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Mattoon Church Feeds the Homeless
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Mattoon Church, a small
downtown Greenville church, has answered the call to mission and for the
past seven years has fed more than 7,000 of Greenville's homeless people.
Mattoon faithfully serves meals on the first Sunday of each month.
Despite limited space and resources, they cheerfuly open their doors to
the less fortunate. They give thanks to and recognize churches and groups
who have contributed to their mission: St. Giles, First Greenville, First
Greer, Fourth, McCarter, Fountain Inn, Racial Ethnic Cabinet, and
Presbyterian Women.They give thanks to the mercy of God for allowing them
to feed their neighbors.
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Save the Date
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Hospice of the Upstate in
Anderson will have a special preview of curriculum based on "Living
'til We Die: A Journey of Faith" on October 27, 9:30 - 3:00. This
preview will take place at Sadler Center at Hospice in Anderson. If you
have questions, call Nancy Blakely at 224-3358.
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Letter from the GA Moderator
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 Hi
Friends,
The annual statistics for 2006 are in and once again our denomination
lost an amazing number of members: about 46,000. Almost everywhere I go
people ask me about our shrinking numbers. Often the question is phrased:
"What is Louisville (denominational offices) doing about our
membership loss?" While I have heard arguments from various quarters
of the church that the denomination's stands (or lack thereof) on certain
issues are driving away members or hindering them from joining, I really
believe this question is not the right question. The question that needs
to be asked is "what are YOU, man or woman in the pew, doing to help
grow your congregation and reach people for Christ?"
People leave churches for all kinds of reasons and many of our members
leave to join the church triumphant. The simple answer to why our
membership is shrinking is that we are not taking in enough members to
replace those lost to death and other causes. We are not reaching the
people we need to be reaching.
One of the things I sometimes do in response to the question about membership
loss is to ask people in the group to raise their hands if they have
invited someone to go to their church in the last month and offered to go
by and pick them up. The rate of affirmative response to that question is
usually about 3 or 4 per hundred people. I have asked that question in
some groups of well over 100 persons and no one raised their hands.
Should we be surprised that our denomination is shrinking when many
Presbyterians never invite anyone to come to church with them, let alone
feel comfortable talking with someone about how God makes a difference in
their life? Maybe a first step toward turning this situation around would
be for every session, pastor and elders, to have a conversation on this
subject and to take on the responsibility to lead its congregation to be
an "inviting" church. If you have found fruitful ways to do
this that might be helpful to others, please share them with me by
writing to gamoderator@ctr.pcusa.org.
Grace and peace, Joan
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JOYS AND CONCERNS
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 First
Woodruff Church lost a beloved member this week. Larry Menz was their
church treasurer, an active elder, Sunday School Superintendent, and
Director of Helping Hands Ministry, a charitable organization in the
Woodruff area. Larry's wife, Margaret, is an active member of
presbytery's Vision Team and a frequent Elder Commissioner to presbytery.
Funeral service for Larry Menz was today in Woodruff. Please keep
Margaret and her family in your prayers.
Prayers also are
requested for Manella Calhoun as she travels to Nairobi with the U.S.
team for the TUMEKUTANA conference for women. Manella will be traveling
alone until she arrives in Kenya. She asks for prayer for the conference
and all those traveling to attend.
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Continuing Education at Union-PSCE
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 Come
sit on our porch. We invite you to come be a part of a relaxing, cozy
atmosphere where you will receive something for your mind and soul.
Continuing education at Union-PSCE is more than learning; it is a place
to find community.
Honor the Small in Small Churches Doing ministry in a small church? Two
continuing education events at Union-PSCE will explore the unique
challenges of nurturing small church identity and enhancing Christian
education in the small church.
October 8-10, 2007 Small is Beautiful Charles E. Brown, William B.
Oglesby Professor of Pastoral Theology at Union-PSCE, will lead a seminar
to look at biblical and theological themes in church life and work and
relate them to ministry within the small membership church. Tuition: $130
CEUs: 1.1
February 5-7, 2008 Christian Education in the Small Membership Church
Cindy Kissel-Ito, visiting assistant professor of Christian education at
Union-PSCE, will lead this workshop. A variety of resources and
approaches are available to build an effective Christian education
program in the small membership church. This workshop tries to help
pastors and educators overcome the limitations of scarce resources and
limited staff by exploring models of individual and intergenerational
teaching and learning theories that support spiritual formation.
Registration:$130 CEUs: 1.1
Mark your calendar and click on the following link to find out about
registration and to see a complete list of offerings at The Center for
Ministry and Leadership Development at Union Theological Seminary and
Presbyterian School of Christian Education. www.union-psce.edu
then click on leadership development. E-mail CMLD@union-psce.edu.
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Mission Challenge in Foothills Presbytery
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The Presbyterian Church
(USA) is committed to participating in God's mission throughout the world
in partnership with other members of the body of Christ. In October,
thirty PC(USA) missionaries will go out into every corner of the United
States to share their stories.
Foothills Presbytery is committed as well to mission opportunities both
locally and internationally.
FRONTERA DE CRISTO BORDER MINISTRY - In conjunction with the
PC(USA) Mission Challenge '07, Mark Adams will itinerate in churches in
the presbytery October 23 - 28. Mark is a mission co-worker at Frontera
de Cristo, one of 7 Border Ministries of the National Presbyterian Church
of Mexico and the PC(USA). To schedule Mark for a visit at your church,
please contact the Rev. Dale Rawlings at 225-9950 or dalerev@bellsouth.net.
GHANA PARTNERSHIP - Foothills Presbytery has had a
long-standing partnership with Kwahu Presbytery in Ghana and has
supported the work at the Donkorkrom Presbyterian Hospital and orphanage
for many years. A delegation from Ghana will be in the United States
September 28 to October 15 and will be available to speak in churches.
The Ghana Partnership welcomes invitations from churches to host a
visiting speaker. To schedule one of the visitors from Ghana, please
contact Beth Meyer at 297-6221 or Bmeyer3245@bellsouth.net
or Minnie Thomas at 232- 1153 or nanayathomas@yahoo.com.
While in the United States, two of the visitors from Ghana will
participate in the World Mission '07 Conference being held in Louisville
October 2-6.
Manella Calhoun, a member of the Ghana Partnership, will be traveling to
Nairobi, Kenya, September 9-13 to attend and participate in TUMEKUTANA,
a gathering of women in Africa to empower each other as Christian leaders.
This gathering is the first of its kind in Africa and will offer a place
for women to come together for networking, discussion, and planning. This
forum is sponsored by the PC(USA) and will identify common areas of
challenge and plan strategies to address the challenges.
LOCAL MISSIONS - "2 Cents a Meal" is a
hunger program recently begun in Foothills Presbytery. Information and
resources on this program were distributed at the August 21 presbytery
meeting. The concept for the hunger awareness program was taken from the
Cents-Ability Hunger Program of the PC (USA). Cents-Ability is a small
first step in the battle against hunger and poverty. Congregations invite
every member - of all ages - to contribute a few cents at every meal.
This simple act is an expression of thanksgiving for what we have
received. It is also a commitment to share with others as Jesus commands.
Churches can distribute 100% of the money locally or 50% locally and 50%
going to presbytery for hunger programs.
Mission opportunities and
challenges are many in Foothills Presbytery and throughout the PC(USA).
Congregations are asked to prayerfully consider accepting the challenge
to support mission work.
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