Mission Work

Our Mission Committee provides help in Southern Rhode Island, Southeastern Connecticut, and beyond. The Committee plays a vital role in coordinating and supporting the Church’s outreach.   They are responsible for engaging the congregation in service, allocating resources, and fostering partnerships with other non-profits who serve our community.

The Mission Committee is currently working on a number of projects. One initiative serves the unhoused in Westerly, who routinely camp out behind local supermarkets and in campgrounds. While we can’t solve the problem of homelessness, mission committee is working to alleviate some of the pain and discomfort of being unhoused.

  • The committee purchases gas gift certificates at a local gas station.  They handed out to homeless people who are living in their cars and running the engine for warmth in winter or cooling in summer.
  • The committee also purchases laundry cards to distribute to homeless. This give an unhoused person several loads of wash at a local laundry.
  • We gather personal hygiene products for unhoused students who have limited access to laundry and bathing facilities. In 2025, there were 58 homeless students in Westerly, ages kindergarten through high school.
  • We purchase tarps and sleeping bags to distribute to the homeless camping in the woods. They can provide a small comfort and keep someone warm and dry.

Sew Good Souls

Our mission Sew Good Souls brings our hands and hearts together in Rhode Island, allowing us to reach people around the globe. In the past several years a group meets on the first of the month for six months to make quilts, dresses, backpacks and more. The group supports two worthy projects: Dress a Girl Around the World and Quilts without Borders.

Dress a Girl Around the World

We make sundresses which will be sent, through various mission projects, to those in need.  DAG is a program within Hope 4 Women International that has been serving women and girls at risk since 2008.

Quilts without Borders

We make quilts for adults and children in need, especially orphans living in under-served areas of America and the world where the warmth of a quilt is needed at night. Our quilts have also been given to recent refugees and new Habitat for Humanity owners.

Annual Quilt Show

Every summer we invite the public to view the quilts and dresses before they are given away.

Other local mission support

The Church also supports several local food pantries including Westerly’s Jonnycake Center;  the WARM homeless shelter; Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center,  and RICan (Rhode Islanders Assisting Those in Need).

The Church has faithfully supported South County Habitat for Humanity  for over two decades.  We send work teams once a month to a Habitat project as well as donate funds.

Mission Trips

In 2025 a team of 20 people will travel to the Asheville, North Carolina area to work on storm recovery after the 2024 flooding. In 2019, we sent a team of 19 people to New Bern, North Carolina  to do Hurricane recovery work. Along with the work we did, we took 20 quilts made by our quilters to be distributed amongst those who lost so much in the hurricane.

In 2018 we traveled to Houston to help with rebuilding after Hurricane Harvey. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, we made 5 annual trips to New Orleans. In 2017, 2016 and 2014, groups of middle and high school students and adult leaders traveled to Maine to repair a summer camp for low-income kids. In the past our volunteers have also traveled to Mississippi, New Orleans and Florida to help repair after hurricanes.

International Work

In the past, we have supported the work of Dorcas Refugee Resettlement Project in Providence, RI.  We have helped several refugee families from Syria, Afganistan, the Congo and Ukraine.  Congregation volunteers purchase all the items needed to fully outfit the apartment, rented by Dorcas. We purchase pots, pans, bedding, linens, cleaning and cooking supplies, and more. Then a  team heads to the Providence-Warwick-Cranston area, where the refugee apartments are usually located. We completely clean and set up the apartment so it is ready to move in.  Often our quilting group, Sew Good Souls, has given their hand-made quilts to be used in the apartment.

We are always looking for new members. Do you have skills to share? Do you have a heart for the needy? We need you!