Mission: Clothes Closet
One of the great strengths of Presbyterians is that our churches are connected to each other so we can partner in our ministries. A good example is our Clothes Closet led by Jeanne Peck. The clothing you donate at Grace is delivered to First Presbyterian in Plano to be used by their Family Clothes Closet Ministry. There, on Thursday afternoons, these and other donated clothes are sorted for the best future uses. Your donated clothes may be given to people in need at First Presbyterian’s Family Clothes Closet on Wednesdays from 10 to noon or distributed using their trailer to support Streetside Showers on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month. They may be distributed by Hope Restored Missions to their clients or provided by First Presbyterian to people seeking shelter on cold nights at the Plano Overnight Warming Station (POWS). Some donations may be picked up by Grace Bridge and resold with the benefits going to local food banks and others that cannot be reused may end up as rags sold by the Salvation Army.
If you would like to support this ministry please donate clothing at our Clothes Closet drop-off inside the west church entrance. (Men’s clothing is always needed, especially jackets, coats, and men’s casual pants with 30-36 inch waists). Or, donate money for the purchase of new underwear. (We will get your donation to First Presbyterian or you can give it to them directly).
Mission: Food Insecurity
Minnie’s Food Pantry
How does Grace PC help with this problem? By donating our time and other resources in helping agencies such as Minnie’s Food Pantry located in Plano. Many Grace members have volunteered to load boxes of food into vehicles, pack boxes, unfold and tape boxes, sort cans of food, and help in the boutique. Whatever the staff at Minnie’s needs us to do we do it. Our next date to help at Minnie’s is September 7th.
In October, mission committee will host a food packing event with The Outreach Program, formally known as Numana. We currently have a plan to pack 18,900 meals to send to Haiti. Floyd Hammer and Kathy Hamilton co-founded The Outreach Program. It does more than food, according to their website, they are involved in medical care, clean water, and education. Kathy and Floyd have received awards from President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush. Check out their website to learn about what the awards were for and what else this busy organization is doing. outreachprogram.org
Grace’s own Little Food Pantry (LFP) helps our neighbors closer to home who are food insecure. Thank you all for bringing food to restock the LFP.
Mission: Special Offerings
In the Presbyterian Church USA there are 4 times a year we have special offerings. At Grace the administration of the offerings goes through the Mission Committee. In this blog I’ll talk about what these offerings are and how we have distributed the funds in the last year. In general, the total for each offering is between $1,000 and $2,000. For offerings that allow discretion in allocation, the committee decides the split.
The Christmas Joy Offering has been a cherished Presbyterian tradition since the 1930s. The Offering distributes gifts equally to the Assistance Program of the Board of Pensions and to Presbyterian-related schools and colleges equipping communities of color. The Assistance Program provides critical financial support to church workers and their families. Presbyterian-related schools and colleges provide education and leadership development while nurturing racial and ethnic heritage. This has been a Presbyterian commitment for nearly 140 years.
Typically received during the season of Lent, each gift to One Great Hour of Sharing supports efforts to relieve hunger through the Presbyterian Hunger Program, promote development through the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People, and assist in areas of disaster through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
A gift to the Pentecost Offering helps the church encourage, develop, and support its young people, and also address the needs of at-risk children. 40% of the Pentecost offering can be retained by individual congregations wanting to make an impact in the lives of young people within their own community. The remaining 60% is used to support children-at-risk, youth, and young adults through ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
In 2023 Mission sent 50% of the offering to the Presbyterian Mission Agency. 25% went to our synod’s Solar under the Sun program and the local 25% was used to support Grace’s refugee work.
Mission: My First Mission Trip…
I remember my first mission trip with GPC in 2015. It was a group of men, some from the church, some not, going to Tijuana, MX, to build small houses for families in need in cooperation with a local organization.- First is the impact of the new initiative in the community it will serve
- Second is what opportunities it creates for our members to serve and develop this aspect of their spiritual life.
to serve and grow as a Christian.
our services and join one mission project. I am very sure you will get hooked like I was.
you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe
you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?
mine, you did for me. (Matthew 25:44-45)”
Mission: Prison Ministry
A few weekends ago, Mike Shaw and I took a mission trip, but we didn’t go build any houses and we didn’t go renovate any churches. We instead went to the prison in Winnsboro, Texas- the Clyde Johnston unit- and built relationships with the men in white.
I sat at a table with six men in white, who called themselves The Sons of Light, and I listened as they told me their stories of their journey to Christ, from addiction to redemption. I heard stories of forgiveness, repentance, redemption and restoration. The Holy Spirit was a palpable presence in that room for three days. I was moved to fervently pray with two men for their reconciliation with their families.
I want to thank the Mission committee of the church for their support of the Residents Encounter Christ mission in Winnsboro, and I especially want to thank everybody who signed up for a space on the prayer chain, and who signed the posters encouraging the men in their walk. It is important to the men there to know that they have not been forgotten by the people on the outside.
I will be going back to the prison in October of this year. I invite anybody who wants to join me in this walk to sign up for a slot on the prayer chain and to sign the poster of encouragement for these men. If you want, you can come join me, sit at a table, listen to their stories and let the men know in a very real way that Christ still loves them.
–Clark Carradine
Mission: PCHAS
Mission: Welcome Grace
Welcome to the Grace PC mission blog. The long term goal of this blog is to talk about the different aspects of mission work at GPC. In this inaugural post I’m going to outline who is “mission” at Grace and how we decide what to pursue.
At Grace every member is a part of mission – or can be. Practically, and since we are Presbyterian, we have a Mission committee. The committee is currently composed of 8 members, one of whom is the Mission elder, plus an associate pastor and a member of the finance committee (Mission represents about 10% of the GPC budget). We meet the 2nd Tuesday of every month and any are welcome to join the meetings.
The current committee:
|
Bill Urech – Elder/Moderator |
Portia Stephens |
|
Fred Alves |
Bill Burnett |
|
Helen Blacklock |
Bryan Haworth |
|
Diana Sparacin |
Janice McQuary |
|
Wilson Nicholson – Assoc Pastor |
John Davis – Finance |
Bill Urech (Mission Elder)