From its very beginning, Church of the Nativity has emphasized reaching out beyond our walls to help other experience God’s love. Because needs are great, a few years ago the Outreach Team developed a strategic focus on three key areas in order to achieve greater impact with limited human and financial resources. These focus areas guide our outreach efforts. We also favor support to organizations within which Nativity parishioners play a leadership role, and organizations with whom our parishioners can engage personally and multi-generationally.
The three areas of focus are food security, environmental stewardship/creation care, and social justice. The following are the projects and organizations. Click on each of these for more details.
Twelve percent of people living in Wake County, including twenty percent of all school children, are food insecure. One in four school children receive free or reduced-price lunch. Although Wake County overall is wealthy, these figures are not much better than those of developing countries around the world. Nativity supports organizations in the Capital Food Area Network to eliminate area food insecurity.
- Inter-Faith Food Shuttle
- Leesville Elementary School food backpacks
- MLK Day of Service, supporting Urban Ministries’ food pantry
- Rise Against Hunger
Caring for our fragile earth, our island home, has been a major focus for Nativity for years. Nativity has long supported the concept of becoming a zero-waste church and was a leader in the Diocese and the state to adopt this goal. We installed solar panels to power two of our buildings and we now use recyclable cups and plates. Recently Nativity received a grant to promote composting in North Carolina as a means of sequestering carbon dioxide.
The Nativity blog in our online newsletter, Glad Tidings, has several articles relating to Creation Care.
Please go to the Creation Care Projects page for a list of Creation Care outreach projects in which Nativity is involved.
Nativity seeks to live out our Baptismal Covenant of respecting the dignity of all and striving for justice and peace. Through our own ministries and support of outside organizations, we strive to model the Episcopal Church’s work of racial reconciliation, healing and justice, guided by the principles of Becoming Beloved Community. People of all ages can engage in some of our social justice efforts.
- Episcopal Habitat Build
- Nativity-Raleigh-Apex NAACP Scholarship Fund
- Episcopal Farmworker Ministry
- Church of the Nativity Peace Library
- Farm to Church Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA)
- ONE Wake
Below is a list of Lifelong Development outreach projects Nativity is involved in. Click on each of the projects for more detail.