School Supply Collection

School Supply Collection for Chester & Upper Darby due by Sunday, August 11. It’s almost back to school time! This year, we are partnering with the Delaware County Interfaith Council who will distribute supplies to children in Chester and Upper Darby. Drop off your supplies in the Parish Hall by Sunday, August 11th. You can also donate money and gift cards that we will use to purchase supplies (memo “School Supplies”). Click here for a list of suggested supplies & more info.

It's SO Easy Being Green!

Green Team Update (part 1 of 2)

Our Green Team continues working with the congregation so that we may all become better stewards of the resources with which God has entrusted us, promoting ecologically sustainable practices, and preserving and enhancing local biodiversity and habitats through education and fellowship opportunities for us and our communities.

Some of our accomplishments this spring:

April brought awareness and improvements to recycling and sustainability efforts, workshops on Black-Eyed Susans and herb gardens, and an Earth Day celebration that included planting and blessing a young Stewartia tree on the front lawn. This tree blooms with white camellia-like flowers in warm months, offers brightly colored fall foliage and shows multicolored bark that peels in strips of gray, orange and reddish-brown. Many parishioners joined our tours highlighting current and potential plantings, and viewing our centuries-old Penn Oak to begin thinking how we might rejuvenate its vanishing surrounding vegetation. The Green Team presented survey results of the congregation’s top ecological priorities: limiting disposable products and purchasing more recycled/recyclable products; planting primarily pollinator-friendly and perennial plants; and adding trees and bird houses that benefit wildlife and insects. 

In May we held a vegetable workshop and on Mother’s Day raised funds with a pop-up plant sale. We sponsored a Sip and Stroll fundraiser where parishioners and friends enjoyed an evening of food and fellowship while marveling at the incredible number of gorgeous colorful peonies surrounding the home of our gracious hosts, Debbie and Bernie Miller. We thank everyone who helped us raise over $350 this month for future needs and programs. 

June included a visit to the Penn Oak with a Newlin Grist Mill representative who suggested native trees to plant, and the Pearlmans offered to plant several Penn Oak seedlings. The month also included preliminary discussions on St. John's potential pavilion, and other uses for our “Field of Dreams”.