Carol Bowman (right) delivers Christmas presents to Brenda Garcia in the Impact office.
Shirin McArthur
Church is about so much more than Sunday worship and Carol Bowman is a prime example of this.
Carol, a resident of Oro Valley, belongs to Episcopal Church of the Apostles and is active with two of their outreach activities in the community.
She first started volunteering with Impact of Southern Arizona two years ago because the Reverend Debra Asis asked her to spearhead Apostles’ outreach ministry. Every month Carol collects food donated by parishioners and delivers it to Impact. Last month the Apostles parishioners also donated individually wrapped Christmas gifts for 97 needy children which Carol delivered.
“When you see the appreciation on the faces of those that you have helped, it makes me just want to do more,” Carol said about her ministry.
Last year Carol also began volunteering her time with ASAVET, a free mobile veterinary service for the underserved in Arizona and parts of New Mexico. ASAVET was established by the Santa Cruz Veterinary Clinic seven months ago.
Several Apostles church members also participate in the ASAVET program. Carol is one of two church members who love the work so much that they have become full-time volunteers with ASAVET which Carol calls “a wonderful cause.”
ASAVET became one of Church of the Apostles’ ministries because of the church’s children. Each year the children’s ministry chooses a cause to support. Children save some of their allowance and put the coins in a bright pink piggy bank with wings that lives in the lobby of the church.
Church of the Apostles is a community of people who put their faith into action and take seriously Jesus’ commandment to love our neighbors. Carol says that the church does this work “because we are a loving community and our calling as Christians is to help those less fortunate.”
As a result of these ministries, many persons are fed that otherwise would have little to eat and the animals they own are spayed or neutered and vaccinated, helping the entire family stay healthy.
To learn more about Church of the Apostles and its outreach ministry, you are welcome to join them for worship at 7:30 or 9:30 a.m. each Sunday and visit ovapostles.org to learn more.