Ministries

Ministries move our hearts to a greater love, God’s love, and thereby become our community’s human expression of the reign of God in our unique time and setting. We minister because we want to become more like Christ and to put ourselves in grace’s way (Matthew 25: 31-46). Our primary goal is to invite people into our ministries and programs which provide bridges and places of connection for people in the inner city and the surrounding suburbs. It is within authentic human relationships, especially with persons who are the most vulnerable, that the transformation of our hearts, households and our neighborhoods is possible. Through faithful commitment to relationships, we seek to support persons to discover new found power and hope within themselves and their communities as a whole. Our ministries and programs are centered on mutual relationships creating a paradigm where everyone gives and everyone receives. The result is a shared space where one can enter and share both their gifts and their needs.

Brady Faith Center Ministries and Programs

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• Brady's Women's Group

• Brady’s Women’s Group meets Tuesday evenings (6:30-8:00 p.m.) for fellowship, Bible study, and community service projects. Guests are always welcome. The group provides support for Brady Faith Center programs and other projects such as sending postcards and care packages to soldiers and providing non-judgmental assistance to young unmarried mothers. The group meets at Brady Faith Center, from September through June, except for holidays. The first Monday of each month group members bring a dish to share for a pot luck dinner. Click here to view invitation.

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• Men’s Bible Study

• Brady has a men’s group that meets at Brady on Wednesday evening for a meal, fellowship and faith sharing. Participants come from multiple churches and denominations. This allows for a rich spiritual development and mutual support for each other. Meetings are at Brady Faith Center Wednesdays from 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm.

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• Brady Bread

• Is a grass roots organic bread making initiative offering job training for the men and women in Pedals to Possibilities. If you wish to get involved please send an email message from our contact us page.

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• Christmas Gift Giving Ministry

• We know that in the days leading up to Christmas, many families are forced to decide between buying their children Christmas gifts and putting food on the table. Once a year, usually the second or third Saturday in December, our Christmas Gift Giving ministry provides Christmas and Holiday gifts to over 400 individuals. What makes our Christmas Gift Giving Ministry unique is that it collaborates with Volunteers who deliver the Christmas Gifts “right to our neighbors’ doorstep”. This ministry mirrors the “Brady way” of coming and meeting you right where you are.” Sign-up commence  the second Tuesday in October.  We do not have sign up on Mondays.

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• Come and See Retreat Ministries

• In our retreat ministries, we call and invite people into the vision of the reign of God. This reign of God is both a comfort and a promise to the poor and, at the same time, a call to all to be linked with God’s vision of justice and reconciliation. Our retreats challenge, nurture and empower participants to become people who love their way to God by growing in compassion for all people, especially the poor and vulnerable. Through our proclamation of the Good News we hope to continually move ourselves and one another from the world as it is to the world as God is calling it to become. We want to announce and participate in the transformation of hearts and raise up leaders with a vision, people who are vibrant in their capacity for good in the world. For additional information either check out the Come and See Web page or call Brady Faith Center.

• Drop-Inn Center

• Begun in February of 2011 by Andrew Lunetta who was a junior at Le Moyne College at that time. The Brady Faith Center opens its doors to its neighbors as well as the men of the Oxford Inn on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8:30 – 11:00 am for coffee, board games, and genuine human connection. “Through my work with the homeless and needy here in Syracuse, I have witnessed the transformational power of strong friendships and meaningful conversations. I have also seen the problems fostered among those who lack the opportunity to share their stories and feelings. While the men who reside at the Oxford Street Inn homeless shelter have ample access to food, shelter, and clothing, they frequently lack a sense of human connection. The need to be related to another is often taken for granted but I believe that human connection is just as important for well-being as a regular and balanced meal. Thanks to the space and community provided by the Brady Faith Center, we can now provide this human connection to our fellow brothers and neighbors”.

