Social Ministry - Outreach

Office Hours Monday - Thursday 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM (206) 242-4575, ext 29
Frances Davis | email:
Linda Stryker | email:

From the desk of Frances Davis:

The best line of defense for the unborn child is the mother.
Neither the law nor any other person can protect the unborn as effectively as the mother. Protection of the life growing within her overrides every other instinct a woman has. In order to make abortion bearable, a woman must believe what society is telling her, that abortion is her choice and that it represents the ideal of self-determination, no matter if her baby has to be killed to achieve it. Abortion is seen as the badge of honor by which women reclaim control over their own lives. Rather than some great privilege which has been granted to their gender, abortion is a tool by which women have been abandoned, exploited and brutalized. Contrary to the slogan of “freedom of choice”, women who have experienced it know that abortion is seldom, if ever, a free choice. Women are made to believe that unplanned children will ruin their lives. Abortion is the most violent manifestation of discrimination against women and children today.
Thoughts taken from the book Aborted Women, Silent No More by David C. Reardon.


Bishop Richard Sklba identifies three types of teaching authority in the church and the way they
compliment each other. First is the authority that comes from lived experience, those who struggle between grace and sin. That would be, in this case, women who have had abortions. Second, the authority of expertise that comes from competence, skill or learning, which would be doctors, researchers and professionals who can tell us the physical and mental health and morbidity facts about abortion. The third is the authority of delegation, which is the law of the Church that says abortion is wrong and the law of the land that says abortion is legal. One of the roles of the bishop is not merely to represent the delegated responsibility but to make sure that the Church community experiences a healthy balance between the three kinds of teaching authorities.
Taken from The Challenge and Spirituality of Catholic Social Teaching by Marvin L. Krier Mich

Donations of yarn needed so that St. Francis knitters can knit scarves and hats for the homeless to be donated to the Warm for Winter campaign by November 15.


Warm for Winter is the campaign to collect handmade knitted or fleece hats and scarves for the homeless in our community. We have already received a number of beautiful scarves and hats. Bring hats and scarves to the Outreach Office by November 16. We have donated yarn available for the knitters in our parish. Contact Frances or Linda in the Outreach Office, 242-4575 ext. 29.

What is JustFaith? The name is derived from Justice
and Faith. It is a journey with a small group for 30 weeks.
But what is the JustFaith experience? Suppose you
are at work or at home mowing the lawn or doing the
laundry and Jesus walks up to you and says, “Put down
what you are doing and come and follow me.” JustFaith
may be as close to that experience as you will find.
JustFaith is an experience, not a class. JustFaith is
compassion, revelation, the witness of the Gospel in
the lives of others, and taking a look at the world as
God sees it. JustFaith examines systems that perpetuate
injustice, just as systems at the time of Jesus’ birth upset
a system of justice that had been working for the children
of Israel.


Building Families through Adoption is a service of Catholic Community Services. If you are
considering adoption or if you know of a family who is, there are brochures on the table just outside the Parish Office. .


Pregnant? Need someone to lean on? Unsure what your plan is? Planning on making an adoption plan? Planning on parenting? Call Catholic Community Services Pregnancy Support Services, (206) 328- 5922. We can help. Free. Confidential. Non-judgmental. Available to the father of the baby, family members and others affected by the pregnancy.



From the desk of Linda Stryker.................. Linda ext. 34



Our Knights of Columbus have Christmas cards for sale
every weekend through December 7th at the 5PM Saturday Mass and the Sunday morning
Masses. Please support our Knights in this fundraiser.

Hospitality House Cooks: Our next week to provide dinners at H.H. is Thanksgiving week -
Nov. 24-30. The Confirmation youth have already reserved Monday, 11/24 for them to cook. I know
that is a busy week, but you can always make up something early and I could help deliver it for you if necessary. Contact Linda in Outreach (ext 34) to schedule which night you want to cook for 10
women in the local homeless shelter.

St. Stephen Christmas Bazaar
Friday and Saturday, November 14 & 15th from 10AM to 4PM. Food, music, raffle, ideas for presents and Santa. 13055 Southeast 192nd St. in Renton, call 253-631-1940 for more information.

NOVEMBER BRINGS OUR THANKSGIVING BASKET PROGRAM: During Masses in November, parishioners are asked to bring in the foods we use to pack our Thanksgiving baskets for local people experiencing hardship. This early in the month, we cannot estimate our number of requests, but hope that every family can contribute a can or box of food for our baskets. Foods requested are those that go into a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner – turkeys, hams, gravy, potatoes, onions, canned green beans, corn, yams, pie ingredients, etc. Thank you for sharing your bounty.


If you know of a family in our community who could use help for Thanksgiving, please contact the
parish office before November 20 to place them on our Thanksgiving basket delivery list.


