Our Church seeks to bring the power of Christ’s love to our local church and to society as well, by reaching out into the community and filling needs as they arise. These efforts are supported by contributions to our Mission and Benevolence funds, and other fund raising activities.
We support a number of missions and ministries in this area and in other parts of the world. This is done through the Benevolence Fund, 50% of which is administered by our Outreach Committee and the other 50% by General Assembly, Synod, and West Jersey Presbytery.
Missions we support:
Food Pantry: Every Tuesday frm 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. our food pantry in the basement of the church is open. All in need are welcome.
Mission Teens: http://www.missionteens.com/ An inpatient, drug-free, drug and alcohol rehab with centers located in Norma, New Jersey, and around the country. Freedom from addictions is brought through faith in Jesus Christ, practiced through intensive Bible study, prayer and Christian community. We support this mission with offerings of food and other day-to-day needs, collected on a weekly basis, and delivered on a monthly schedule. We have made many deliveries by volunteers from our congregation. We also support this mission financially throughout the year.
Habitat for Humanity – Metro Camden: http://www.habitatcamden.org/ This group “rehabs” abandoned houses and gives Camden residents the opportunity to own their own home. Volunteers, from businessmen to students, work with future homeowners to help revitalize the community. Habitat depends on these volunteers and donations to help people realize their dream of home ownership. Aside from our financial donations, we continue to seek opportunities for our church family to help in the building of these houses.
Saints Prison Ministry: http://www.saintsprisonministry.org/ This ministry was formed to minister to those people who are in prison in Southern New Jersey, bringing them the Christian message that Jesus saves. They feel that their commitment to prison ministry is just as serious as any ministry to those of us not confined behind bars.
John and Dasia Abramovich: http://bcmintl.org/bcmworld/article/to-poland-with-love/ Serving under the auspices of BCM, an international missionary organization, John and Dasia are ministering in Poland where they teach the Word of God to children and teens. Communist control left many in this nation without any faith at all and missionaries like John and Dasia are helping young people to meet the risen Lord Jesus Christ for the first time.
Tito and Jo Ann Pagano: These missionaries are located in Chile for Word of Life, a missionary organization with headquarters in New York’s Adirondacks. Word of Life’s primary ministry is an emphasis on teaching the Bible to youth in a recreational setting. Thousands of young people each year meet the Lord at summer camps run by Word of Life. Jo Ann (who grew up in Barrington) and her husband Tito (from Argentina) run a year-round camp. They also have an effective AIDS education ministry that they take to the public schools and have shared the Gospel with school children, university students, and members of the Police Academy.
Friends of Jean Webster: http://www.aclink.org/intergenerational/mainasp/detail.asp?prgID=288 http://www.jeanwebsterskitchen.com/ This mission supports Sister Jean’s Kitchen, a volunteer organization in Atlantic City, housed in the First Presbyterian Church. The kitchen is run by a former casino chef, Jean Webster. Over 25 years ago, Jean saw a man searching for food in a garbage can in Atlantic City. With $5 in her pocket, she bought him a meal and invited him to eat at her home the next day. Soon others followed him back to her house, and Jean fed them all. Today in this volunteer supported program, Sister Jean’s Kitchen serves more than 200,000 meals annually. We now support this mission fiancially and we have also have served meals to the homeless at the kitchen.
Beacon Home for Woman: This mission supports mothers and their children in need. We now support this mission fiancially.
Other areas of our outreach by our Outreach Committee:
Adopt-A-Highway: This is a county-sponsored public service activity, in which we accept responsibility for maintaining the cleanliness of a section of a county road. We have been tidying up Gloucester Pike from Clements Bridge Road to the Railroad.
Cathedral Kitchen: http://www.cathedralkitchen.org/ A member of our church continues to represent us at the Cathedral Kitchen in Camden, volunteering his time once a month there.
One Great Hour of Sharing: http://onegreathourofsharing.org/ Since 1949, Presbyterians have joined with millions of other Christians through One Great Hour of Sharing to share God’s love with people experiencing need. Our gifts support ministries of disaster response, refugee assistance and resettlement, and community development that help people find safe refuge, start new lives and work together to strengthen their families and communities. Recognizing that the hope we have in Christ is lived out in our hope for one another, we respond with gifts that help our sisters and brothers around the world find the hope for a brighter future. Where does the money go? The Presbyterian Hunger Program receives 36 percent of undesignated One Great Hour of Sharing gifts, while the Self-Development of People and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance each receive 32 percent.
CROP Walk: https://secure2.convio.net/cws/site/SPageServer?pagename=events_find CROP Hunger Walks are community-wide events sponsored by Church World Service and organized by religious groups, businesses, schools and others to raise funds to end hunger at home and around the world.
Presbyterian Hunger Program: http://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/hunger/ This supports the same types of missions as CROP.
