Get Involved | St James' Downingtown

Get Involved

Be part of the family

There's much more to belonging to St James' than just coming to worship on a Sunday. If you're going to become a part of the family, we'd love to help you take your next steps.

Once you get involved with a smaller group of members - either in a Bible study, or through volunteering with a ministry, St James will become much more that an event to attend.

Keys to belonging

There are five readily identifiable keys to becoming a fully participating member of St James. It begins with Sunday Worship, but it doesn't end there.

The Five Keys:

One: Worship
The regular Sunday by Sunday rhythm of attending to the reading and preaching of scripture and the action of receiving communion each week roots and grounds us as members of Christ's Body.
Two: Personal Devotion
Worship needs to flow through the whole of our lives. A personal devotional life is a key to growing as a Christ follower day by day. Some members use the Forward Day by Day notes that we make available. The daily prayer resource in the footer of this website is also a good start.
Three: Connect
It's easy on a Sunday just to breeze in and breeze out. But if you join a Bible study group, or serve as part of a team you will find it much easier to get to know other members. Over time, we become deeply embedded in one another's lives - through good and tough times.
Four: Serve
Once you start to volunteer - whether helping make coffee; or in the office mid week; during worship; or helping with the annual float - you become part of the team that makes St James happen.
Five: Give
Financially supporting St James is part of being a member. Each of us contributes as we are able. Giving is a key part of worship, but it also makes us stakeholders in the life of the church and means that we're invested in the whole family.

Serving

There are lots of people who make St James happen. Getting involved in serving at St James will help you feel a part of things (you will have become a part of things!) as well as help form relationships with other members of the St James' family.

If you're interested in getting involved in any of the things listed below, just talk to the person who's responsible for that ministry. You may well not know who that is - so just get in touch with Fr Richard or Luann in the office and they'll connect you to the right person.

Worship Ministries

There are lots of moving parts to each worship service. We have teams of people who are involved as readers, acolytes, ushers and prayer leaders. Behind the scenes are the altar guild, making the church beautiful and preparing the table for communion. We have many musicians involved with the Praise Band and with our choir. Coffee hour is an important venue for us to be able to spend time with one another, and we need volunteers for that throughout the morning.

Choir

The choir provides a lead for the singing of hymns and liturgical pieces in our 11am service. They also sing an offertory anthem each week. Everyone is welcome to join! Rehearsals are on a Thursday evening at 6:30pm

Thrift Store

The thrift store operates on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays and is run by a committed group of volunteers. There's always room for one more!

Office

Volunteers help count the offering from Sunday; we have volunteers who help run the website and Facebook page; others fold and staple bulletins; and others lend their design talents.

Hospitality

We have a number of events throughout the year - our Shrove Tuesday pancake meal, dinners and concerts, the Parish Picnic in September, the party after the Downingtown Christmas parade. Every other year we run an auction. All these need people to help prepare, cook and serve food. We're blessed at St James' to have lots of people with these skills.

Governance

The oversight of the finances and property of the church is lead by the Vestry. This is a group that is elected at the Annual Meeting each year. We're always looking for people who might be interested in serving in this way. There are also committees for the oversight of Finance, Property and the PreSchool - these are appointed by the vestry. If you've got interest/talents in one of these areas, do let us know.

Downingtown Christmas Parade

Each year, a substantial group of volunteers plans, designs and builds our float for the Christmas parade. Along with the bi-annual auction, these events have opportunities for everyone to get involved.

St James' Episcopal Church

409 E. Lancaster Ave, Downingtown, PA 19335

(610) 269-1774

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