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• Faith Formation and Sacramental Preparation

• Gospel faith sharing takes place at the Brady Faith Center  most Sundays at 11:15 am before the 12:15 service. As part of our formation process, we also welcome church youth groups and confirmation classes who bring older youth from one of their classes to teach and to learn alongside our youth and be together during our Sunday service.  Sacraments are celebrated in collaboration with the Cathedral.

  Click here for an application

• Feet on the Street

• Feet on the street ministry is a street and home ministry providing pastoral care, presence, and outreach to our neighbors who live primarily in the urban setting! In Luke chapter 4:18, Jesus identifies his central mission as “bringing good news to the poor, proclaiming liberty to captives and new sight to the blind, setting the downtrodden free and announcing the Lord’s year of favor.” The name for this ministry comes from the Gospel narratives in which Jesus sent his disciples out into the surrounding villages two by two to increase the Kingdom of God, instructing them to take nothing for the journey except a walking stick . . . This primary or core mission centered in the neighborhoods and homes where people live was begun by Father Charles Brady in the late 1940’s.  After his death in 1978, Father John Schopfer was appointed Southwest City Missioner by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse to continue this unique apostolate. Together these two men have faithfully lived out this gospel imperative for over 70 years. Today, just as in the days of Jesus, the Spirit of God is calling lay ministers from multiple church denominations to go out into the byways of Syracuse to continue the mission of spreading the Kingdom of God. Contact Brady faith Center for additional information

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• Jail Ministry

• Jail Ministry serves primarily to advocate for people incarcerated in the Onondaga County Justice Center.  In addition to the Visitor-Advocacy Program, this ministry performs social-justice work, helps facilitate Recovery, offers a Poverty Bail Program and holds prayer meetings and Bible study with the inmates. The organization defines itself as “a grassroots, social justice, spiritually founded community collective organized to advocate on the behalf of the incarcerated; to promote peace-making and to advance the protection of human dignity within the community. Over 60 volunteers share their light and gifts on a regular basis to ensure that the Gospel imperative to visit the prisoner is lived out faithfully in our community. Contact Jail Ministry at 315- 424-1877

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• Norma Triche Memorial Youth Basketball Clinic

• A great wound in our society is the loss of adults (especially males) investing in the lives of our youth (especially boys). This program connects adults with youth in a coach / player relationship. The primary role of the coach is to encourage and respect the players and the primary role of the player is to build strength, skill, and character in themselves and through teamwork, in one another. As one person once said, “It isn’t about basketball!” In this program we use the context of sports and the dynamics that are a natural part of the game (for example – committing oneself to practice, setting personal and team goals, overcoming adversity, practicing sportsmanship, playing as a team, believing in yourself, your coach and your teammates, ….) to empower young people to become strong, dignified and compassionate men and women. Begun in 2006, Howard Triche (Former SU player) leads this week long basketball camp named after his mother. The Norma Triche Youth Basketball Clinic is held last week in June. Sign up begins first Tuesday in April. Any questions please call the Brady Faith Center.

  Click here for application/parent agreement

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• Pastoral Care and Hospital Visits

• This ministry serves members of all ages, and is based on the needs of families and individuals in the Brady community. Contact us and we will reach out to you.

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• Pedal 2 Possibilities

• This innovative program encourages program participants to take control of their own fitness and well being by committing to regular bike excursions.  Participants from the neighborhood join Brady staff and volunteers for bike rides three times per week.  Bikes are provided at no cost to participants, and after 10 rides, each participant receives a free bike, helmet, and lock. Rides are on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 9:00 am – 10:30 am. Meet at the center by 8:45 am on the days indicated.

