Outreach
The Outreach Committee at St. Catherine’s is the committee responsible for planning and organizing mission and outreach programs. The committee utilizes funds provided from the operating budget as well as gifts from individual donors to support ministries both in the immediate Chelsea area and beyond. It is one of the principal avenues through which the parish engages in the mission of the Church, which is “to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.” The Outreach Committee offers parishioners and other volunteers the chance for hands-on service to those most in need.
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2025 TURKEY TROT RACE RESULTS – CLICK HERE
CONGRATULATIONS TO
OVERALL FEMALE WINNERS OVERALL MALE WINNERS
HANNAH QUICK BRYAN DUFF
NICKI CARROLL SAM CATLIN
CARLIE NEWMAN COLTEN WAITE
FACEBOOK FOR PHOTOS
On Thanksgiving Day 2026, we will host our 8th annual “Turkey Trot 5K Run” to help support St. Catherine’s Building Fund.
WHEN & WHERE
Bib pick up begins at 6:30 am on the morning of the race.
The race will begin at 7:30 am on Thursday, November 26, 2026, to be held “come rain or shine”. It begins at the Chelsea Recreational Park on County Road 39 and ends at St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church at 642 Kings Home Road. See the map*. This a chip-timed race with a certified 5K course. Parking is available at the Park Complex, as are restroom facilities.
Unfamiliar with Chelsea? Here are directions to Chelsea Recreational Park:
From Birmingham, take Highway 280 to Chelsea, and at the stoplight (McDonalds and Taco Bell on your left) turn right onto County Road 47 (After crossing the railroad tracks, City Hall will be on your right). At the traffic light, continue straight on County Road 39. Proceed for 1.1 miles and Chelsea Recreational Park will be on your right.
From Harpersville/Childersburg/Sylacauga, take Highway 280 to Chelsea and at the stoplight (McDonalds and Taco Bell on your right) turn left onto County Road 47 (After crossing the railroad tracks, City Hall will be on your right). At the traffic light, continue straight on County Road 39. Proceed for 1.1 miles and Chelsea Recreational Park will be on your right.
REGISTRATION for Turkey Trot 5K Race will begin in October 2026
Online registration - $25
Pay with credit card (plus a small admin fee for card processing
Race chip and t-shirt (registration after November 15th does NOT guarantee t-shirt)Donations accepted anytime. Pay with credit card (plus a small admin fee for card processing). Funds collected to St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church Building Fund are tax deductible.
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Members of St. Catherine’s gather on the third Saturday of each month from 2:00 pm until 3:30 pm at Hidden Acres Assisted Living for a monthly birthday celebration. In addition to birthdays, we celebrate special events, such as Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and Christmas. Hidden Acres is located at 254 Hidden Acres Circle, Chelsea, Alabama, 35043.
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For the fourth year St. Catherine’s ECW will sponsor the Monster Mash on October 12, 2024 from 2:00pm – 4:00pm
This is our fall carnival especially for the special needs children in our community.
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The Chelsea Community Garden provides our community with the opportunity to plant vegetables for their own use as well as give to our neighbors through the Beans and Rice Food Pantry, an outreach ministry at St. Catherine’s.
What a difference the past year has made! Under the leadership of Dr. Brent McLarty, a permanent garden location was installed, complete with fencing and a gate, with year-round vegetable plantings and flowers. The yield this year has been our best ever! In December 2020, fruit trees were installed along with other plants, in an arc just outside the gate. The vision for the garden area to become a restorative, beautiful place in St. Catherine’s landscape is well underway.
A bit of history: members of the church started the community garden in 2012 and made progress in 2013 with many new families joining and actively participating. Our Deacon, Clyde Pearce, led the initial effort, as there was serious clearing and tilling to be done for soil preparation. In 2014, we moved the garden from its initial location to a new site on the Chelsea side of King’s Home Road.
Plans were made to re-envision and relocate the garden in 2020 – and we succeeded!
All are welcome to participate!
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The Bread Ministry at St. Catherine’s receives day-old bread and various bakery items from Publix Super Market each week. We share these items monthly with our Beans and Rice Food Pantry families and twice a month with approximately 120 homebound individuals. At least once per month, volunteers from the parish deliver bread to a nearby Hispanic community where food is scarce. We also share weekly with the house parents at King’s Home in Chelsea.
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Each year during Advent and Christmas, the members of St. Catherine’s collect donations of bed linens, blankets, pillows, towels, wash cloths, and stuffed animals to take to the children at King’s Home on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6. King’s Home in Chelsea, Alabama, has been home to hundreds of women and children seeking refuge, hope, help from abuse, neglect, abandonment, homelessness, and other difficult and impoverished circumstances.
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In addition to all the work that we do ministries such as the Beans and Rice Pantry and our friends at Hidden Acres Assisted Living, the Outreach Committee also serves by organizing events to contribute to the following ministries:
Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD)
An international relief and development agency sponsored by the Episcopal Church that works to provide money and resources, both domestically and abroad. ERD also works to provide relief during natural disasters and other emergencies around the world.
Stop Hunger Now
Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, this organization works to relieve worldwide hunger by organizing meal-packaging programs in cities across the United States and abroad.
Habitat for Humanity
A global, nonprofit housing organization operated on Christian principles that seeks to put God’s love into action by building homes, communities, and hope. St. Catherine’s occasionally partners with Habitat for Humanity Greater Birmingham to assist for one or two days on a building project.
Diocesan Ministries
St. Catherine’s also contributes to outreach ministries that are sponsored by the Diocese of Alabama, such as Sawyerville Day Camp, a free summer camp and learning program for under-privileged children in Hale County, Alabama, and Camp McDowell’s Special Session, a summer camp program designed especially for people of all ages with mental and physical disabilities.
