Mission & Outreach Committee

Our purpose is to participate in fulfilling the mission of St. B’s by cultivating financial and supportive relationships with individuals and organizations – local, national, and global – who demonstrate commitment to transformative change through the Gospel by extending hope, healing, love, and provision in the name of Jesus. Our community engagement team is also pursuing volunteer opportunities that you can find here.



Chair: John Allen
Committee Members: John Andrade, Keith Bordeaux, Michelle Bradley, Mavis Harrop, Rachel Kelly, David Logan, Patrick McGirt, Gary Mumme, Sam Vo, Ruth Wassynger

Vestry Liaison: Andrew Smithen.


Email us at missions@stbs.net


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Global Mission Partners

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  • Dave and Dana mennen with bridges international

    In recent years more international students have come to the U.S. from China than any other nation. If loneliness and stress are painful realities for many American college students, they are even bigger challenges for students from abroad, especially in light of recent COVID-related  restrictions. Dave Mennen and his staff of 350 support and meaningfully connect with international students enrolled at campuses across the country. Because of COVID-related campus lockdowns, he and his team have migrated many meetings and workshops online to connect with students here and back in their home countries. Dave is also raising awareness and support in response to the recent surge in violence and prejudice against Asian American & Pacific Islanders and Asian international communities. Dana, as Bridges’ Sending Coordinator, works closely with applicants who want to serve in international contexts.

  • Mark and susan powell with barnabas international

    St. B’s members Mark and Susan Powell have served as “an extended ministry” of St. B’s in Europe since 2008. Through Barnabas International, they provide member care to global workers serving in challenging and underserved contexts, particularly in North Africa. The need for counseling services is high but largely inaccessible or nonexistent. Barnabas is committed to equipping national Christians with tools to provide their own member care (moving away from the “Western expert” model). The Powells’ base is in southern Spain, which is now the most popular entry point into Europe for African migrants. Their pastoral-care ministry is a natural extension of the ethos of restoration and healing that has long characterized St. B’s.


  • New life restoration ministries

    NLRM is a faith-based organization in Kibera, Kenya, one of the largest impoverished urban settlements in Africa. Although just four miles from the center of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, Kibera lacks running water, sewage pipes, electrical lines, street signs and public schools. In 2000 NLRM’s founders, Paul and Grace Mbithi, felt called to leave their comfortable jobs at Nairobi International Airport and move to the outskirts of Kibera. There they started a church, then a home for orphaned and vulnerable children. That restoration center has grown to include 113 children today. Those children and over 100 others from the community, many from Muslim families, attend the Christian primary school started by NLRM. The Mbithis are especially grateful that one of the four boys they first sheltered in 2000 has joined the staff as a school supervisor, pandemic outreach coordinator and special mentor to the students.

Local and Regional Mission Partners


  • Charis ministries

    An estimated one out of eight families in greater Nashville will face a time when, because of some extraordinary circumstance, they will have to choose between buying basic groceries and paying their rent, a utility bill or a medical expense. Davidson County spans roughly 500 square miles. It has almost thirty food banks, but each has its own schedule of limited hours, and each requires pickup at its location. What about people who don’t have transportation, are in poor health, are elderly or afraid to leave the house? For over 20 years Charis has addressed this need by mobilizing volunteers to take essential food supplies to those who call for help. In 2020 it delivered 532 boxes of food to serve over 1,000 people, half of them under age 18 or over 64. 

  • family reconciliation center

    FRC is a hospitality house in West Nashville that provides free homestays for family members visiting loved ones in local prisons. The all-volunteer organization was founded in 1984. FRC recognizes that families of the incarcerated are “forgotten victims of crime” and seeks “to provide radical hospitality to those who need it at a vulnerable time… reconcil[ing] husband to wife, parent to child, sister to brother, offender to community.” Most guests come from locations throughout Tennessee, live primarily in low-income zip codes and wouldn’t be able to afford a hotel in Nashville. FRC provides not only a warm, free overnight stay, but also a Saturday community meal, breakfast, and toiletries for those who need them. It served 119 guests and booked 571 nights in 2019. Bookings were up by 64% in early 2020, but COVID-19 halted all prison visits. FRC is anticipating the day when it can resume welcoming families.

  • Don paul gross with intervarsity

    Don Paul Gross and his division of InterVarsity campus ministry seeks to encourage university faculty members and mentor graduate students who will be future leaders in their fields. Don Paul is Regional Director for 19 states, with a staff of 52 that serves on 38 private and public campuses. These include the University of Texas, Vanderbilt, Duke, the University of North Carolina, Morehouse School of Medicine, Clark Atlanta University and the University of Miami. There are over 2,300 graduate students and faculty involved in Don Paul’s division, with 138 small groups meeting regularly. They are a diverse group of scholars: Caucasian Americans represent about 40% of the community. 

