Parish Profile - Calvary Episcopal Church

Our OutreachLife’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Calvary is uniquely positioned to serve the community that surrounds us,and our parishioners have enriched the welfare and quality of life of theregion. Our parish has helped meet Pittsburgh’s human service needsand offers its facilities as meeting and event space for communityorganizations across the East End of Pittsburgh. Calvary parishionersalso have offered themselves as leaders, volunteers and backers of anumber of social service organizations and philanthropic foundations.In addition to the Calvary-Lincoln After School Program (CLASP),which supplements artistic education for a local elementary school,Calvary attends to the needs of children and adults through our annual“Berry Tree,” where during Advent parishioners are invited to pick apaper berry with a gift for a needy person. Calvary parishioners over many years have helped make the holidaysjoyous for hundreds of children and adults through anonymously delivered Christmas gifts.Calvary’s annual bazaar, a Pittsburgh tradition, sponsored by theWomen of Calvary, raises thousands of dollars, over $20,000 in arecent year, that support such local organizations as Big Brothersand Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh, Court Appointed SpecialAdvocates, Good Grief Center, and Oasis Recovery Center.These are just a recent few of the dozens of groups spanningthe spectrum of social services that have benefited from thework of the Women of Calvary.The food pantry supported by East End Cooperative Ministries(EECM) is supplied in part by food donations from Calvaryparishioners through food drives organized by parishioners.One of the more noted drives is the “Souper Bowl” led byCalvary’s teenagers, which each year collects canned goods.Calvary parishioners also regularly volunteer to cook and servedinner at the EECM men’s shelter.Recently, new opportunities for outreach in conjunction with the Diocese of Pittsburgh offer more ways that Calvarycan touch the lives of those whom we are called to serve. For example, Calvary parishioners have joined with ourdiocese and Habitat for Humanity to help build or renovate homes for families.Calvary continues to grow and to seek new ways to be a relevant Christian community that addresses the needs ofour region, as we live out our baptismal vows by seeking to serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors asourselves, and striving for justice and peace among all people.-11-