Community Outreach & Service Opportunities
We are... a people committed to ministering through this downtown location...
Emmanuel Baptist Church is actively involved in local ministries, serving our neighbors through:
FOCUS Community Ministry and FOCUS Interfaith Food Pantry, both housed at Emmanuel
Annual school supplies collection for Food Pantry families
FOCUS Winter Breakfast Program, serving 100-120 people, November through April, Tuesday through Thursday mornings from 7:00 - 9:00 AM
FOCUS Breakfast Express – Serving a cold buffet Tuesday and Wednesday mornings during the warmer months.
Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless - providing meals, Love Kits (personal care items), and collecting "Pennies for Haven"
Active participation in the local CROP Hunger Walk each year
New York State American Baptist camping programs at Pathfinder Lodge in Cooperstown
Budgeted financial support of local organizations, including Homeless and Travelers Aid, Capital Area Council of Churches and their Emergency Overflow Shelter, Baptist Health Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Scotia
Advocacy on hunger and poverty issues
Emmanuel Baptist Church reaches out to our city, state, nation, and the world through:
Short term missions trips to Nicaragua, Washington D.C., Rochester, NY
Budgeted financial support of mission work around the world through the American Baptist Churches
Partner congregation membership in the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America
Annual giving to the ecumenical One Great Hour of Sharing Offering, which provides disaster relief, development projects, and refugee ministries.
Providing meeting space for the New Poor People’s Campaign in 2018
Emmanuel Baptist Church encourages advocacy through:
Frequent discussion of Contemporary Christian Concerns during the Adult Sunday School hour
Providing resources at our "Word for Witness" table and discussion of issues for possible action and response (global warming, torture, poverty, hunger, health care)
Movie Nights with films which raise awareness about social justice issues. Recent selections included Rabbit Proof Fence about indigenous children in Australia and Weapons of the Spirit about a community that sheltered Jewish people during the Holocaust.