Vision:  Guided by the Holy Spirit and prayer, to help educate the Parish and its parishioners to discern how to best bring God’s transforming love to our sisters and brothers who are in need of that love through prayer, service, advocacy and financial support.

Mission:  To inform parishioners about the social justice needs in our local and the larger world communities, provide concrete ways and means by which those needs can be met and to advocate for change in those structures of society which mitigate against the poor among us.

History of Social Justice at Holy Trinity over 35 Years:

•    Social Concerns Committee Formed:  The first organized social justice effort at the parish was formed in 1973.

•    Renovation of the Church in 1976:  Holy Trinity was considering a large expenditure of money to renovate the main Church buildings in 1976. Coincidently, Pastor Jim English wanted to expand the Social Concerns Committee to get parishioners more involved in direct service with social service agencies and to make the parish more responsive to their needs, particularly with volunteers.

•    Opposition to the Renovation in 1978:  Mitch Snyder of the Community for Creative Non-violence and three others loudly protested the planned renovations in March 1978.  Discussions were held with the protesters and a compromise was achieved in September 1978.  Holy Trinity would go forward with the renovation of the church.  They would also expand efforts to address the needs of the poor and homeless of DC as recommended by the newly reorganized parish Social Concerns Committee.

•    Social Concerns Committee Reorganized:  The Social Concerns Committee was expanded to 100 or more parishioners; the number of collections for Social Concerns was expanded from 1 to 2 per year; collections of clothing, furniture, food, etc. for local organizations were initiated; the parish joined the Provide a Meal program at SOME and worked with Fr. McKenna and other organizations in DC to address the social needs of the city’s poor and homeless.

•    Tithe Program Established:  The Tithe Program was established a few years later when Fr. Jim Connor was pastor.  The Tithe Program set aside 10% of Holy Trinity’s receipts (later changed to 10% of ordinary income) to be spent in support of the organizations and agencies in DC which were devoted to providing hands on aid and assistance to the poor and homeless of DC.

•    Stewardship:  In order to insure that Holy Trinity’s funds were being utilized appropriately, a Holy Trinity parishioner was assigned to work with, monitor and report back to the parish on the progress being made by each Tithe Grantee. The Liaison program continues to this day with continued focus on matching Holy Trinity parishioners as volunteers to assist in the work of the grantee organizations.

•    Leadership:  Over the years the Social Justice Committee has always been a volunteer based activity with leadership from Holy Trinity parishioners.  For almost 10 years Ken Jacques was the Social Justice lead until his death in 2007.   In 2007, the Social Justice Committee became the Social Justice Ministry with leadership from an Ignatian Volunteer working with an Executive Committee.