Sunday Morning Breakfast
Trinity Cathedral serves breakfast each week to people experiencing homelessness or economic instability in downtown Columbia. Dedicated volunteers from Trinity and other area churches come to prepare a full meal of sausage, eggs, grits, biscuits, coffee, fruit and milk, gathering together 52 Sundays per year at 6:00 a.m. A bag lunch is also distributed. Our doors on Senate Street open at 7:00 a.m. for our breakfast guests. Teams of cooks and servers assist each week, and more members are always needed to assist in preparation, serving and cleanup. We actively recruit older youth and families to participate in this wonderful ministry.
W.A. Perry Partnership
Begun in 2003, our partnership with W. A. Perry Middle School allows Trinity to support future generations of the community where our very own St. Lawrence Place is located. The partnership provides enrichment activities and opportunities to students enrolled in the after-school program. The program seeks to develop relationships that encourage academic success. Relationships are fostered through art, golf, tennis, cooking, drama, sewing and other activities, as well as tutoring assistance. In 2013, Trinity helped W.A. Perry begin a weekend backpack program to provide students with food for meals over the weekend. Also in 2013, the South Carolina Department of Education awarded W.A. Perry a Gold Award for improvement.
Camp Bob
Camp Bob is a summer camp held for children who would otherwise be financially unable to attend summer camp. It is held at Kanuga Camp and conference center in Hendersonville, NC. Each June, through generosity of Trinity parishioners, Trinity members sponsor a trip to Camp Bob with a busload of Columbia children ages 8 to 17. Members of Trinity and others in the community serve as volunteers counselors. Financial contributions pay for the children to attend.
Cooperative Ministry
In 1982, Trinity joined four other downtown churches to establish The Cooperative Ministry, in order to verify need and coordinate assistance for those who came to doors seeking help. TCM has evolved into an exceptional program serving those on the brink of homelessness. Volunteers and staff provide rent, utility, prescription assistance, and budget counseling, as well as providing links to other agencies which support those in need. For more information about volunteer opportunities or how to make a donation, contact The Cooperative Ministry directly.
Weekend of Hope
A spiritual retreat sponsored by His Hands Ministries for individuals experiencing homelessness. It is a chance for them to renew their faith, experience God’s love, and commit themselves to becoming a blessing to others.
MORE Justice
A growing network of faith-based congregations that are culturally, economically, racially, geographically and religiously diverse – coming together to fulfill our scriptural mandate to “do justice” and make the Central Midlands area a more just place to live for all people.
JUMPSTART prison ministry
Serves current and former prisoners and assists with re-entry to society. With the help of community partners, Jumpstart addresses their spiritual, educational, employment, healthcare, housing, and family relationship needs.
Haiti/Morne Michel
For more than 30 years, the Diocese of Upper South Carolina has been in partnership with the people of Cange, Haiti. Trinity Parishioners have been deeply committed to our friends there as we work together to improve life in this land of great poverty and deprivation. The ministry has evolved over a period of years and now has a major focus on education, health, clean water, sanitation, agriculture, and vocational skills. In the early 2000s, Trinity adopted the remote village of Morne Michel, a three-hour hike from Cange. We provided the resources to build a nine-room school there. The new school opened in 2012, and Trinity remains committed to our effort to provide clean water to the village and operational funding for the school. No roads lead to Morne Michel, and everything – sand, iron, cinderblocks, fresh water – must be carried by hand or donkey up an down the steep mountain trails. Trinity sends regular mission trips to Haiti. The long treks to visit Morne Michel have been life changing for a number of Trinity parishioners.
St. Lawrence Place
Founded by the people of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Trinity Housing Corporation operates St. Lawrence Place, a transitional housing community. Thirty units provide housing to families who are experiencing housing instability. An active professional staff presents programs for family enrichment, educational instruction, job training, and interpersonal skills. Volunteers from the Cathedral are involved in after-school programs and tutoring, maintenance, and enrichment programming. Learn more about St. Lawrence Place here.
Seeds of Hope Farmers Market
Small farmers face many impediments to economic success. “Seeds of Hope” offers them the opportunity to sell directly to consumers by bringing their produce to area residents. The Cathedral and many other area churches and synagogues support this program, which was started in 1986 by a group of churches and is sponsored by the S.C. Christian Action Council. For more than 15 years, Greeleyville farmer Louis Reid has sold his produce in the Cathedral parking lot every Sunday during the summer months. Two Trinity volunteers help each Sunday, weighing and bagging the produce and collecting the money.
The Soup Kitchen
The Soup Cellar Ministry is a partnership of many area churches dating back to 1979. Trinity is one of the original partners and makes and serves lunch to 175-250 hungry people on Thursdays of each week (except Thanksgiving). Our team is divided into those who prepare the lunch, and those who serve the lunch. Each shift is about an hour and a half. Many deep friendships have been forged over the years and new members are very much welcomed.
Education=Hope
Education Equals Hope (E=H) exists to provide for the education of those living in desperate and difficult situations in Ecuador and around the world.
The Vivanco Family
Cameron Graham Vivanco is the co-founder of Education Equals Hope. E=H started in Quito, Ecuador, where Cameron and her husband and three children serve as missionaries, and has grown from helping one 15-year-old girl finish third grade to serving over 2,000 students in five countries (Ecuador, Costa Rica, Haiti, Rwanda and Kenya). Email Anne Miller.
