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Celebrate Outreach

(L) Brittany with Allendale UMC United Women in Faith group; (R) “Here is a box. I had it from the Queen!” –Cymbeline, Act III, Scene 4.
More drag queen bingo photos with Shakespeare quotes on our Facebook page

Friends,

“I love coming to the Saturday morning breakfast,” a volunteer said recently. “It’s fun and energizing, and then you can continue your day.”


That kind of enthusiastic support allowed us to serve an average of 130 meals per week in April. Thanks to everyone who helped, both on and off site.

As our snowbirds head north, we still need volunteers to fill their shoes.  Contact volunteer coordinator Brittany Howard at (727) 637-4863 or brihoward.m@gmail.com for details.

One group that has stepped up is students from USF St. Pete, such as Garrett, Melissa and Sarah (above). Special thanks to Sarah Percy, who has been an enthusiastic recruiter of her fellow students and a co-worker with Eric Peters at the front door.

You can meet more of them on our Facebook page. On the page we have also posted photos of the frivolity and fun at our Shakespeare’s Birthday Drag Queen Bingo, each tagged with an appropriate Shakespeare quote, including the Celebrate Outreach board reading the party preparation from Romeo and Juliet.  In honor of May the Fourth Be with You, the Facebook page also features Dapper Dan, the Jedi Janitor who has vowed to sweep the galaxy clean of evil.

Special thanks to the Allendale UMC United Women in Faith group for inviting Brittany to speak at their May meeting, and for their enthusiasm for our work (above; left).  If you would like Brittany to speak to your group, contact her at (727) 637-4863 or brihoward.m@gmail.com

At the end of the email is an updated list of our summer needs of food, clothing and toiletries. 

Here is information for volunteers:


• We serve from Praise the Lord Outreach Ministries, 900 MLK Street South, St. Petersburg FL 33705. 


• Volunteers arrive at 7:30 AM, and we finish serving by 9:30.

• To get a good idea of the Saturday morning breakfast, along with a plethora of puns and pop culture references, please peruse our Celebrate Outreach Facebook page. 


• Contact John at sjstew@gte.net for a list of breakfast guidelines: what to expect, what to wear, where to park, etc., and for information on preparing food offsite.

Thanks! 

Brittany Howard
(727) 637-4863 or brihoward.m@gmail.com

John Stewart
(727) 492-1590 or sjstew@gte.net

Food Items

fruit cups, bananas, oranges
beef sticks, canned meat pop tops (tuna, Vienna sausages),
yogurt cups, lunch meat, sliced cheese, cheese sticks
packs of any variety of cheese or peanut butter crackers, snack-sized bags of chips
bottled water, Gatorade, soda, frozen pops

Toiletries

foot powder

insect repellent wipes

toothbrushes, toothpaste

disposable razors, shaving cream

bar soap, wash cloths

deodorant

feminine hygiene items

travel size creams, shampoo, and body wash

individual packets of Kleenex, hand wipes

Clothes

gently used clothes, especially for men

men’s and women’s tennis shoes

men’s underwear S/M/L

women’s underwear S/M/L/XL

PLEASE NOTE: **We do not accept children’s clothes**

Call for Love (a Shaker song from 1839)


You may need to boost your volume a little in order to hear the description I spoke at the beginning. Rev. Kim bought a book of Shaker hymn tunes. One of these she asked me to arrange for the choir to sing today, Mother’s Day. The Blessed Mother, in the Shaker tradition, was the founder of the Shaker sect. There’s another phrase you my hear with is “love, love,” which is, the best I can tell, a term that means the same as agape, or divine love. The song, as it was passed down by Mother indicates where people should dance–they believe that dancing was prayer–and where people should speak in tongues (they called it “shout”). I picked a bunch of words that relate to motherhood, like Work, Song, Fatih, Peace, Care, Hope, Love, Joy, Dance, Soul, Life, Home, Dream, Heart, and the choir in certain passages are to intone words of their choice from that set of words, randomly.

Rev. Ann Wynne-Phillips Sermon Video 4.28.24

April 28. Rev. Ann Wynne-Philliips is preaching while Rev. Wells is away. Here is Ann’s bio:

  • Rev. Ann M. Wynne-Phillips, M.Div., M.A.Ed.H.D., BCC
  • Ann is a native of North Carolina. She received her B.A. in Theatre Arts from Queens University of Charlotte, N.C. Ann holds a Master’s in Education and Human Development from The George Washington University and a Master of Divinity from Memphis Theological Seminary.
  • Ann is retired ordained minister within the United Church of Christ. She is also a Board Certified Chaplain by the Association of Professional Chaplain and has a certification from the Pediatric Chaplains Institute-Little Rock, Arkansas.
  • Ann and her wife Heather love living in St Pete and “grandcamping” with their little brown dog, Buffy.