The Episcopal Campus Ministry (ECM), based at St. Thomas’s, Newark, would like to reach out to fellow Episcopalians who will be attending the University of Delaware this fall. Continuing ECM students, student advisors, and members of St. Thomas’s would like to invite them to Wednesday worship and meals, welcome them to prayer and reflection, and introduce them to a ministry of learning and service at the very edge of the university campus.

Come for a free supper, stay for the community!

Please send student names, contact information, and school-year addresses you may have to Ms. Denise Burgher, St. Thomas’s ECM Convening Advisor and to the Rev. Ed Godden, Interim Rector.

Episcopal Campus Ministry (ECM) is a place where our college-age students explore and live spirituality in community with other students, faculty, staff and parishioners. Through service projects, regional and national events, and weekly gatherings, they connect to the world and to one another. There is always food and fun, time to worship and time to just hang out. ECM students meet on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. for Evening Prayer and then enjoy dinner prepared by parishioners at 6:00 p.m.

The Reverend Deacon Cecily Sawyer Harmon became the chaplain for Episcopal Campus Ministry in 2009, the same year she became a deacon in the Episcopal Church.

One of ECM’s service projects is called “Blue Hen Bounty,” which is a food pantry for food insecure UD students. ECM wants to share their Blue Hen Bounty web site and a recent article published in UDaily, the UD newsletter.

ECM thanks parishioners who donated food items recently. Blue Hen Bounty food pantry is well stocked and ready to serve students in the Spring term.

If you see ECM students on Sunday, please introduce yourself and extend a warm welcome as St. Thomas’s church family is their family away from home.

Episcopal Campus Ministry (ECM) and Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) students went on a hayride and enjoyed a bon fire at Milburn Orchards with their St. Thomas’s family! Hot dogs and s’mores, apple cider and water were enjoyed around the bon fire. This fellowship activity was recommended by our Young Adult and Campus Ministry (YACM) collaborative  “Together at the Table” grant and was hosted by us – Episcopal Campus Ministry (ECM)!

St. Thomas’s is so proud of our students and you may catch up on their 2016-17 activities from their web page available from the St. Thomas’s web site.

On Sun., Oct.. 9, 2016, Episcopal Campus Ministry (ECM) students joined Presbyterian Campus Ministry students at their church on Main Street to make snacks and toys for service dogs. The Presbyterians suggested this service activity for our Young Adult and Campus Ministry (YACM) collaborative “Together at the Table” grant for which the student ministries are collaborating.

Last Sun., Oct. 23, 2016, the Episcopal Campus Ministry (ECM) went apple picking at Milburn Orchards. after the 10:30 a.m. service.  On Wed., Oct. 26, 2016 during the weekly ECM get together time, they made pies from the apples they had picked. Carla deftly operated the apple corer / spiral slicer and Sarah cut the apples into bite size pieces. Colleen was the spice mix master and Alex was the crust man. Sally baked the pies while the ECM students participated in Evening Prayer. The students and guest extraordinaire Organist Marc Cheban enjoyed dinner together and pies for dessert! A lovely time was had by all.

Since the founding in 1842 of St. Thomas’s Parish, Newark, one principal focus has been our ministering to the faculty and students of the University of Delaware. Moving to our current location on South College Avenue in 1957, we have partnered with the diocese in supporting a Chaplain to this day. The Episcopal Campus Ministry [ECM] has been concerned about fellow students who are food insecure and cannot provide ample nutrition for themselves while paying for tuition, books, and other needs. The ECM students unanimously decided to establish a Food Pantry in the Fall of 2015. Bishop Wright donated the first gift in support to purchase food. Additional food has been donated through efforts of the ECM with the parishioners of St. Thomas’s. The pantry is open and food distributed every Wednesday during the school year from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.

This summer the Episcopal Campus Ministry submitted a proposal to the Young Adult Campus Ministry in collaboration with the Lutherans and Presbyterians Campus Ministries to share worship, fellowship and service with a focus on issues of food insecurity. We were blessed to be a recipient, and our program “Together at the Table” begins in September 2016 with a culminating Oxfam American Hunger banquet in the Spring 2017. This is an interactive event between students, the parish, and university officials that brings hunger and poverty issues to life with the opportunity to serve these needs collaboratively and intentionally.
For several years the Episcopal (ECM), Lutheran, (LCM) and Presbyterian (PCM) Campus Ministries have shared a variety of experiences, including “Ashes to Go” on the main campus, Free Cookie Mondays in the Perkins Student Center, the Midnight Pancake program for students during exams, and making fleece blankets and distributing them to children in foster care.

The University of Delaware, through the Dean of Students office and faculty in Nutrition and Agriculture programs, are very interesting in collaborating with us to reach and support the many students who will benefit from the Campus Pantry. It is also possible, as the response grows in usage by students, that a partnership with the Food Bank of Delaware may become a supportive reality.

Grateful always, in peace,
Fr. Paul Gennett, Jr.+
Rector, St. Thomas’s Parish, Newark

We received fantastic news regarding our Episcopal Campus Ministry (ECM) at St. Thomas’s Parish. ECM has been awarded a special program grant from the Episcopal Church. See the July 6, 2016 announcement from the Episcopal Church. “These grants help the Episcopal Church live into an expanding understanding of what it means to be in ministry with young adults on and off college campuses,” said the Rev. Shannon Kelly, Episcopal Church Missioner of Young Adult and Campus Ministries.

The Rt. Rev. Wayne P. Wright, Episcopal Bishop of Delaware, Shared this good news in his July 20 weekly message saying “The grant will support an ecumenical feeding program on the University of Newark’s campus. Under the leadership of Deacon Cecily Sawyer Harmon members of our campus ministry identified the existing need. They developed a plan to address it in partnership with the Lutheran campus ministry. The grant will make this new outreach ministry possible. It is also an important recognition of the good work being done by our ECM.”

See more information, see Episcopal Campus Ministry (ECM) or contact the Reverend Deacon Cecily Sawyer-Harmon at St. Thomas’s via the Parish Office at (302) 368-4644 or use the Contact Us form on St. Thomas’s web site.