Annual Community Outreach

ann comm outreach The mission of this church-wide ministry is to utilize our time, talents and treasure to benefit outreach projects throughout the greater community. We strive to recognize the spiritual presence of Christ in our lives and to live out our beliefs through our actions.

Our purpose is to help each other experience the Love of God, openly share the Gospel and respond in Love to the needs of our neighbors.

Advent’s various outreach activities are coordinated by various parishioners / church clubs as indicated below:

Diaper Drive (ACW)

Diapers are collected annually and distributed to various organizations.

Dysart Community Center

Advent has a longterm relationship with Dysart Community Center, located in a primarily Hispanic neighborhood, southeast of Sun City West. Ongoing support services include summer camp scholarships, summer camp snack bags, weekly in-person volunteer foodbank support, and additional support, as requested.
Leader: Erica Hutchinson

Food Bank

This group conducts a gathering of non-perishable foods for the first Sunday of each month and delivers what is donated by parishioners to local food banks.
Leader: Dick Sulley (Men’s Club)

Giving Away the Plate ... Loving Thy Neighbor

This group is responsible for identifying non-profit organizations in our community who will receive the cash plate offerings collected on Sundays. The recipient organizations change each week. For a list of this month's recipients, click here.

Leader: Erica Hutchinson

Habitat for Humanity

Supports Habitat in several ways and this group manages and participates in that support. Several times a year this group organizes Advent members to go to a construction site and work on one of the houses being built there for underprivileged families.
Leader: Earl Thomas (Men’s Club)

Happy Hat Hookers

This group “hooks” hats for homeless children and adults and anyone who may need them. The group meets the 4th and 5th (if there is one) Mondays of the month from 8:30 am to 11:30 am.
Leader: Judy Purdy (ACW)

Helping Hands

The purpose of this Ministry is to make and deliver blankets and pillows for abused, homeless or otherwise needy children and others as well as to provide fellowship for the women and service to the community. The group meets the first three Mondays of the month from 8:30 to 11:30 am.
Leader: Judy Purdy (ACW)

Meals for Veterans

Currently 180 Veterans are living in a transitional housing facility run by US Vets Inc. Many live in “Motel style rooms” with a hot plate and small refrigerator and a microwave to prepare their meals. They are isolated and have little or no contacts with the community.

The Advent Feed the Vets meal program provides a home cooked meal on the 5^th Fridays throughout the year. The Advent Team provides 8-10 caring men and women to prepare, deliver, and serve 100+ Veterans. This meal provides an opportunity for our congregation to interact with the Veterans in a ministry of presence, an opportunity to interact, pray or just chat with a caring member of the community, thus reducing isolation and assisting in their transition to civilian life.

The Veteran’s feeding ministry has been in existence since 2014, with Advent joining the ministry in 2020. Since 2014 - 5 Episcopal congregations have together provided more than 36,640 meals. Each parish outreach budget provides the funds to support this ministry.

Jack Hanstein is the current Ministry Coordinator and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Leader: Jack Hanstein

Native American Ministries

Advent is an active member of Native American Ministries, a Diocese-created ministry under the direction of Canon Debbie Royals. Relationship-building activities include annual gift-sharing with the Elders of the Pasqua Yaqui village in Tucson, annual Pillows & Protein drive to support Native American Connection’s urban youth shelter in downtown Phoenix, and attendance at quarterly NAM meetings and annual retreat.
Leaders: Erica Hutchinson, Maureen Haskell

Our Neighbors’ Keeper

Non-perishable meal bags are created and available for parishioners to share with anyone in need.
Leader: Erica Hutchinson

Prayer Shawls

This is a group of people who knit or crochet prayer shawls, mainly for parishioners. The shawls are given to those who need comfort, are ill, or grieving. As the shawls are made, the knitter and/or crocheter pray for help for the recipients.
Leader: Sharon Mather

Rummage Sale

The Advent Men’s Club and the Advent Church Women (ACW) work together to provide both social and fundraising activities to support outreach toward needs in our coummunity. A major fundraising project is the annual Rummage Sale.

Salvation Army Christmas Bell Ringers

Around the second and third week of the Advent Season both men and women can volunteer through the Advent Men’s Club for 2 hour shifts to ring the bell at the red bucket outside one of the grocery stores in Sun City West. Shifts are assigned to either the Safeway, Frys, or Bashas stores at the entrances. This is a wonderful way to share the coming of the Christ Child and the Holiday Spirit with others.

United Thank Offering

The United Thank Offering Ministry stretches throughout the world to expand the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church. It is the sum of our thanks for the everyday blessings that God has bestowed upon us. We are encouraged to drop a few coins into our UTO boxes that we take home whenever we feel grateful for these blessings. The ingathering (collection) occurs every spring and fall.
Leader: Joyce Rozon

Veterans Aluminum Can Recycling

Member of the Advent Parish and the local community can drop off their empty aluminum cans in the fenced enclosure in the parish parking lot that are then recycled at a recycling center for money all year long. Hundreds of dollars are raised to fun local homeless Veterans programs in our area.
Leader: Earl Yingling (Men’s Club)