 The Choir of St. Francis since 2018, has been led by Craig Everett, who was a public school band director for 33 years before becoming a fine arts administrator for 10 years.  In 2017, he was inducted into the NC Bandmasters Hall of Fame as the 57th member.  Because of his close relationship with the public school system, we are able to enjoy many young guest instrumentalists who perform frequently during our worship services.

Please know that our loving church choir family always welcomes new choir members at any time throughout the church year.  All are always welcome!