Service Ministry
Outreach Opportunities
All members of the Church are called to service as disciples of Christ. Charity begins at home then to the community, the parish, at work and in the world.

Queen of All Saints parish is proud to offer some forty different ministries to our parishioners and community. Please contact us if one of our offerings may be of benefit to you, or if you feel you would like to contribute to the Queen of All Saints community by serving as a member of one or more of our ministries.
Albany Park Community Center Food Pantry
The Albany Park Community Center is located at 5101 N. Kimball, Chicago, IL 60625. The Pantry was started by QAS parishioners in November 1996. It is fully staffed, supplied and supported by volunteers from Queen of All Saints. The Pantry provides emergency food to the needy and poor. Most of the food is obtained from the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Families receive at least five to six bags of food generally including staples such as cereal, beans, rice, canned fruits and vegetables, some fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, frozen or canned meats and donated baked goods. Diapers and formula are also available for babies.

Volunteers and donations are always needed. We welcome families and volunteers of all ages and abilities. Children under 16 must be accompanied by a supervising adult.

When? To bag groceries - the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Thursdays of the month from 5:00 pm till 6:00 pm. Groceries are bagged assembly line style to prepare for distribution. To unload delivery truck from the GCFD and bag groceries - the 2nd and 4th Thursday mornings from 9:30 am till about 11:30 am. Groceries are bagged assembly line style and when the truck arrives, we unload cases of food and put them away. To distribute the food - every Friday morning from 9:00 am till 12:00 noon. Clients are interviewed and food is distributed along with various tasks such as bagging bakery goods, bagging groceries, finding and filing clients cards. Translators are also helpful especially Spanish, Korean, Cambodian, Russian, Bosnian, Assyrian, or Polish. To pick up donated bakery goods from Deerfield Bakery on Thursdays at 5:30 pm and from Whole Foods on Thursday and Friday mornings. Some volunteers help every week and some volunteers help once or twice a year. We would love to have you come whenever you are able.

In 2008 we are serving an average of 700 families a month. Nearly 60% of our clients are children or elderly. We were awarded the "Quality Service Award for Volunteer Program" by the Greater Chicago Food Depository in 2002.

For more information, contact us by email at foodpantry@qasparish.org.
Bereavement Support Group
Grief is a complex process, unique to each individual, based on personal response, circumstance of death, and relationship to the person who died. There are, however, emotions common to almost all bereaved persons. In the experience of grief, there is a gradual progression from shock, bewilderment and disbelief, through sorrow, anger, and depression, to a final acceptance of the death and a healing of the pain associated with the loss of an important relationship. This healing process takes time, energy, and patience.

We have formed a bereavement ministry to reach out and journey with those parishioners who have experienced the loss of a loved one. There are volunteers available to act as a resource for the grieving, on an ongoing basis. Some of these volunteers make initial contact with a grieving family by sending a sympathy card. They then make a follow-up phone call to offer a listening ear and to make referrals if more help is needed.

Others serve as trained facilitator teams who provide group support during three six-week series throughout the year. These groups serve as a place to find understanding, acceptance, safety, growth, and hope.

Each year this ministry helps the staff plan a special service held on or near the feast of all souls, November 2nd. At this special liturgy all who have died in the past year are remembered. Family members get a special invitation to attend this liturgy, which is followed by a reception in the rectory.

We have ongoing training and support for our volunteers. If you feel called to respond to the grieving in our midst, please consider joining this ministry. There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die, a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2,4

For more information contact Pat Steiner by phone, (773) 282-3746 or e-mail, pat5820@comcast.net or Peggy Martin, (847) 677-7170, margmar10@sbcglobal.net.
Divorce Support Group
The Divorce Support Group is a group formed to offer support and emotional healing needed during a separation or divorce. The group meets on an as needed basis during the year. The purpose of the group is to remind you, you are not alone in your journey during this difficult time.