Christian Services

Christian Services

at St Mary Magdalen

About Christian Services

Christian Services is St. Mary Magdalen’s program for social services & volunteering. It is a communal home devoted to giving to others and seeing the face of God in those around you.

Led by Ruth Bush, C.S. holds many different events throughout the year – from blood drives to holiday gift baskets. To keep up to date on the next Christian Services event, check out our calendar page or subscribe to our e-newsletter.  Also, you can always contact Ruth to hear about whats next for Christian Services, or to take a leadership role in volunteering around the Kentwood/Grand Rapids area.

Current Christian Services
& Outreach Ministries

Blood Drives

Donate and/or assist with the parish-wide blood drives held twice a year (March & October) in the Breitenstein Activity Center. Help is needed to pre-register donors, promote the drives, perform setup and assist in cleanup. This is a excellent family participation project! Service – only two Sundays a year.

Contact Ruth Bush in the Parish Office for more information.

Health Ministry

Medical and non-medical members of the parish work together to provide health-related services to the community. Active membership includes monthly meetings and participation in year-round health related functions. Activities include maintaining an inventory of free home medical equipment for parishioner use, monthly blood pressure and blood sugar checks in the Family Center, an annual Riverside Memorial Sevice and an annual flu-shot clinic. There are also occasional CPR and AED classes offered for certification.

This team is open to anyone interested in promoting good health. Volunteer opportunities exist for both core team and selected events.

Contact: Rose Rumball (evenings) at 554-7721 for more information

Boy Scouts

St. Mary Magdalen sponsors local Boy Scout Troop 275. Prospective scouts and their families need not be parish members to participate. Troop 275 meets each Tuesday evening in the Breitenstein Activity Center at 7:00 p.m.

Contact Scoutmaster James Travis at 616- 240-7882 for more information.

Christmas Giving Tree

The Giving Tree sign-up is live! Please click here to access the digital list for this holiday season.

 

Welcome holiday helpers! During the Christmas season, St. Mary Magdalen opens its heart  by taking the opportunity to be Santa’s elves for needy families and organizations in our community.  Family names come from John Knox Food Pantry, St. Andrew Cathedral  Parish and our own parish.  Others served include a homeless Veterans organization, Help Crisis Pregnancy Aid, a nursing home and the diocesan Prison & Jail Ministry.

Families provide gift wishes which are placed on tags on the Giving Tree and parishioners choose a tag and fulfill the wish.  Volunteers are needed to help organize the project, purchase fill-in gifts and deliver gifts to families. 

To volunteer or for more information call Ruth Bush in the Parish Office

Holiday Food Baskets

Help sort, package, and deliver food baskets prior to the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter Holidays. Volunteers help sort  food contributions, package them into familiy-size baskets and deliver them one week prior to the holiday.  Baskets recipients include  families from our parish, ,  John knox Food Pantry clients and the surrounding neighborhood.

Contact Ruth Bush for information or to volunteer.

Feeding America Food Truck

Dozens of parish volunteers organize and expedite this monthly food distribution to needy families in our neighborhood and community.  In cooperation with Feeding America, several thousand pounds of perishable food on a mobile food pantry truck is distributed on the fourth Saturday of the month. Volunteers of all ages are welcome to help sort, pack, and distribute the food and/or assist familes to carry their food to their vehicles. 

This is a excellent opportunity for scout troops, Confirmation candidates and National Honor Society students to obtain service credit hours and participate in a rewarding project. The time commitment is one Saturday per month for approximately two hours from 8:30-10:30 in the morning. 

Call Ruth Bush in the Parish Office to volunteer or for more information.

Twinning Parishes: Haiti

For over 10 years our parish has “twinned” with St Agnes parish in Dubois, Haiti, through the Parish Twinning Program of the Americas (PTPA).  Programs include an annual medcial mission that serves over three hundred patients over three days of clininc and a quarterly disbursement.  The funding supports two medical dispensaries with medicines, medical supplies and salary support for two nurses.  It also covers school reconstruction, catechetical formation programs, supplemental salary compesation for schoolteachers.

A St. Mary Magdalen parishioner has generously donated separate funding to sponsor a food program to feed 250 school children weekly.

For more information contact Ruth Bush.