“Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which to look out Christ’s compassion to the world.” - St. Theresa of Avila
The inspiration for the service pillar was drawn from the social teaching of the Catholic Church, Vatican II documents, and the parish survey. The goals of the service pillar encourage a broadening of service opportunities and an increase in participation by members of our community. As a parish rooted in Christ, we hope to truly live out and embody these words from Gaudium et Spes: “Whoever in obedience to Christ seeks first the Kingdom of God, takes from there a stronger and purer love for helping all his brethren and for perfecting the work of justice under the inspiration of charity.”
We are called to be the Real Presence of Jesus among our brothers and sisters. The service ministry coordinates the activities of student and non-student parishioners to be the hands and heart of Jesus in our parish, community, and throughout the world through various volunteer opportunities.
There are ongoing recurring volunteer opportunities and special events in which St. Augustine Church is directly involved and there are other service organizations to which we will provide opportunities for participation.
Liturgical Ministers - The parish is in need of service in liturgical ministers (Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Lectors, Choir members, Altar Servers, Hospitality Ministers, Sacristans, and Altar Guild). Please check out our liturgical ministry page for more information. There is a need for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion to take communion to patients at Shands Hospital.
St. Francis House - The last Saturday of every month, we provide dinner at St. Francis House, which provides temporary housing for homeless families with children. There are about 30 people, and we need 4 to 5 volunteers total to serve. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, we cannot prepare food at home; we can only serve store-bought food, such as pizza, cookies, salad, etc.
Email service@catholicgators.org with questions or to volunteer. We could also use funds to help pay for the food. There is a special collection option for St. Francis House on the "Donate" page.