THANKSGIVING BASKETS FOR OUR NEIGHBORS: As in past years, our tradition at St.
Francis is to gather food during November to create a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, distributed
through our St. Vincent De Paul Society to those families that they have been helping. We need
canned food, boxed food, frozen turkeys and hams, and cash to make up any gaps. Last year we did
33 baskets, and the year prior we delivered 43. We don’t know what our request load will be yet. Food will be sorted and counted between morning Masses on November 23, and the whole parish is
invited to a Sunday evening potluck at 5:00, November 23rd to bless the food and pack the
boxes.


Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 27 - As we give thanks for the many gifts God has bestowed on us, we remember those in need in our community. As is our tradition, we ask that you bring nonperishable food items with you to the celebration of Mass on Thursday, November 27th at 9:00 AM. During the Offertory we ask that you bring your gift of food forward to the sanctuary. All scouts in our parish are asked to help by receiving these gifts from our community and placing them around the Altar. All boy and girl scouts are invited and encouraged to participate in the Mass. The food collected will be used by our St. Vincent de Paul Society to help those
in need in our parish community.



WHO ARE THEY? Ever wonder who that cute boy in
the 4th row is, the person prayed for at Mass, or a
Eucharistic Minister you’ve run into at the grocery
store? If you participate in the PARISH PHOTO
DIRECTORY, you would not only get a free 8 X 10 of
your family, but receive a copy of the directory and be
able to find out who those people are. This is a great
time to capture the pictures of our Parish Family, to
help us know each other, pray for each other when
there is illness or death, and mark how families grow
and change. We need each family to schedule their
appointment, either through the on-line sign up here, or
complete the contact form for a volunteer to call you
and schedule your appointment over the phone.
Forms in the foyer of the church, or call the Parish
Office and let them know you want to sign up.

We are gearing up once again for the ’08 Warm for Winter Campaign.
St. Francis knitters along with others throughout the Seattle area donate hand
knitted and hand made fleece scarves and hats to be distributed to homeless

shelters in the Seattle area. Last year 5,000 hats and scarves were collected.

Help us meet our goal this year by turning in your scarves and hats to the

Outreach office at St. Francis by November 16. We have some donated yarn

in the Outreach office that you can pick up. There is also a need for volunteers

to deliver the hats and scarves to shelters the day before Thanksgiving.


CHRISTMAS WITH A CONSCIENCE.
Again this year we have gathered catalogues of Fair
Trade items, Heiffer, Unicef, etc. to help you shop in a
purposeful way. Your dollars will benefit many.
Reference catalogues are available in the waiting area
of lthe Parish Office.

Widowed Information and Consultation Services is a

nonsectarian program, not affiliated with any other organization,
that offers support to men and women who are coping with the
death of their spouse/partner. When a widowed person
telephones or visits a WICS office, he or she can be sure to
find other widowed people who will listen and understand.
WICS publishes a great newsletter and they have support
group meetings in our area, as well as weekly Sunday
breakfasts and Wednesday get-togethers.

Call WICS for more information (206) 241-5650.

Spiritual Healing After Aboriton
Project Rachel is a program of the Catholic
Church which offers healing to anyone suffering
emotional and spiritual pain resulting from a past
abortion.
For more information or to register call Valerie at

1 800 822 HOPE (4673)
Project Rachel is a program of Catholic
Community Services. You need not be Catholic to
participate.

A New Free Prescription Drug Discount Card is now available to any Washington resident regardless of age or income. This free card allows you to save up to 60% on generic drugs and 20% on brand name drugs at hundreds of participating pharmacies around the state. You can enroll on-line at www.rx.wa.gov or by calling 1-800-913-4146.

State Resources for medical care services: If you’re having a difficult time affording health coverage for you and your family, you might qualify for help. Contact the Department of Social and Health Services for information on medical services available. Visit http://www1.dshs.wa.gov/basicneeds/#med or call 1-800-737-0617.

Office of the Insurance Commissioner’s SHIBA helpline: Whether you need help finding an affordable insurance plan or prescription drug medicines, have questions about your current provider or want information about preventing insurance fraud and abuse, you can contact the SHIBA Helpline. Visit www.insurance.wa.gov/consumers/SHIBA_HelpLine or call 1-800-562-5900.

Those 65 and older who make less than $35,000 a year can receive a reduction of property taxes by contacting the King County Department of Assessments, 206-296-5202. They will mail you the forms. You can go back three years. This could also result in a significant refund as well as a reduction in future taxes.

A Daytime Grief Support Group meets on Wednesday mornings, from 10:00-11:30am, in the Parish Hall. If you missed this group, it will be offered again in the spring.

Caregiver Support
Family Caregiver Support Groups provide a consistent and caring place for caregivers to learn, share, and gain emotional support from others who are also on a unique journey of providing care to a person with dementia.
Meetings are free and open to all care partners, family members and friends of individuals with dementia.
The groups are led by trained volunteers who receive ongoing technical support and training from the Chapter office. We meet the third Thursday of each month from Noon to 1:30PM at the Boulevard Park Presbyterian Church, 1822 S. 128th St., Boulevard Park. make the first call, contact Lois Esser, 206-244-1338.