Meet Your Neighbor: Father Tom Reese

When I first came to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in 2000, the congregation was looking to grow, not only in size but in commitment to the surrounding community. That has always been the hallmark of St. Luke’s.

Our church has many different expressions of community outreach. We’ve got a theater program, an early childhood daycare center, and an afterschool program. On any given weekday, we’ve got toddlers downstairs, children upstairs and adolescents and teens in the theater, and we don’t see ourselves stopping there. At times our physical space is at capacity, so we look outside of our church space to find ways to be engaged.

For example, we have an annual holiday program that our congregation looks forward to every year. We collect gifts and holiday items and distribute them to families in QCH’s Eviction Prevention program. Each year there are more and more names on the list of families in need. It started out at about 50 children and has now grown to over 100. But we stay committed no matter how long that list grows. We also do what we can to supply food and volunteers to QCH’s monthly food pantry.

Outreach is a big piece of who we are. It’s about putting faith into action. It’s not about showing off faith, but rather demonstrating compassionate care where it needs to be. It’s a big part of the beating heart here at St. Luke’s. We are thrilled to be the recipient of QCH’s Local Champion Award this year, and we look forward to many more years working as community partners.