  • open table nashville

    In 2019 there were an estimated 20,000 people experiencing homelessness in Davidson County. “Our day-to-day outreach activities start with meeting people where they are—geographically, mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually—and working with them to form trusting relationships. From there, we help folks navigate complex social services systems so they can obtain needed resources… To us, an ‘open table’ means a place where everyone is welcome, where the table is never too full and there’s always an open seat. An open table signifies fellowship, community, and radical inclusion.” In partnership with Glencliff United Methodist Church, OTN is creating a village of tiny homes that provides housing for medically vulnerable Nashvillians experiencing homelessness. “Housing is healthcare,” says St. B’s member Dr. Jule West, particularly when a person needs to heal from surgery or chemotherapy. 

  • rooftop nashvile

    Rooftop Nashville partners with churches to provide emergency rental assistance to Davidson County residents, helping to prevent homelessness and provide hope. Like congregations all over Metro Nashville, St. B’s receives calls (or in pre-COVID times, visits) from individuals and families asking for emergency help with their rent. Rooftop strives to serve these Nashvillians in crisis, and provide churches with a program to help those who come to their doors. In 2020 the devastation caused by a tornado, COVID-19 and bombing downtown greatly increased the need for Rooftop’s services.

  • room in the inn

    RITI has provided essential services to unhoused Nashvillians since 1985. St. B's financial support helps fund RITI’s Hope University at its downtown campus, which offers guests access to shower and laundry facilities, a safe place to store essential documents, a mailing address for receiving important mail, assistance filling out government and job applications, art classes, and on-site job training. RITI also partners with almost 190 congregations during winter months to provide emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness. St. B’s was one of the first twelve congregations to welcome RITI guests overnight and hasn’t missed an opportunity to host Saturday-night guests since that first season in 1986.

  • send musicians to prison

    Founded in 2009 by Nathan Lee, SMTP uses music to share the language of hope, healing and restoration with people in prison. It has witnessed transformation in people’s lives through its live concerts in maximum-security facilities around the country, songwriting workshops, school for women in prison, and special outreach to those on death row and in hospice care. During the COVID lockdown outreach has continued through letters and phone calls; plans are also in the works to create filmed content that will be made available to men and women in select prisons.

  • siloam health

    Siloam is a faith-based medical clinic that has provided healthcare for uninsured, underserved and culturally marginalized people in Middle Tennessee for 30 years. Its mission is to share the love of Christ by offering whole-person healthcare to those who need it. In 2019 more than 90% of Siloam’s 5,100 patients were foreign born, representing 78 homelands and speaking 48 languages. In June 2020 Siloam opened a new satellite office in Antioch, Nashville’s most diverse community and home for many of its essential workers. Siloam launched weekly vaccination clinics to broaden COVID-19 vaccine access for Nashville’s underserved and culturally marginalized families. As of April 2021 it has given over 1,000 vaccinations in partnership with the Metro Public Health Department and several immigrant advocacy groups. 

  • st. luke's community house

    Founded in 1913, St. Luke’s provides an array of services focusing on early child development, adult education, senior assistance, crisis support and financial literacy instruction. These benefit low-income, working families, seniors and individuals living primarily in West Nashville. St. B’s financial support and in-kind gifts provide mobile meals, emergency assistance, holiday programs and other services. Volunteers from St. B’s and other churches operate a popular thrift store that generates significant income for St. Luke’s Preschool—an affordable, high-quality program for low-income, working families. 


  • thistle farms residential program

    TF Residential Program is offered to women survivors of trafficking, prostitution and addiction. Up to 28 residents live together in a therapeutic setting which offers free housing, healthcare, counseling, employment training and transformation through mutual trust-building and accountability. After two years in the program the women become candidates for graduation, a much-anticipated time of celebration that takes place each spring. St. B’s provides thoughtfully curated housewarming baskets and generous gift cards to help graduates start their new lives. 

  • young life nashville

    Young Life Nashville builds relationships with high-school students in eight Metro Nashville Public Schools across the city and helps them grow in their Christian faith. Many of the students are from predominantly low-income, under-resourced communities. Before COVID, St. B’s members Langley and Lois Granbery supported YL’s ministry at Hillwood High School by hosting weekly club meetings and dinners. St. B’s funds provide scholarships for students to attend summer camps, and also helped to start a YL program at Maplewood High School.