Christian Outreach Ministries
Our Christian Outreach Ministries help us live lives of mercy and fulfill our baptismal call by serving those in need—physically, emotionally, or spiritually—and by caring for God’s creation.
If you have questions about any Christian Outreach ministry, please contact the ministry leader listed, or reach out to our Commission Ministry Head, Amanda Reilly, at PC-ChristianOutreach@olachurch.org.
Adopt-A-Cop: Serving Those Who Protect
Adopt-A-Cop assigns law enforcement officers from the Brookhaven Police Department to a family, group, or individual who will pray daily for them and send a monthly note of encouragement, support, and gratitude for their service to the community. Members support the department in their community building activities, strengthening the relationship between our parish and the Brookhaven Police Department.
Anne Stephens, Communications Director, astephens@olachurch.org
Care for Creation Ministry
Inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical Care for Our Common Home (Laudato Si’), OLA’s Care for Creation Ministry’s mission is to inspire the parish and surrounding community to restore and preserve all of God’s creation through worship, education, and service. With the Archdiocese of Atlanta’s Ladauto Si’ action plan as our guide, we seek to live more sustainably in harmony with God’s creation and encourage our community to do so as well. The Care for Creation team is developing a multi-faceted program of education, service and worship open to all OLA parishioners, visitors and community members.
Suzanne Degnats and Amy Granelli, careforcreation@olachurch.org
Edge Missions Camp
Rising 6th – 8th graders spend a week during the summer learning how to share their time and talent through service to OLA and the local community.
Nick Ables, Middle School Youth Minister
Edge Missions Camp Adult Volunteers
Parent volunteers are needed to spend the week of the Edge Middle School Missions Camp serving as chaperones and drivers for our rising 6th – 8th graders who attend the camp.
Nick Ables, Middle School Youth Minister
Funeral Reception Ministry
The OLA Funeral Reception Ministry provides funeral reception services that include food preparation, set-up, service, and clean-up in support of family and friends as they comfort one another following a funeral Mass. We have many volunteer options available to fit your time schedule. Communication is by e-mail and we use Signup Genius to request stewards for the different volunteer needs. You can pick an item or spot to fill if you are available to help.
Sharon Bowman
funeralreceptions@olachurch.org
IOH: Interfaith Outreach Home Ministry
The Interfaith Outreach Home allows formerly homeless persons to have a place to stay, along with their families, until they are able to get back onto their feet. The ministry provides continued support to the residents and the staff. We support IOH in all capacities, including works to maintain the interior and exterior of the home. Please consider sharing your time and talent by joining our ministry. We have plenty of projects to fit any schedule.
Amanda and Declan Reilly Family
Justice and Peace Ministry
This organization supports its members to put their faith into action in support of others. Monthly Ethical Trade coffee/tea/chocolate sales raise money toward building homes in Nicaragua through Food for the Poor. The group attends and supports interfaith outreach programs in the Atlanta area and also advocates for legislative issues in conjunction with Catholic Social Teaching. This ministry is in partnership with Stand Up for Kids - a program supporting the homeless youth of Atlanta and hosts annual drives to provide needed supplies for homeless youth. The OLA Just Faith community actively supports the work of other Outreach Ministries at OLA.
Suzanne Ernst
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization, founded by Father Michael J. McGivney in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1882. This Catholic organization for men is devoted to fundraising in support of many activities in and around the parish; specific areas of activities are church, school, community, youth, and pro-life.
Alan Young
Loaves and Fishes Ministry
Volunteers provide meals to parishioners in need (new babies, those that are sick or hospitalized, families that have experienced a death, and individuals or families experiencing other hardships). Volunteers are also occasionally asked to assist with food preparation or donation for special parish events.
Gwen Brannon and Michele Sanders
Mercy Care Ministry
Mercy Care Chamblee is our neighborhood clinic that provides free/low cost healthcare to families who do not have access to basic medical care. OLA’s Mercy Care ministry provides volunteer support for Mercy Care sponsored events, assembles meal kit packages for Mercy Care clients semi-annually, and adopts Mercy Care families during their Christmas adopt-a-family program.
Lindsey Tidwell
Ministry of Care
Parishioners bring the Word of God and the Eucharist on a weekly basis to the sick, elderly in hospitals or care centers or those who are home-bound. Special training is required in addition to being a trained Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist.
Jill Pierce
Night Shelter Food Drivers (November - March)
Drivers deliver food to the Central Presbyterian Night Shelter on Tuesdays, November - March. Food is provided by the Soupremes ministry.
Jim Tiernan
Night Shelter Volunteers (November - March)
Overnight volunteers serve at the Central Presbyterian Night Shelter by serving dinner to the guests (70 homeless men), cleaning up afterwards, and then staying overnight at the shelter to provide supervision of the guests. We typically have 6 overnight volunteers per night who rotate shifts of sleeping and supervising the guests. Total time on site is from 6pm - 6am. The reward of this ministry is the direct, hands-on outreach with the homeless men. These men are real people who are down on their luck. They are humble and genuinely appreciative of the warm meal and the shelter from the winter weather. Serving them in this way is a humbling and uplifting experience.
Nick Meyer
Pro-Life Ministry
The purpose of this ministry is to raise awareness and educate individuals about pro-life issues and to inform the community about upcoming events such as life chains, prayer vigils, the Annual March for Life, and various fundraisers. Our main goal is to protect the life of the unborn & their mothers. The ministry is always looking for new members to participate in events throughout the year. Each year the ministry hosts a Mother’s Day Flower Sale and Baby Shower to support women who are served by pro-life agencies around Atlanta.
Katherine Baldwin
Soupremes (November - March; Lent)
Teams of chefs prepare meals to be served to the men at the Central Night Shelter. This year the ministry will expand to an additional thirty meals each week for the men stay at the night shelter at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception! Teams cook on a rotating schedule. Meals are prepared in the Marist Hall Kitchen each Monday of the Month and delivered the next day by the Night Shelter Drivers Ministry.
Anne Marie Shulman and Jill Termini
Sr. Thea Bowman Racial Justice Ministry
Our mission is to become a deep source for learning, teaching, transformation, and action to dismantle the communal sin of racism in our church, parish, and community. We learn together through group study, training, experiences, and pilgrimages, and we seek to join other Catholic and interfaith communities to become active and trustworthy fellow pilgrims in the fight against racism. We are inspired in our work by the spirit and power of Sister Thea Bowman, religious sister, educator, musician, scholar, and Servant of God, and we pray for her canonization.
Beth Belden
St. Vincent de Paul Society (Vincentians)
The purpose of this group is to provide confidential and temporary emergency assistance to those within our parish boundaries in the form of rent, food, utilities, or medicine. Members make personal visits to assess and verify needs of clients. Food Donations can now be left with our campus Security Officer. We accept cans of fruit, chicken, vegetables, tuna; Jars of mayo, peanut butter, jelly, pasta sauce; and boxes of tuna helper, mac & cheese, pasta. Please do NOT donate items that are past their expiration date.
Peter Mills
If you are in need of assistance, call 404-261-7181 ext. 124 and leave a message. Please do not come to the parish office as our staff will not be able to assist you.
Stephen Ministry
Stephen Ministry is a one-to-one care giving ministry. After training you will show God's mercy, care and compassion to someone who is facing difficulties in their life. We are grounded in Jesus's command to love one another.
Tom Dunn