Service

As Christians, we are called to serve not just each other, but the community around us. Members of our parish find a number of ways to express this calling (these are just a few).

• The church school participates in Operation Christmas Child sponsored by Samaritan's Purse. The children invite adults to fill a Christmas Shoebox or provide funds so the children can fill a Christmas Shoebox for them. These Christmas Shoeboxes are sent to children throughout the world, and our children learn about service to others.
  Learn more about Operation Christmas Child and Samaritan's Purse


• A number of Prince of Peace parishioners have traveled abroad on mission trips. POP has a history of supporting education and students in western Uganda. After the mission trips, several of the participants were instrumental in forming the Uganda Development Initative (UDI) to continue support of the schools and students.
  More about the Uganda Development Initative
  Mission teams have also traveled to Honduras to support the Our Little Roses orphanage in San Pedro Sula.
  Learn more about Our Little Roses
  


• The Episcopal Church Women (ECW) sponsor Days for Girls, a major effort to sew and assemble sustainable feminine hygiene kits to be distributed to girls in third world countries like Nepal and Uganda. These events find a dozen or more women (and men) working with sewing machines, scissors, and fabric in the family center.


• Prince of Peace founded and still houses the West Valley Food Pantry The Food Pantry has grown into a coalition of congregations located here in the west San Fernando Valley that provides emergency food to the needy and homeless.
  More about the West Valley Food Pantry.
• In support of the Food Pantry, the campus contains a large number of fruit trees and the community garden, where fresh vegetables are grown. The fruit and produce go to supplement the emergency food distributed by the Pantry.
  Information about the community garden.
• Prince of Peace also serves the homeless and needy community of the West Valley with our Community Dinner program. On the second and fourth Saturdays of each month, bountiful and delicious homecooked meals are served (free of charge) to around 70 guests. This outreach requires dedicated service of cooks, servers, and cleaners as well as financial backing from parishoners. As the program has grown, committed outside groups have joined with Prince of Peace in providing these meals. We hope to be able to expand the number of meals in the near future. Go to the Community Dinner page..


• The Prince of Peace Health Ministry is a group of parishioners who wish to integrate health and faith and thus promote wholeness and healing within our parish. Parish Nursing holds the spiritual dimension to be central to our practice, which also encompasses the physical, psychological and social dimensions. The Health Ministry conducts blood pressure screenings, health teaching, and newsletters that promote good physical, mental, and spiritual health practices. Beginning in 2018, additional focus will be placed on emergency preparedness for home and the church.