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• Stone Soup Educational Garden

• Economic poverty, poor health, deteriorated environments are serious realities for most persons living on the near west side of Syracuse. Our community garden offers an opportunity to impact people in the neighborhood in many positive and life changing ways. First, we offer our garden as a “teaching garden” empowering people to garden on their own, growing herbs, fruits and vegetables and therefore cutting down on food cost. Secondly, by offering fresh, organic and healthy foods from the garden, we seek to improve the health of those in the neighborhood. Thirdly, working in a community garden builds relationships, collaborations and community and offers hands on learning and educational opportunities in a multi-generational setting. Finally, all can find a place of natural beauty and a spirit of calm and peace as they work, rest, or visit our community garden. Contact us to get involved

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• Summer program / Vacation Bible School (VBS)

• In our visiting ministry, one of the main messages heard over and over from our neighbors, especially mothers, was that we have to provide more programs for our youth, especially in the summer. We responded by offering our Summer Program-Vacation Bible School. Children from ages 5 through 12 years of age may attend; 13-15 year old may serve as volunteers. VBS is a 5 week program. It begins second Monday in July and ends the second Friday in August. VBS meets daily from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Registration begins third Thursday in April. This past summer, over 35 youth registered for this ministry with an average attendance of 30 youth each day. Our morning sessions consist of Bible Story time, Arts and Crafts, and Games.   Visits and collaborations with St. Charles and St. Ann’s Church enhance our summer VBS program immensely. After lunch, children go out in the community to places such as the library, the zoo, The Stone Soup Community Garden, Green Lakes or stay at the center to cook, read, watch a video or increase their computer literacy. The children ages 11-12  year old learn about Social Justice and issues facing their community. On Fridays, the children go on field trips to such places as State Parks, Thunder Island, Museums and Seabreeze.

  Click here for an Application Form.

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• Summer Servants

• A summer service camp/retreat in Syracuse NY, which invites teenagers from area parishes and schools to immerse themselves in the city and serve alongside urban neighbors, right in our own backyard! Participants serve six hours per day at different ministry sites all around Syracuse and participate in a comprehensive program which allows them to reflect and respond to what they are seeing and experiencing. Fun activities, free time, great talks and some special events will ensure that our teenagers’ hearts will be changed and turned toward the joy of a vibrant spirituality exemplified through love and service. If you wish to have a group of teens participate in Summer Servants please contact Andrea Jacobs at summerservants@gmail.com and visit www.summerservants.com

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• Sunday Liturgy

• Every Sunday, Father John Schopfer offers mass at Brady at 12:00 noon.  Mass attendance ranges from 40 to 50 people. The liturgy is very personal and hospitable, welcoming equally the member of 30 years and the stranger walking down the street. The intimacy of sharing a Mass in a small setting provides for a freedom to fully participate with insights as they relate to the homily and the opportunity to request and receive prayers.

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• Seeds for the Arts

• This is a ministry that Emily Nisco-Frank began in 2008 that provides inner-city children the opportunity to study guitar, piano and voice at the Westside Learning Center and Brady Faith Center. Participants are encouraged to perform at our yearly winter concert, yearly recital in June and at visits to local nursing homes or other Brady or community events.  The vision of Westside Seeds for the Arts is to connect musically talented youth to positive role models and experiences which will prepare them to develop and use their talents in meaningful venues.

  Click here for an Application Form

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• Brady Urban Farm

• Brady Faith Center Urban Farm

  The Brady Faith Center Urban Farm project is 5.8 acres located on the 2000 block of Onondaga Creek Blvd. It has transformed a vacant property into a vibrant and giving space for the community. We envision an urban farm woven into the fabric of the community that provides sustained nutritious foods, employment, and education that nourishes the body, mind and spirit of our neighbors.

  Farm work got on its way in spring 2016 and produce is being made available through market sales, and farm shares. The mission of the farm is to create an economically sustainable and resilient source of affordable, locally grown food for the community, skilled and employable youth and adults, hands-on community education, and a respite for the community. 

  For more information and CSA sign up please click here

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• Youth and Family Outreach

• This ministry meets most Saturdays at Brady from 11 am-1 pm, providing educational and fun activities for children ages 5-12 years old. The children also take field trips once a month and weekly participate in activities which encourage creativity, positive relationships and personal skill development. Created in September 2011, this ministry serves an average of 18-25 youth each week. For more information contact Trevor Williams at Brady, 472-9077.

  Click here for an Application Form