Christmas Store at Fairfield Court Elementary: Each year, parishioners donate gifts and set up a "store" at Fairfield Court. Fairfield parents are able to select gifts for their children and either have them wrapped or wrap the gifts at home. This is in place of an "angel tree" and empowers parents to choose their children's gifts. Volunteers are needed to transport, set up, and wrap gifts. The Christmas Store will be in mid-December.
Turkey Boxes: Each Thanksgiving we send about 200 boxes of holiday meal ingredients to families identified by our East End partner schools. Many parishioners pack a box or two at home, and there will also be an opportunity to pack boxes together at church. You can indicate your interest here in communal packing.
Rebuilding Together Richmond: RTR has an annual “Rebuild Day” on which churches, businesses, and other organizations work on home repairs in a particular neighborhood. There are build days planned for the fall and the spring, and our team will be assigned to a house. The next work day is Saturday, November 14, 2026. There are opportunities for anyone, but do let us know if you have skills in carpentry, painting, etc.
HANDS Ministry (Small Project Home Repairs): Occasionally, there are opportunities to participate with our own HANDS (Hammers and Nails in Devoted Service) Ministry or with Project Homes to make small repairs to houses. We need people with construction, repair, and landscaping skills but we can also use helping hands with tasks that do not require those skills. HANDS volunteers are simply asked to be “on call” if and when repairs are needed and requested.
Racial Healing: St. Stephen’s is committed to the work of racial healing, which we understand to be a ministry of both spiritual transformation and radical discipleship. We are working to expand and strengthen this ministry, using formation offerings, worship, conversation, and outreach to imagine what a just and flourishing world could look like. Together we seek to make that world a reality here in Richmond.
Racial healing commission
St. Stephen’s Racial Healing Commission is envisioning and planning opportunities to further the reflection and engagement of parishioners in the vital work of racial healing. This commission works alongside clergy and staff to facilitate those next steps. It functions as a joint commission of the Adult Formation Committee and the Outreach Committee, with committee representatives joining additional at-large members invited from the broader parish.
Sacred Ground
Sacred Ground is a film- and readings-based dialogue series on race, grounded in faith. Small groups are invited to walk through chapters of America’s history of race and racism, while weaving in threads of family story, economic class, and political and regional identity. We will offer this program this fall (2026.)
Sons and Daughters of Ham Cemetery
The Sons and Daughters of Ham Cemetery is a historic site located adjacent to Bandy Field Nature Park on Three Chopt Road. Once the cemetery of a community of freed African Americans, this holy place has been hidden in Bandy Field for many decades. Through the Friends of the Sons and Daughters of Ham, the cemetery and its history are being revived and restored. St. Stephen's is partnering with the Friends to support this important work of preservation and to honor the full story of the neighborhood in which we are located. Work days are scheduled a few times a year.
Advocacy: People of faith stand up for those who have no voice. The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy provides communities of faith the opportunity to learn more about local issues in Virginia that effect the well-being of us all, such as safe and affordable housing, healthy communities, and an economy that works for everyone. St. Stephen's members are invited to attend the VICPP's Day for All People in January, when you will have the opportunity for workshops and to meet with your state legislators at the General Assembly.