3625 Chapel Road   Newtown Square, PA 19073        Phone: 610-356-0459       E-mail: info@stalbans-ns.org
Growing & Serving
An Inviting Christian Community in Newtown Square

 

Parish Mission Statement

"That We May Be Transformed and Empowered"

The Mission of St. Alban's Episcopal Church Is:

  • To provide a home for our family in Christ;
  • To respond to God's love for us through joyful celebration and worship;
  • To understand, and deepen our commitment to Jesus' teachings;

So That We, In Our Daily Lives, May be Transformed and Empowered:

  • To proclaim the Gospel;
  • To become Christ’s ministers of healing and reconciliation;
  • To be responsible stewards of all God’s Creation.

Mission and Inreach/Outreach

 

The following outreach ministries are long-lived traditions at St. Alban's, some longer than others. They are all projects where anyone and everyone can and sometimes does get involved. Each is a highly rewarding program with a win-win outcome. The recipients are fulfilled in many ways, and our parishioners are certainly fulfilled as well.

 

Bridging the Gap

Bridging the Gap is an intergenerational outreach ministry for the children of St. Alban's. The children from each parish family, accompanied by at least one parent, visit residents in the Skilled Care units at Dunwoody Village, White Horse Village and The Quadrangle several times a year. Young and old meet in the Activities Room for interaction and exchange, learning and sharing. The youngsters often make special crafts in Sunday School to take to their friends when they visit. The Activities Directors usually plan craft projects in which all can participate. Sometimes the children provide special entertainment for the residents. Everyone enjoys refreshments together before departure.

 

 

Christmas Project

This annual holiday tradition is one in which St. Alban's parishioners, friends and families have participated for many years, by generously providing gifts to the needy. We are provided lists by Episcopal Community Services, the human service agency of the Episcopal Diocese of PA, of homebound elders and homeless children. St. Alban's Christmas Project gives many of us an opportunity during this special season of the year to put a smile on the face of a child, a teen, or perhaps a bedridden elder who has received a pretty new robe.

 

 

Connect by Night

Connect by Night is one of several programs sponsored by the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania. During the month of August each year St. Alban's provides overnight shelter to approximately 40 homeless individuals from the SE Pennsylvania area, transported to us by van. They sleep on the floor of our air-conditioned parish hall on bed rolls provided through the CBN program, under the supervision of CBN personnel. Each evening a team of parish volunteers comes in and prepares snacks and bag breakfasts for our "guests," using food that is donated by local retailers, as well as by parishioners.

 

 

Life Center of Eastern Delaware County

This homeless rehabilitation center, located at 63rd and Market Streets in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, aids clients in their search for dignity and independence. The Center is available to all persons who, through a myriad of personal circumstances, find themselves homeless and who have at some point in the immediate past lived in Delaware County. St. Alban's provides a complete dinner and bag lunches three times a year for the Life Center. A group of parishioners, sometimes with help of friends and family, will prepare a meal of their choice to feed 200 (taking into account seconds and thirds). Local retailers are always generous with donations toward the meals. We also prepare 120 bag lunches, which are given to the clients after dinner to take with them for late-night snacks.

 

 

Martha Ministries

Martha Ministries is a parish inreach ministry to provide meals to families upon the death of a loved one who are laden with grief and funeral preparations, to those who are recuperating from long-term illness, or to those who have just come out of the hospital after surgery or illness.

 

 

People's Emergency Center

St. Alban's sponsors an Adopt-a-Room program at PEC in West Philadelphia. We pay a rental fee for the room out of an outreach endowment fund to cover upkeep and utilities. St. Alban's parishioners donate all of the contents of the Welcome Kit for new occupants (mother and child[ren]) to help them set up "housekeeping." Then we continue donating what they need in the way of clothing and toiletries -- or make cash donations so these items can be purchased -- until they are able to move on to greater independence and self-sufficiency. Meanwhile, parishioners continue dropping items in the PEC bin for the next Welcome Kit.

Facility Usage
 

For a very nominal fee, St. Alban's provides meeting space to a number of community self-help/support groups, as listed below with their meeting days and times. Feel free to call the church office for contact information for a particular organization (610-356-0459).

Alcoholics Anonymous                   Monday                      8:00 p.m.

Alcoholics Anonymous - STEP      Wednesday                 8:00 p.m.

Debtors Anonymous                      Wednesday                 7:30 p.m.

Narcotics Anonymous                    Friday                         7:30 p.m.

The  Seniors of Newtown Square, a large local community group, meets at St. Alban's on the second and fourth Mondays of each month at 1:30 p.m., again for a nominal fee. St. Alban's Quilters, who welcome community participants, meet every Friday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. St. Alban's Model Railroaders (StARR), whose ministry continues to grow, meet every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Again, feel free to call the church office for information about any of these  groups (610-356-0459).

 

 

The Yaerim Presbyterian Church meets every Sunday from 1-5:00 p.m., for worship, Sunday School classes, adult education, and various and sundry other activities during those four hours. St. Alban's is pleased to be able to give Pastor Yong Sun Park and his Korean congregation a church home each Sunday afternoon. For information, call Pastor Park at 610-734-0865 or on his cell phone, 610-931-9431.

 

 

The Valley Forge Chorus, a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, rehearses at St. Alban's every Tuesday evening and some Saturdays. For information on this group of all-female voices who sing strictly a cappella, you may email the president Gail Allebach: gballebach@verizon.net.