Back to school, courtesy of St. Stephen's, Paynesville

Alison Janssen, Paynesville Community Service Director (center), receives a check from The Rev. Doris Dodds (left) and Mary Ann Erdmann (right) of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Paynesville. The parishioners of St. Stephen’s are donating funds that will support the Back to School Program, which provides a back pack full of school supplies, clothes, underwear, and shoes to needy families and their school-age children. 

Episcopal congregations throughout Minnesota are contributing dollars to community efforts that support enhancing primary education for all children. This is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals that all churches and individuals are invited to support (Goal #3: Achieve universal primary education).

All three parishes in the Spirit of the Heartland Total Ministry group– Good Samaritan, Sauk Centre; Our Saviour's, Little Falls, and St. Stephen's, Paynesville – are supporting this effort in their individual communities.

Story and photo submitted by the Rev. Rob Cavanna