Our Mission

We Welcome You!

Welcome to the website of the Fellowship of St. Silas. I hope I can give you an introduction regarding the purpose and goals of this ministry. We have been involved in the Ministry of care for hurting people for almost 35 years. Some of those that we work with are in prison. Some of those are on the streets living in cardboard shacks that they have constructed in the dark corners of the city in which they live. Some of those that we work with are those who have given up hope on themselves, God and religion. We also work with those who have strayed from the things that they believe. We understand we do not have the answers for everyone, but we do know that there is a common answer for all those who seek a better place while being a pilgrim on this earth. We believe that the answer is the gentle voice of the Savior’s call to those who have wandered from the image and likeness of God.

Sometimes religion can make us feel so comfortable that we do not see the pain that is in the world around us. I believe the purpose of the church is to be a hospital for those who have need of a physician, and that physician is our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. Believe it or not, the church has many people who are in pain. And there are many who walk into the house of God to find relief from the assaults and battering that the world throws at those who see that life is a spiritual war. The book of James tells us this truth "If any man among you seems to be religious, and bridal not this tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is in vain. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." (James 1:26-27)

There are also those who are so spiritual that they do not want to interrupt their prayer and regular routine to be bothered by those who have been beaten up by this world. We are reminded by our Lord in Luke chapter 10 that there was a certain man who is on his way to a city called Jericho and fell among thieves. This man was stripped naked, beaten and left half dead. It just so happened that a priest came down the road and when he saw the bruised man he passed by on the other side of the street. Likewise a very religious Levite, a meticulous keeper of the Temple, saw the bruised and battered man and quickly passed him by. But a lowly Samaritan came by and saw the wounded man and quickly ran to his aid. He picked him up and took him to an Inn and provided medical attention. He also took money from his own pocket and provided help for him.

That is what we're trying to do in the Fellowship of St. Silas. There are many who have been battered on the Jericho Road, and it seems to us that God has allowed us to be there for the battered victims that are made in the image and likeness of God.

Father David Ogan