St. Mary's Stoke Newington

Our aims as a congregation are: * to think about how the Christian faith relates to the world about us and to the common good * to work out how St Mary's can make a special contribution to meeting the needs of our parish * to prevent the congregation's life from becoming too inward-looking and to relate to social concerns * to provide opportunities for people to make individual contributions to meeting local needs The Hackney Churches Winter Night Shelter runs in a different church hall each night throughout January, February and March. St. Mary's congregation runs the shelter  one night a week in our Community Centre Hall in Defoe Road providing homeless people with a hot evening meal, overnight accommodation and cooked breakfast.  A questionnaire about availability for volunteer work was distributed to the congregation recently, and this led to new volunteers stepping forward. We have strong links with North London Action for the Homeless and help distribute tinned foods to refugees and asylum seekers. Members of St Mary's congregation have been involved in local consultative bodies and in the distribution of newsletters from the Hackney Churches Refugee Network and the Islington Churches Bereavement Service.