God’s love transforms us and empowers us to transform the lives of others through service to our neighbors and our world. You are invited to get involved—whether you can give an hour here and there, or make an ongoing commitment—there is a place for you.

Social Justice Discernment Group

The SJDG actively addresses issues of Social Justice for ourselves and the congregation. We aspire to educate ourselves through research, discussion, speakers and activities, all anchored in a spiritual and supportive relationship to each other. We are the “drumbeat” for the congregation, empowering each person to discern his/her own response to the issue through education and social activities. Learn more about Social Justice events and actions at St. Peter’s.

St. Peter’s Food Cupboard

St. Peter’s Food Cupboard has provided food for local families in need since 1987. We distribute food (including meats, fresh fruits and vegetables) by an open-choice system, feeding dozens of Philadelphia families each week. Volunteers are needed Saturday mornings and Friday afternoons. Learn more about the Food Cupboard and how you can get involved.

St. Peter’s Prays With Our Feet

St. Peter’s Prays With Our Feet is an offshoot of our Social Justice Discernment Group, and is a way for St. Peter’s parishioners to join together to participate in direct actions, protests, and marches. If you’d like more information about St. Peter’s Prays With Our Feet, you can join its Google Group so you receive more communications about its work. Please email parishioner Caroline West to be added to this list.

LGBTQ+

As a welcoming church, St. Peter’s is blessed to have gay and lesbian parishioners, staff, and clergy. St. Peter’s is an affirming and inclusive community comprised of the young and the old, married, partnered and single, gay and straight. We represent and celebrate the wonderful diversity of our city and include a place for everyone around God’s table. St. Peter’s clergy is happy to officiate same-sex marriages at the church.

Anti-Racism Work

It takes all of us to dismantle racism. St. Peter’s is a community committed to confronting racism in our past, in ourselves, and in our world. Many of the early members of St. Peter’s Church were slaveholders; St. Peter’s Church was built and financed in large part by these early members, whose wealth was directly or indirectly connected to slavery. Learn more about St. Peter’s anti-racism efforts. 

Environmental Justice

St. Peter’s strives to demonstrate care and reverence for all of God’s creation, through leadership, action, and education.  Every fall, St. Peter’s observes a season of Creation. A season in which we remember, reflect on, and celebrate, this marvelous, magical world that God so loves. During our worship services and special events this season, we renew our commitment to caring for all of God’s beloved.  

Gun Violence Awareness

St. Peter’s participates in National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and we wear orange on this day to honor the more than 100 lives cut short and the hundreds more wounded by gun violence every day. We have, in partnership with Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence, installed a Memorial to the Lost in the churchyard  to honor victims of gun violence and their surviving families. We also participate in Toll the Bell, an annual city-wide sound installation bringing greater awareness to the gun violence epidemic affecting our city and the nation.

Episcopal Community Services

Episcopal Community Services (ECS) is a Philadelphia-based social service agency that empowers vulnerable individuals and families by affirming human dignity and promoting social justice. St. Peter’s participates in several service projects each year with ECS, including a “Fill the Bus” backpack drive for students, a cleaning product collection for a women’s mission, and a Christmas gift drive.

POWER (Philadelphians Organized to Witness, Empower & Rebuild)

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is a member of POWER, an interfaith organization committed to implementing systemic change for the betterment of Pennsylvania communities. POWER works to bring people together across the lines of race, faith, income level, and neighborhood—lines which have historically kept Philadelphians divided. We are people of faith committed to the work of bringing about justice here and now, in our city and our region.