Mercy House is a collaboration with Chico Housing Action Team (CHAT) to provide housing and support to medically fragile women who would otherwise be unhoused. Mercy House volunteers from FLC provide friendship and oversee weekly house meetings with the residents to support them in their journey to stability and security.

Twice a year, we, along with a handful of other churches, host Safe Space’s Winter Shelter and Cooling Center. In the winter, we dedicate 2 weeks to shelter folks from the cold. This is an overnight shelter where people are given warm meals and cots, plus breakfast and coffee before their departure each morning. In the summer, we host a cooling center; we crank up the AC, give out cold water, and let folks hang out indoors and catch their breath.

The North State Shelter Team’s nifty, solar paneled Shower Trailer has delivered more than 1,500 showers to folks without regular access to such. Members of Faith have served at the shower trailer, and we encourage you to give it a go!

We are participants of the “Blue Bags” project. We collect nonperishable goods all year round. In fact, you can drop off your non-perishables anytime during our office hours, just swing on by, no blue bag needed! Food is given to the Chico Food Locker on 2nd Fridays, every-other month.

We host Chico’s Food Bank operated by Contra Costa and Solano Counties. Anybody is welcome to walk up or drive up. No ID or paperwork are needed, and food is easily accessible for all. This food bank distributes healthy produce and protein whenever it is possible to do so. The volunteers at the food bank and our church believe that no one should have to choose between making ends meet or a meal. Come to Faith on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month between 3:00-5:00 p.m., and let us know if you’d like to volunteer!

Once a month, teams from our church prepare and serve meals to everyone at the Torres Shelter. This occurs on the first Tuesday of each month. The time frame for prepping and serving each meal usually last from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Each team typically serves two to three meals over the course of the year.

We are the commercial kitchen supporting Church of the Homeless Jesus. This ministry is done by Pr. Fred Bowdy who provides sermons and warm meals to folks at 20th Street Park on Sundays. Breakfast is between 7:30-9:00 AM, church at 10:00 AM.

Once a year we take part in Lutheran Lobby Day where we meet with legislative offices to pray, learn, and urge California legislators to lead with moral and spiritual callings.

On God's Work Our Hand Sunday, we go out into the community to fix, clean, and repair buildings/places in need in lieu of regular worship. In the past, we’ve helped restore and clean up churches, picked up litter and cleared trails at the Big Chico Creek and Tiechert Pond, and performed maintenance work at elementary schools like Rosedale and Citrus.

Holiday giving is a big part of Christmas here at Faith Lutheran Church. We purchase ELCA “good gifts,” things like animals and water for farmers, Bibles, blankets, clinic visits, seminary tuition, school supplies, and so much more. You can learn more at goodgifts.elca.org.

Our church serves at Chico Pride, hosts Transgender Day of Remembrance with Stonewall Alliance, puts on the annual Chico Interfaith Pride Service, and has its own queer support/activity group called Alphabet Soup. We are who we are! Come and serve with us exactly as you are.

The Steve Troester Memorial Blood Drive takes place once a year. Here's a video about the drive; know that dates change each year. In honor of one of our parishioners, we encourage everyone at Faith Lutheran and beyond to give blood on this day (determined on a year by year basis).

Stephen Ministers serve God by providing distinctively-Christian, confidential, free, one-on-one weekly spiritual support to people going through difficult times. We’re excited about having more people sharing their gifts through this ministry and invite anyone who feels called to this caring ministry to contact us about becoming a Stephen Minister.

Quilts and Prayer Shawls are hand-crafted and given to those in need. Such items have been given to people moving away, folks who lost their homes in the Camp Fire, residents of the Jesus Center, and on lots of other occasions.

Chico Project SAVE (Salvage All Valuable Equipment) saves medical equipment and repurposes it for those in need throughout our community and around the world. Project SAVE is located in Chico, CA, and the facility serves as a vital hub for processing and redistributing recycled medical supplies.

Education is important to us, and we frequently partner with schools for Blessing of the Backpacks, a supply drive that provides low income students with backpacks and school supplies. We also do cleanup days for God’s Work Our Hands Sunday, painting, gardening, and cleaning campuses.