Bread for the World
Come for Supper
Coulee Council
on Addiction
Coulee Region
Transitional Housing
ELCA World Hunger
Habitat for Humanity
La Crosse Area
Helping Hand
La Crosse Jail Ministry
La Crosse
Thanksgiving Dinner
Lutheran Social Services
New Horizons
St. Clare Mission
Salvation Army
Stand for Africa
St Paul's Lutheran Church
Filled with the spirit to share God's love with you!
Advocacy and Support
420 West Avenue S. ~ La Crosse, Wisconsin 54601 ~ (608) 784-2304 ~ stpauls@stpaulslacrosse.org
St. Paul’s mission support is to educate, promote and elicit support for missions that serve the needy, both domestically and worldwide. We are commanded and motivated by the Scripture passages:
Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:17
If you do away with the yoke of oppression…
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah 58:9-10
Bread for the World Institute seeks justice for hungry people through research and education on hunger and development. Read our annual Hunger Report, get an update on the ONE Campaign, or find out the latest facts on hunger in the United States and around the world.
Come for Supper is a weekly Tuesday meal program for the needy held at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church just 6 blocks down the street from St. Paul’s. Our congregation provides food and volunteer workers to purchase, prepare, serve, and clean up on the last Tuesday of February, April, June, August, October, and December.
Located a few blocks south of St. Paul’s, this organization counsels, provides activities, and fellowship for those struggling with alcohol, drug, and other addictions. St. Paul’s provides education and financial support to these programs.
Habitat for Humanity - La Crosse Area
St. Paul’s educates and solicits funds and volunteers for the local area Habitat for Humanity homes being built. Habitat for Humanity is an organization that works to realize the dream of home ownership for low-income people They work across race, ethnic, religious and geographic boundaries, partnering with families working to build their homes and lives.
Helping Hand
This fund within our congregation assists individuals and families requesting help for necessities which are funded according to the monies available. The pastor administers these funds.
St. Paul’s provides financial, material and spiritual (prayer) assistance in serving the needs of inmates. We receive a list of material needs from the Jail Ministry Chaplain and we provide as many of those needs as we can along with gift treats at Christmas time. Some years we have provided cases of soft-cover Bibles for the inmates.
ELCA World Hunger improves the lives of people in need in the United States and around the world by:
- providing immediate relief for people affected by chronic hunger and poverty;
- assisting whole communities through long-term, sustainable development to help alleviate chronic hunger and poverty
- advocating for justice by changing laws and systems
- educating members of the ELCA in awareness of issues relating to hunger, poverty and justice
These major functions of the World Hunger Program are guided by the related objectives adopted at the 1987 ELCA Constituting Convention.
Coulee Region Transitional Housing Project
This organization provides temporary apartments for women and children while transitioning between the New Horizons Shelter (see below) and being able to financially afford their own housing needs. This is done in two ways: by a Crisis Fund to help women pay their first month’s rent, security deposit, and utility hook-up if needed or by an Apartment Fund that provides housing rent-free for a woman and her children for up to six months. This Project was started by three women at St. Paul’s, La Crosse, in 1988. A member of St. Paul’s provided the first Transitional Housing apartment for a woman for a year. The organization is now ecumenical with two members still serving on the Coulee Region Transitional Housing Committee. St. Paul’s provides considerable financial support to this organization.
La Crosse Thanksgiving Dinner
For 23 years people from all walks of life have come together to share food and friendship on Thanksgiving Day at the La Crosse Center. Approximately 600 volunteers share their talents and time preparing the day before and on Thanksgiving Day. St. Paul’s provides financial and volunteer support for this event.
Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan is the social ministry arm of over 800 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations in these areas. Lutheran Social Services reaches over 100,000 people of all faiths through their programs which include adoption, alcohol and drug treatment, home health care, disaster response and more. St. Paul’s educates our membership on what LSS does and needs and then solicits funds for those needs.
"The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by love for God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human needs in his name without discrimination."
Salvation Army Mission Statement St. Paul’s members volunteer, educate, and provide financial support for the organization and it's activities.
Stand for Africa is mobilizing U.S. churches and organizations to spread awareness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa, to identify African faith and community based organizations that can undertake HIV/AIDS treatment activities, and to raise funds for continued support of African faith and community based organizations providing HIV/AIDS prevention, education, treatment, and care in 11 African countries.
New Horizons
New Horizons is a service organization and shelter in the La Crosse area for abused individuals, mostly women and children. Men can also receive services with the exception of the shelter itself. New Horizons staffs a 24 hour crisis phone line and can provide their clients with some clothing, health and beauty products and food. In addition they will transport clients to appointments, offer support groups for women and children, and provide Night-time On-call Volunteer Advocates (NOVA). The majority of clients are from La Crosse and the surrounding counties but the organization has provided services to people all over the U.S. and other countries when the situation is domestic violence related.
St. Clare Mission is a local health mission that is the service of Franciscan Skemp Healthcare and Gundersen Lutheran. The Director is Sister Dawn Kutt, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpeptual Adoration, headquartered in La Crosse, Wis. The staff includes physicians, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, lab technicians and support personnel, all volunteering their time and expertise. Other organizations that get involved are the La Crosse County Health Department, the Department of Human Services and The Salvation Army. Funding for the Mission, including the cost of medical supplies such as pharmaceuticals, is covered through contributions. St. Paul's is active in providing funding to this organization.