Saint Peter’s has a strong history of serving others.  Outreach is a core value and an essential way that we spread the power of Jesus’ love.

Dating back to the 1800s, St. Peter’s has been an incubator for local outreach initiatives.  Through the determined efforts of St. Peter’s parishioner Jane Renwick Smedberg, St. Peter’s Hospital opened in 1876 as Charlotte’s only facility for care of the sick and destitute. Not content with one hospital, Jane Wilkes and the parish then turned their  considerable energy to funding a companion hospital in Charlotte’s Third Ward.  Completed in 1878, Good Samaritan Hospital became the first hospital in the country built and operated for the African American community. For 73 years, it stood as a living and working symbol of the compassion of the membership of St. Peter’s.

In 1869 the parish founded Thompson’s Institute to serve the area’s orphaned children. Today, as Thompson’s Child & Family Focus, it serves a critical need in providing care, treatment and education for the state’s troubled, abused or neglected children.

St. Peter’s role in generating new outreach agencies continues into the present.  In 1979, the parish founded the Soup Kitchen to feed the hungry, and played a key role in expanding the Soup Kitchen into what is now the Urban Ministry Center in 1994. In 2003 and 2004, St. Peter’s parishioners started Samaritan House to provide recuperative care for the homeless discharged from the hospital and The Augustine Project at St. Peter’s to teach literacy skills to children and teens who struggle to keep up in school.  In 2011 St. Peter’s teamed up with Trinity Episcopal School and two other churches to form the Inner City Community Garden Initiative to provide food for shut-ins (through Friendship Trays), as well as fellowship, learning opportunities and food sharing with our urban neighbors and with students at Trinity Episcopal School.  Learn more about how St. Peter’s outreach grants have served as incubators for other organizations.

In addition to the above, St. Peter’s is actively engaged in a number of other outreach iniatives, including Room in the Inn, Charlotte Family Housing and Habitat for Humanity. Learn about current outreach events and volunteer opportunities.

Our grants are made annually. Learn more about this process and the agencies awarded grants last year.

Learn more about the Outreach Commission.